Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Maine

I was offered a job in another state, which after losing my current job I felt I needed to take. As a result, my husband and I needed to move out of our apartment before the lease was up - it stipulated that we need to give 60 days notice, which we did. The landlord is now saying that we are responsible for continuing to pay rent until they can find a new tenant, which we have been helping to do (I ran my own ad and have been showing the apartment to people) but have not yet succeeded. I'm a little suspicious that they're just rejecting potential tenants we send to them without even checking them out, but regardless, it's getting close to the end of the 60 days and there isn't a new tenant yet. So my question is: do we have to continue to pay rent indefinitely (or until our lease runs out, which is the better part of a year) or is giving notice enough?


Asked on 1/24/14, 4:22 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Elliott Teel Teel Law Office

It depends partly on what your lease says. You may be liable for the rent until a new tenant is found or the lease runs out. The landlord has an obligation to try to find a replacement tenant, and will need to show they made a good faith effort to find one. If at the end of the lease term the there still was not a replacement tenant, the landlord can then sue you for the rent from the months the apartment was vacant.

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Answered on 1/24/14, 8:09 am


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