I broke my lease early and now my landlord is not giving me the last month and already charged me two months for penalty

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Good evening – sorry to hear about your situation. Generally speaking, a landlord cannot charge any penalty. The landlord can, however, bring a claim against you for any rent not collected while trying to re-lease the unit. The landlord would need to show that they took reasonable steps to re-lease the unit. For example: if it took the landlord two months to find a new tenant, then they can make a claim for the two months the unit was empty plus any reasonable administrative charges. The landlord cannot seek two months + a one month penalty.

Does that help clarify the law?

Has the landlord re-rented the unit or not yet?

When was your lease originally supposed to end?

You could cancel the cheques you gave him. He could bring a claim against you at the landlord tenant board for any rent he was unable to collect because it was empty. If he asked for a greater rent, you could argue he was not exactly reasonable and may have drove potential tenants away if this were to go to a hearing.

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It’s the amount of rent that was not collected assuming the landlord took reasonable steps to re-rent it.

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