Our mother in law is being put in disability by her doctor. She is being forced to leave her job and will soon require continuous care. For this reason, we are moving her from Philadelphia to Oregon. Her lease runs through August. She approached management with this and they want her to pay 4 months rent. She is able to pay through May. Can a lease be broken for documented medical disablities in PA and what are the guidelines. Thanks.

There is no automatic "get out of lease for disability"... she needs to talk to her landlord and advise him/her of her plans and work on options that may be available to her under her lease.

Some options are to sublet or find a replacement tenant on your own. There is a possibility of getting out due to a disability but it depends on the nature. For example, if she lived on the second floor of a walkup and could no longer climb stairs, a housing court might grant a termination.

There is no easy way out of a legally signed document. She can always attempt to sublet the apartment, or find a new one year tenant. If you go to court to ask out of the lease, because she is on a second floor, the judge may ask that she be moved to a first floor... so that may not solve your problem. Talk to the landlord about a reasonable buy out.

Here is another off the wall answer: Just leave. She isn't going back to work, her only income will be disability which can't be attached, she is going to be out of state and for all practical purposes pretty much out of the reach of the landlord. I can't see that the one line of bad credit on her report would make any difference to anything really important to her. To bad the landlord wasn't a little more compassionate.

Advocate makes a good point. I would still give sufficient notice and expect to forfeit the security deposit. But otherwise I doubt if the ll will pursue it.