Full question:
Can the landlord try to recover rent from a tentant who has broken his lease if the landlord is renting the unit to another person can you charge rent twice for the same unit?
- Category: Landlord Tenant
- Date:
- State: Pennsylvania
Answer:
If the lease terms don't allow for early termination, the tenant may be held liable for the remainder of the lease, unless the tenant can prove a breach of the lease terms by the landlord. The answer will depend on the tenant’s reason for moving out and whether the tenant is claiming a breach of the lease terms. A security deposit is usually applied to an amount due for repairs or unpaid rent. However, the landlord has a duty to mitigate (lessen) damages by making reasonable attempts to relet the premises. This generally means that the landlord must advertise the premises and make attempts to show the premises to prospective tenants. It will be a matter of subjective determination for the court, based on all the facts and circumstances involved, whether reasonable attempts have been made to relet the premises. Some of the factors that may be considered, among others, include the reasons for turning down the prospective tenants and whether the landlord is in fact out of town and unable to show the premises.
Once the landlord relets the premises to another tenant, the rent received from the new tenant is deducted from the damages owed by the former tenant in breach. For example, if a tenant current on rent breaches a lease by terminating four months early and the landlord relets the property a month later, the breaching tenant would only owe rent for one, rather than four months. The landlord isn’t allowed a windfall of collecting rent twice.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.
