What is the maximum tenant liability for breaking a 1 year apartment
lease 6 months into the agreement (the apartment is in San Francisco)?
 I need to move out of the state for personal reasons and my landlord
wants me to pay three months additional rent.  Are there any laws in
California that protect my rights?

Hi cj.

The first thing you need to do is check your lease.  In virtually
every lease agreement, there is a clause stating how much (if any)
rent you must pay if you break the lease (breach your contract) before
the end of its term.  Your lease is legally binding on both sides - if
your termination of contract clause states that you must pay three
months rent, I'm afraid you're probably stuck.  (My own lease
agreement says that if I break my lease with 30 days notice for any
reason, I am obligated to pay for the *entire remainder of the lease
term*, or until the apartment is rented out again, whichever comes
first.)

If you do not have a copy of your rental agreement, your landlord is
legally obligated to provide one at your request:

"Civil Code Section 1962, 1962.5, and 1962.7 now require that
landlords must provide to tenants a copy of the rental agreement or a
written statement of its terms. (Upon request of the tenant, once a
year). Also required is that the rental agreement must disclose how
and to whom rent payments should be made."
[ http://www.sftu.org/2001legal.htm ]

In an article at Real Estate Today, a couple poses the question of
breaking a lease because they are moving into a house.  Counselor of
Real Estate and Certified Property Manager Robert Griswold had this to
say:

"[...]you are responsible for the balance of the lease term yet the
owner must mitigate your damages; he must make a reasonable effort to
re-rent the property under the same or similar rental terms. You can
be
held responsible for the (reasonable) actual advertising and other
related
costs (credit checks, etc.). But, you are not responsible for the rent
once
the house has been re-rented."
[ http://www.retodayradio.com/RR-99-12-12.htm ]

The State Bar Association of California has published a resource that
may be of some help to you in explaining your rights as a tenant:

"What Should I Know Before I Rent?"
[ http://www.tenant.net/Other_Areas/Calif/statebar/rentqa.html ]

You can also find a full explanation of your rights, as Published by
the State of California Department of Consumer Affairs:
[ http://www.dca.ca.gov/legal/landlordbook/ ]

I would also suggest contacting the San Francisco Tenants Union for
advice and assistance:
[ http://www.sftu.org/ ]

Good luck!

missy-ga

Rapid and complete response.  Just the kind of information and URLs I
was hoping to find.  Appropriate tone in response makes me think the
researcher actually knew what she was talking about.  Thanks for a
great product.