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I've wondered about this. Suppose you do this, and then the new tenant stops paying rent (and thus your lease obligation is technically unfulfilled)?
Do you then have to pay the rest of the rent for the lease?
No. It's called the duty to mitigate damages. In most states, the landlord must try to find another tenant asap using reasonable means and their normal criteria. Then they can only charge the leaving tenant rent until they get rent flowing again, and advertising fees.
The problem with the mitigation duty is that you can't prove that they aren't actually looking for someone. My husband and I sent someone up who wanted to sublease our place and the office staff showed her other apartments to get her to try to rent one of those instead of ours, so I don't trust that they will really try to mitigate the damages. They will do the bare minimum and rent out other units instead of ours.
That's the big issue I have with that law. It sounds good on paper, but in reality, if you've got a crappy LL you're still out of luck.
Usually if you're in an apartment owned by a property management company, there is no way to break the lease without huge penalties. Even then you have to check, because some won't let you out no matter what. Also, the leasing agents at the apartment usually have limited authority since they work for the parent company, so you won't get much help or sympathy. They will follow the stipulations on the lease to a tee.
You have a better chance with independent landlords. For example, if you could find someone to takeover your lease for you, they'd probably be willing to work with you.
No. It's called the duty to mitigate damages. In most states, the landlord must try to find another tenant asap using reasonable means and their normal criteria. Then they can only charge the leaving tenant rent until they get rent flowing again, and advertising fees.
^^This. Per my lease terms, I gave a 60-day notice to vacate, technically giving them consent to start marketing the apt. In addition, I paid $1500 relet fee and was financially liable for the lease until new tenants had signed a lease. Thankfully, they found new tenants within a month which ended my liability. They even let me make payments arrangements for my outstanding balance. BUT, what I didn't expect was that the unpaid balance would negatively affect being able to rent an apartment in my new city. So, I had to hustle up and pay it off pretty quickly to prevent hassles with future rent applications.
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