Title: Breaking Your Lease When You Can No Longer Afford the Rent
Headings: Breaking Your Lease When You Can No Longer Afford the Rent
Breaking Your Lease When You Can No Longer Afford the Rent
If you do not have provisions in your lease agreement for early termination, you will be liable for the remaining amount of rent due on the lease if you break it early. Before breaking your lease when you can no longer afford the rent, review your lease agreement, speak with your landlord, and consult with a landlord-tenant lawyer in order to protect your rights.

Content: Even though your landlord may be entitled to damages, he/she still has a duty to mitigate, or reduce, their damages. Your landlord cannot allow your former apartment to remain vacant for the balance of the term. Your landlord must make reasonable efforts to re-rent the apartment. Once the apartment has been rented to another tenant, your obligation to pay rent for the balance of the term of your lease ends. For example, you had a one year lease, but after six months were unable to continue paying rent and moved out. Two months later, a new tenant rents your apartment. Instead of being liable for the rent for the remaining six months of your lease, you would only be liable for the two months the apartment was actually vacant. However, if the new tenant is paying less rent than you paid, you would be liable for the difference in rent for the remaining six months of your term. Because your landlord has a duty to mitigate damages, they cannot simply charge less to the new tenant knowing that you have an obligation to pay the difference in rent for the balance of the term. They must establish a legitimate reason, such as market conditions during the recession, which resulted in the new tenant paying less than you did for the same apartment.