Ending a car lease early

A question about ending a car lease early, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that a lease is a binding contract that neither party can end alone; if the lessor agrees to end it, he is owed the agreed rent for the period used and may not revert to the market rent, or he may instead hold the lessee to the full term. ¹

The questioner described a company that leases cars at a lower monthly rent the longer the contract runs; if a lessee on a three-year contract wants to end it early, the company requires him to pay the difference between the one-year and three-year rents as compensation for lost profit. ¹

The Department answered that in principle a lease is binding and is not ended at the will of one party; if both agree to end it before its term, that is permitted and rent becomes settled for the period already used, since rent is settled only through use. It quoted al-Nawawi in Minhaj al-Talibin (p. 163) that when a hirer takes possession of an animal or house and keeps it until the term passes, the rent becomes settled. ¹ It said that where the agreed rent is apportioned by month, as when the parties agree on three years at a set amount per month, the agreed rent is settled for the past period without regard to the market rent, citing al-Shirwani's glosses on Tuhfat al-Muhtaj (6/187), following the terms on which the contract was made. ¹ It concluded that the lessee may end the lease only with the lessor's consent; if the lessor consents, he is owed the agreed rent for the period of use, as agreed, and may not revert to the market rent because the contract was ended by mutual consent; alternatively he may hold the lessee to the full term of the contract. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 3720, dated 18 July 2022. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.