Landlord Asks Me To Move Out Early And Then Claims That He Never Requested It

Location: Boston, MA

Hi, I have a somewhat ridiculous situation going on with my landlord. I am in the second year of my lease at a townhouse with a small landlord that ends 8/31/26. I am a single 26F teacher. I have only ever worked with the son of the woman who owns the house. A month ago he called me and told me that he and his wife want to move back into the house that I am renting and started telling me about a similar unit ($100 more a month) up the street that would be available in February and he would cover moving costs and minimize the disruption to my life if I moved out early. I told him that I couldn't afford even higher rent and that my roommate had just moved out (she didn't inform him, which I was unaware of), and this was really short notice for me to pack up my whole house and move, especially during the school year as I am a full-time K-8 teacher and part-time grad student. He insisted that I consider the place his friend owns up the street and that him and his wife really wanted to move back to Boston and live in this house (despite owning and renting out his own house in the city, but that was not a viable option because they "have a lease until 8/31/26"). A friend of mine was present for the entire phone call and heard him insisting that I really really should move out early. The conversation concluded with me telling him that I would consider moving out early if I could find a place and me reminding him that my lease also goes until August. When I rented the place I had also made it known that I was planning on renting it for several years and would not rent it if there was a chance I would have to move out in a year or two.

Fast-forward to last week, I had been searching through available apartments for a month and gone on a few tours and I found the perfect place that happens to be available Jan 1. I was offered the place and tell my landlord that I signed the lease for Jan 1—he was clearly very excited about this news, but does complain that it's a month earlier than he was planning. I then requested that the last month's rent be waived, one month's rent paid in acknowledgment of the extreme inconvenience this has caused, as well as the fact that I only moved into this house with the good faith that I could rent it for several years, and the cost of movers (I have a physical disability that prevents me from lifting heavy things). He had already suggested that one month's rent could be waived due to a payment system error in Sept but I insisted on paying it so it couldn't be held against me later. He also had already said he would cover the cost of movers if I moved out early. He was suddenly adamant that he had never asked me to move out early, only suggested that I move into his friend's place that happened to be opening up in Feb. He responded no to my requests, but through lots of back and forth his final offer ends up being to waive Dec rent and pay for the movers in full. I counter-offered that he include a half-month's rent. I was prepared to take his offer if he said no to my counter, but he stopped responding for a couple days.

Today he texted me that he was going to assume status quo and that my lease would run through the end of August. I said that if that was what he wanted then I would find new tenants to transfer the remainder of my lease to. There was more back and forth and it ended with him saying "You're getting nothing from me." He is claiming that if I move out Jan 1, I have to surrender the keys or I have to continue occupying the house through the end of August. Sorry for such a long post, I just am not sure what my options are at this point. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!