Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California
I moved out of my apartment 3 months prior to the end of the lease. I gave a 30 day notice yet the property manager didnt start advertising the apartment as available until 1 week after I moved out. I was wondering if I had a "failure to mitigate the damages" defense, should she take me to court for the remaining rent? I had only lived in the apartment for 3 months so it was pretty clean when I left, and I vacated the premises 3 days earlier than the date I gave notice. There was also another apartment in the same building for rent that had been vacant for about 6-7 weeks prior to my moving out.
1 Answer from Attorneys
You have a very weak argument. The existance of another unit that has not rented for 6-7 weeks suggests that it takes at least that amount of time to find a new renter and a one week delay would be insignificant. The landlord will probably come up with soe reasons for the delay, including that the other unit was similar and he wanted to rent that one out first. Your major argument should be that even though you breached your contract to stay another three months, your landlord had a duty to mitigate his damages and should have been able to rent the place out within about one month so that should be the extent of the damages. If you rely upon the one week delay [you can mention it but not as you major defense], you are likely to irriate the jududge. You are trying to save a week in rent but lose three months.
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