Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Oklahoma

Re: breaking an apartment lease

Thank you for your question. Leases are contracts which create specific rights and obligations. Apparently you have contracted to pay a yearly lease divided into twelve monthly payments or have otherwise agreed to lease for 12 months at a set monthly rate. In either event you are legally bound to perform your part of the contract. In Oklahoma, a landlord has an obligation to reduce or mitigate his damages in a situation such as yours. In other words he has an obligation to lease the apartment as soon as possible. Depending on the economic climate and time of year he may have a new leasee by the time you move out. Under the circumstances, you might consider going ahead with your plans to move out as indicated in your notice to him. Many apartment companies consider this a part of doing business and will not pursue you in court for the balance of the contract. If they do after you have moved, you should appear in court and explain the circumstances to the judge. By the time it gets into court the apartment will most likely have been rented to someone else and you will get the benefit of this by reducing the amount of damages which your landlord can prove he has suffered. One thing is certain if the landlord is asking more than $2500 from you in a court action, you should ask for a jury trial and the case will be transferred to another court docket and will not come up for trial for several months. These are difficult cases for the landlord since the court is not going to want to award him damages for future rent when there is every reason to believe that he should be able to rent the place again. I think it is unlikely that he would give them the $1800 they have asked you for unless it represented "real" past due rent or damage to the apartment. My advice is move and take your chances.