Re: Is the landlord obligated to re-rent the apartment asap after i break the le

The landlord is required to mitigate his damages occasioned by your breaking of the lease, meaning they are required to relet the apartment to someone else as expeditiously as possible.

If that is not happening, you could send a certified letter to the landlord demanding that

that such steps be taken, immediately, to relet the unit, and, if they fail to do so, you will contact the appropriate court in New York to

request the right to pay the remaining amounts owed on the lease into a rent escrow account

where later you may lay claim to these funds.

Re: Is the landlord obligated to re-rent the apartment asap after i break the le

Dear Reader:

In examining this response, please note that we are not entering into an attorney/client relationship, that this is to be taken as informative, and not as legal advice, that it is always best to speak to a lawyer in your area and/or in the area where the transaction and/or events occurred, and that my answer is necessarily limited by the fact that I have not seen the documentation or had an opportunity to go over the matters with you in detail.

I disagree with Mr. Hendrickson's advice. Ordinarily, in New York, tenants are required to pay out the balance of the rent if they leave before the end of the lease. This may be a shady practice that is unethical, but it is legal. If you were in Nassau or Suffolk, there is a slim chance that this practice violates some local laws, but that is doubtful.

In addition, there may be a second legitimate reason why the landlord is keeping the unit off the market -- to paint, clean up, or so forth.

If you withold your rent, you could be sued, and that would affect your credit if you lose.

Try the Better Business Bureau or a nearby tenant's group. Maybe they have some alternate answers for you.

Good luck.

As I mentioned before, this is something that you will want to take up with a lawyer of your own selection, either in your state or area or in a place where some of the pertinent events occurred.

Rod Kovel

Attorney at Law

516-312-9900

Re: Is the landlord obligated to re-rent the apartment asap after i break the le

What did the lease say with regards to the landlord's obligation to re-rent the premises, i.e., did it give any time frame within which to do so?