Lease Surrender and Timeliness of Defect Notification

The case concerns a dispute over the early termination of a lease agreement where the tenant returned the keys and cleaned the property around early January 2007, while the landlord eventually performed a handover inspection on April 2, 2007, and subsequently claimed damages for defects. The court reasoned that the tenant's right to early surrender establishes the landlord's obligation to accept the property back, and the inspection for defects and subsequent notification must occur immediately upon the actual handover, which was determined to be no later than January 8, 2007, with the keys being returned. Since the landlord notified the tenant of defects in April 2007, approximately three months after the actual surrender, the notification was deemed clearly untimely under the relevant articles, resulting in the forfeiture of any damage claims against the tenant, even if the formal handover was considered to be on April 2nd.