Q: Breaking a lease
My husband and have a great opportunity to buy a house for our family. We rent a townhouse in Gaithersburg, MD. We just renewed our 1 yr lease in August of 2017. We were not planning on this but things happen. We asked the landlord if she would let us out of the lease with 2 months notice and a 3rd or 4th month also covered and she refuses. She wants us to find a new tenant "just as good as us" as she said. We now have an agent who will list it and HOPEFULLY rent it. Also we want to purchase that house.
Question is if we do find a renter, the agent promises the lease will be brand new and whatever happens after, will not be our responsibility.
Is that true and what should we do to protect ourselves?
Thank you.
A: Generally speaking a tenant is "on the hook" under a lease for the entire term but the Landlord has a legal duty to mitigate damages by trying to re-rent. A landlord can choose to EITHER take a new tenant but still keep the first tenant responsible if the new tenant defaults OR release the first tenant entirely after a new tenant signs up. Where the parties have agreed to terminate a lease when a new tenant moves in, it would be prudent to get a signed release confirming that in writing.
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