Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Georgia

You are asking for a guess. No one here knows any more than you posted, and you did not even include the amount of money at issue. We also don't know what the other party would settle for. Either get a lawyer (which might be more than the money involved), or make the decision to try to settle or risk going to court. The one other element you should consider is that even if the landlord wins on only part of the debt - you have a judgment against you that shows on your credit report for many years.

If you broke your lease (for instance, by moving out early), your landlord has the right to sue you for the time it took him to fill the unit with someone else. If it took a week for someone else to move in, then your landlord is entitled to that one week and no more, UNLESS you lease says something different. Since I'm not privy to the lease, I can't comment.

In terms of the damages, only you can answer whether it's worth fighting. You certainly have a right to call witnesses and have them tell the judge that those damages were there upon you moving in. The fact that the landlord didn't provide you with a move-in damage list of some sort could also be used against him. If you landlord is holding your security deposit, you may consider using his lawsuit as a chance to counter-sue for return of that money.

As always, I recommend you hire a Georgia real estate attorney who can review your lease and explain the specific consequences of your actions, the cost and time of fighting the matter, etc. Best of luck.******The above is for informational purposes only and does not establish an attorney-client relationship.******

While I generally agree with my colleagues, I must add that even if your lease states that your landlord has no duty to mitigate his damages, under Georgia law he does have such a duty. So, he can only recover the amounts caused by your breach minus rent received by the new tenant.

If you would like to discuss any issues further, please feel free to contact my office. The link to my contact information is below. Thank you.

The foregoing is general information only, not specific legal advice. No attorney/client relation has been created or should be implied.