Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Maryland

The 2 month fee is likely an "early termination" fee found in your lease. Without seeing the lease, it is impossible for me to say whether the landlord is simply being a jerk by demanding the 2 months or it is something you agreed to when you signed the lease.

If you break the lease and just move out, you have breached your contract and the landlord can sue you in court. The landlord's remedies for your breach are likely contained in your lease. Again, without seeing the lease, it is impossible to say what the ramifications are. If I were to take a guess, I would assume that the landlord is likely entitled to (i) the 2 month early termination fee, (ii) damages suffered as a result of you moving out early (cost of marketing the unit to other perspective tenants), and (iii) any court costs and filing fees the landlord incurs. If the landlord is unable (for whatever reason) to immediately fill the space, then the landlord can also likely continue to charge you the rent that it otherwise would have been paid had you not breached the lease.

Your best bet is likely to sublet the apartment yourself. If you do not know anyone to sublet the apartment, ask your landlord if he would be willing to provide you with his waiting list and start interviewing/calling the people on it to see if they want to sublet. Most importantly, don't let anyone move in your apartment until you have both signed a written sublease agreement, your landlord has approved it, and your sublessee has paid you a security deposit. A Maryland real estate lawyer can provide you a short and sweet sublease agreement for a nominal fee.

Best of luck.*****The above is for informational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client privilege.******