Conflicting Lease Renewal Terms - VA, USA
landlord tenant attorney Virginia Aug 20, 2026
Location: Prince William County, Virginia, USA I have been provided a lease renewal that contains conflicting early termination clauses. The renewal is a packet of several individual documents requiring individual signatures on each. Outlined below are the three references to early termination within the packet as a whole. Fee Disclosure Statement: "Two months' rent or remaining lease term rent balance, whichever is less. Plus 75% of one month's rent Re-Leasing Fee" Property Manager's Custom Lease (Not a standard VRLTA template): "EARLY TERMINATION: Early termination is not permitted. The Tenant agrees that if he/she moves out of the property before the end of the Lease term, Tenant is fully liable and responsible for the rent for the remaining months and all other terms and responsibilities per the terms of the Lease." Addendum to VRLTA Lease (Official VRLTA template): "EARLY LEASE TERMINATION ADDENDUM In the event that the tenant would like to terminate the lease BEFORE the written agreed upon date on which the lease expires, the tenant shall be financially responsible for the following: TWO Months Rent or the remaining balance of said Lease term, whichever is less, as a penalty for early termination. PLUS 75% of ONE Month’s Rent for the Re-Leasing Fee. In addition to the penalty fee, the Tenant must adhere to the following terms Tenant must continue to pay rent while occupying the property, provide at least 60 days notice to vacate date AND pay the above penalty fees prior to vacating the Premises. The Security Deposit cannot be used to supplement this penalty payment. Tenant will provide the keys to Property Mgt upon vacating the Premises & will no longer have access to Premises. If all the above is completed by the Tenant, then the Lease will terminate and the Tenant will have no further obligations to the Lease or the Premises. The Tenant’s Security Deposit will be processed within 45 days of vacating the Premises. The Tenant must leave the property clean and in the same or better condition as it was received." When I pointed out that the second reference doesn't match the other two and asked for it to be updated before signature, the response I received was: Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I checked with our Property Manager regarding the Early Termination language. The difference you noticed is intentional. Under the standard lease terms, there is no automatic option for early termination, meaning the resident would generally remain responsible for rent for the full lease term. The Early Termination Addendum was added specifically to provide an alternative option that can reduce that financial obligation if a resident needs to terminate the lease early. Because the addendum establishes an additional early termination option, its terms are intended to supplement the standard lease provisions. I have searched the original lease I signed last year and this year's renewal and the only time there is a conflict clause, below, is on a independent document for the Resident Benefits Package Addendum to Lease, which is a program where they mail your HVAC filters, upon move in they have a service to help you set up utilities, it includes the resident portal and online payment, one time late fee and one time NSF fee forgiveness, etc. PARTIES: THIS ADDENDUM IS BETWEEN THE TENANTS AND OWNER AND/OR AGENT MANAGING THE PREMISES. THIS ADDENDUM IS IN ADDITION TO AND MADE PART OF THE LEASE AGREEMENT AND IN THE EVENT THERE IS ANY CONFLICT BETWEEN THE LEASE AND THIS ADDENDUM, THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ADDENDUM SHALL GOVERN While I have no intention of breaking my lease, I cannot tell the future and who knows what may happen. I hesitate to sign a contract with conflicting clauses, especially since the one that says "not permitted" is in favor of the management company/landlord. Is this an acceptable explanation and I am reading too much into it? Is this something I should definitely be pushing back on because the conflicting statements are not as trivial as they are playing it off to be? I guess the "worst case" bottom line question is, if I sign as-is and it came to it and the property manager or landlord try to hold me to the lease reference instead of the addendum, what kind of headache am I potentially looking at? It has been suggested to me to request the reference in the lease be amended to state "Early termination is not permitted except as expressly provided in the Early Lease Termination Addendum." I do not have the time, energy, or money to find a new place and move. I want to make sure I am not putting myself in a dumb situation by accepting the terms as written, but I also don't want to cause them to withdraw my renewal because I am being "difficult."
