Template For Termination of Rental Agreement

If you want to terminate your rental contract for whatever reason, it is necessary, and highly recommended, to do so via an official termination of rental agreement letter.

“Why?”, you ask. Well, at least for the tenant it guarantees the return of the deposit.

For the owner of the property, it can be a legal document if the tenant has any outstanding debts, like for example unpaid rent, unpaid utility bills or any other type of debt.

If you are looking for a template for the termination of your rental agreement, then this article contains two templates that can be downloaded, and the blanks in the template of your choice can be filled in by you.

We would also like to tell you a bit more on what actions to take when terminating your rental agreement.

Photo via Pexels

Related article: Rental Agreement Template 

Template for termination of rental contract: Should I sign one?

We would definitely advise on signing this type of letter no matter what the situation is. When ending your rental contract, it would be ideal if tenant and property owner could get together to sign the termination of the aforementioned contract. 

The document should at least contain the following:

• Date on which the contract will be terminated
• The state of the property that will be returned to its owner, with the problems or damages to the property in writing
• If the tenant still has any unpaid bills (for utility services or other payments)
• The property owner’s right to keep (some of the) deposit in case it is justified
• The procedures on how the deposit will be returned

As you can see, this document contains valuable information for both the tenant and the landlord. 

It is therefore always a good idea to block some time in your agenda to collect the information and end the rental agreement as best as possible. You will at least avoid any misunderstandings.

Photo via Pexels

What you should do before signing the termination of rental contract letter

In order to fill in the document with only correct information and guarantee the rights and obligations for both the tenant and the property owner, we will explain the steps you should follow.

1. Set a date to visit the property together and examine the state it is in (you can take photos for your record)
2. Verify that all monthly payments were done correctly
3. Check that all utility bills (or other expenses) have been paid, so that the tenant can no longer be held responsible for them
4. Establish a way on how to pay for any remaining debts

Photo via Unsplash

Types of termination of rental agreement letters

Now that you have decided to end your rental contract and when you want this to happen, you can take a look at which template suits your situation before signing it.

You can choose between two different templates, and whether you will print out one or the other will depend on any outstanding issues or payments.

Termination letter with settlement agreement

This template states that the rental contract is completely terminated, and it sets you free of all the obligations of previous payments you were held responsible for during the lease.

In this case you can also hand back the keys, and at that moment the property owner officially takes back posession of his or her property. The tenant is no longer obliged to pay for anything anymore.

Download your free copy of the termination letter with settlement agreement

Termination letter with retention of the deposit

In contrast to the previous template, this one covers for everything that is still outstanding. Both parties will have to agree on how and when these obligations will be fulfilled.

As already mentioned in another paragraph, obligations can range form unpaid bills to expenses for specific repairs inside the property or any other form of compensation.

Download your free copy of the termination letter with retention of the deposit

Photo via Pexels

Document when handing over the keys

The tenant handing over the keys at the end of the rental agreement is the last and a very physical action that defines the moment the property is returned back to its landlord. 

Although signing the termination of rental agreement letter is already sufficient in the whole process, there are still some people who prefer having a separate document for handing over the keys.

So it does happen every now and then that a specific document is printed for the purpose, and you can also create one for that last phase of your contract when you hand over the keys.

It is, however, so much easier to just do it all at the same time, so please make sure you have an expert to advise you on ending your rental contract, and that every aspect of the termination is agreed upon with both the landlord and you as a tenant.

Do you still have any questions on the subject of ending your rental lease?
Let us know and we will take the time to answer them!