Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New York
lease termination
I found a place that I already placed an offer and it was accepted. However, our lease states that we will be responsible for the rest of the lease if we leave before the term ends. Can the landlord hold us to this statement when we break the lease? We have 5 more months to go. We have kept the apartment in mint condition. Before we renewed our lease, we've been having problem with their other tenant and the landlord told us that he'll speak to them if we're going to renew our lease. The problem was not resolved in our favor, but that's a whole different story. Can you please give us advice on this?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: lease termination
I normally tell my clients to find a tenant to replace your obligations under the lease agreement. Then, when you tell the landlord that you will break the lease, you will immediately offer him a replacement tenant so he or she will not lose any money.
The replacement tenant must be similar to you. He or she must be in a similar economic position. If the lease calls for a non-smoking apartment the replacement tenant should not smoke. If the lease calls for no pets, the replacement tenant should not have pets.
There is a duty for a landlord to mitigate damages upon a breach by a tenant. If the landlord fails to accept your offer of a replacement tenant, it may demonstrate bad faith on the part of the landlord.
Mike.
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