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A lease covers a fixed period of time (called the "term") and obligates the tenant to pay rent until the lease ends. Some states allow tenants to break a lease and leave early without penalty under certain circumstances, such as leaving a domestic violence situation, or entering military service. And many states require landlords to take reasonable efforts find a new tenant (to rerent), rather than simply do nothing and expect the vacating tenant to pay rent through the end of the lease term. A landlord's responsibility to rerent is also known as the duty to mitigate damages. This chart provides some basic information on state laws on the subject. Read your state statute (or relevant court case) for the specific rules in your state. The citation is provided here, and you can visit the Library of Congress's legal research site for links to state statutes and judicial decisions.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Ala. Code §§ 35-9A-105, 35-9A-423
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent. Landlord can prioritize renting other vacant units first.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Alaska Stat. § 34.03.230(c)
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1370
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Grayson v. Mixon, 5 S.W.2d 312 (Ark. 1928)
Landlord has no duty to look for or rent to a new tenant.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1951.2, 1951.4
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent. However, landlord may keep the lease in effect and recover rent as it becomes due provided that possession is not retaken and the lease states that the tenant has the right to sublet or assign, subject only to landlord's reasonable limitations.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Schneiker v. Gordon, 732 P.2d 603 (Colo. 1987)
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-11a
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Del. Code tit. 25, § 5507(d)(2)
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: D.C. Code § 42-3505.52
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Fla. Stat. § 85.595
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent most of the time. But if the lease includes a liquidated damages addendum that provides for no more than 2 months' damages and requires the tenant to give no more than 60 days' notice, the landlord can do nothing (meaning the tenant remains liable for rent as it becomes due), or invoke the liquidated damages provision.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Ga. Code § 44-7-34; Peterson v. Midas Realty Corp., 287 S.E.2d 61 (Ga. Ct. App. 1981)
Georgia law is unclear. The code states that nothing prevents landlords from retaining the security deposit for rent and other damages as long as the landlord attempts to mitigate their damages—which suggests that the landlord has a duty to rerent. However, a Georgia court has held that a landlord could keep the rental vacant and sue for rent as it becomes due in spite of the statutory rule.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-70(d)
The statute implies that the landlord has a duty to rerent. When a tenant breaks the lease, the landlord is entitled to the lesser of (1) the entire rent due for the remainder of the term, or (2) the amount of rent accrued during the period reasonably necessary to rerent at a fair rent plus the difference between fair rent and the rent under the lease, as well as a commission for the rerenting of the unit. The landlord is entitled to the lesser of these two even if the landlord doesn't actually rerent the unit.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Consol. Ag. v. Rangen, Inc., 912 P.2d 115 (Idaho 1995)
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: 735 Ill. Comp. Stat. § 5/9-213.1
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Nylen v. Park Doral Apts., 535 N.E.2d 178 (Ind. Ct. App. 1989)
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Iowa Code § 562A.29(3)
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Kan. Stat. § 58-2565(c)
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.670
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: La. Civ. Code § 2002; Easterling v. Halter Marine, Inc., 470 So.2d 221 (La. Ct. App. 1985); Gray v. Kanavel, 508 So.2d 970 (La. Ct. App. 1987)
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 14, § 6010-A
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Md. Code Real Prop., § 8-207
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Edmands v. Rust & Richardson Drug Co., 191 Mass. 123, 128 (1906)
Although case law seems to accept a duty to mitigate, there is no definitive statement of the law and the issue remains unsettled.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Fox v. Roethlisberger, 85 N.W.2d 73 (Mich. 1957)
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Control Data Corp. v. Metro Office Parks Co., 208 N.W.2d 738 (1973)
Landlord has no duty to look for or rent to a new tenant.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Alsup v. Banks, 9 So. 895 (Miss. 1891)
Landlord has no duty to look for or rent to a new tenant.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300; Rhoden Inv. Co. v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 499 S.W.2d 375 (Mo. 1973)
Landlord must mitigate only if they intend to use tenant's security deposit to cover future unpaid rent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Mont. Code § 70-24-426
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1432
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Nev. Rev. Stat. § 118.175
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Wen v. Arlen's, Inc., 103 A.2d 86 (N.H. 1954); Modular Mfg., Inc. v. Dernham Co., 65 B.R. 856 (Bankr. D.N.H. 1986)
There is no statute on point. The state supreme court has said landlords don't have a duty to mitigate in commercial tenancies, but there are no residential cases on point.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Sommer v. Kridel, 378 A.2d 767 (N.J. 1977)
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: N.M. Stat. § 47-8-6
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 227-e
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Isbey v. Crews, 284 S.E. 2d 534 (N.C. Ct. App. 1981)
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: N.D. Cent. Code § 47-16-13.5
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Stern v. Taft, 361 N.E.2d 279 (Ohio Ct. App. 1976); Dennis v. Morgan, 732 N.E.2d 391 (Ohio 2000)
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 129
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.410
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Stonehenge Square Ltd. P'ship v. Movie Merchs., 715 A.2d 1082 (Pa. 1998)
Landlord has no duty to look for or rent to a new tenant.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-18-40
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: S.C. Code § 27-40-730(c)
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: No statutes or cases discuss this issue for residential tenancies. However, based on general contract law and cases dealing with commercial tenancies, it seems likely that a court hearing a residential case on point would require the landlord to mitigate damages.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Tenn. Code § 66-28-507(c)
Landlords in counties having a population of more than 75,000 under the 2010 federal census have a duty to make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Tex. Prop. Code § 91.006
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Utah Code § 78B-6-816; Reid v. Mutual of Omaha Ins. Co., 776 P.2d 896 (Utah 1989)
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Vt. Stat. tit. 9, § 4462
Landlord has no duty to look for or rent to a new tenant.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Va. Code § 55.1-1251
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Wash. Rev. Code §§ 59.18.310, 59.18.595
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: W. Va. Code § 37-6-7
Landlord must make efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Wis. Stat. § 704.29
Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.
Statute or case on duty to rerent: Goodwin v. Upper Crust, Inc., 624 P.2d 1192 (Wyo. 1981)
Landlord must make efforts to rerent.