Q: Am I still on the hook for the full price of my current lease if my landlord finds another tenant at a lower price? (NY)
I am currently living in NYC and am on a lease that ends May 31, 2021. However, my roommate and I have decided to vacate the property early. Our landlord has agreed that he will list the property and we hope to get someone in by the time we are out (end of March).
Given the current rental market, our landlord has listed the property at significantly less than what we were paying and has said that we would be required to pay the difference for the months that we are not on the property from the original terms of our lease.
I just want to confirm that this is legal given there would be two leases on the property? I understand he would be out some $$ from our original contract, so I can understand how that might make sense. However, given he's found new tenants, I just want to confirm.
A: When you break a lease, damages would typically be measured as the total amount of unpaid rent for the remaining term. In the case you described, the landlord has taken steps to mitigate or lessen the total amount of damages by finding a substitute tenant. If the substitute tenant's rent is lower than the original rent, the difference is damages still due to the landlord.
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