What are my rights if I need to break a lease?

Q: I bought a home and need to break my lease expiring Oct. 31. I have tried working with my landlord and referred multiple applicants to transfer the rest of the lease to, and he has rejected them, saying they aren’t qualified. I gave written notice in June to move out by the end of July. What are my rights? — Mike

A: When you sign a lease agreement, you are on the hook for the rent for the entire time you agreed to even if you move out early.

A landlord has several options when a tenant terminates early. When a tenant moves out early, most landlords retake possession of the vacated property and try to find another tenant. This is known as taking the property back for the tenant’s benefit because the amount you would owe your landlord is reduced by the rent paid by the new tenant until the end of your original term. In other words, your landlord cannot collect rent from you and the new tenant for the same month.

Though your landlord also has the option of leaving the property empty and trying to collect the missed rent from you, this is often a bad idea because of the difficulty in collecting the lost rent from a departed tenant. When your landlord retakes possession and tries to find a new tenant, he must make reasonable efforts to do so, such as listing it or putting a notice on the appropriate website.

Lawyers say he must “mitigate his damages” because if he does not put in the effort, a judge can reduce the amount you owe him by the amount he would have recovered had he put reasonable efforts into marketing for a new tenant.

If your landlord ended up not getting a new tenant for the rest of your lease term, the fact that he turned away prospects you referred to him could get you off the hook.