I have been a landlord for many years and have gotten many helpful landlord advice from this site. But today I have a tenant question that I want to ask.

My nephew and his friend have signed a lease to rent a condo together. Now for special reason, they have to back out of the lease. They offered to find replacements for the landlord but the landlord wants to find new tenants himself.

My nephew has agreed to pay until a replacement is found. We just found out that the landlord had listed the property on a higher price and longer term. We were expecting him to list the property at the same price as what my nephew and his roommate have signed.

Questions: under this circumstances, is my nephew still obligated to pay? Since a higher price and a longer term make the place harder to rent. My nephew does not want to keep paying while the landlord feels rest assured that he will have rent coming in even though his new asking rent may not be reasonable?

Tricky question, and a lot will depend on what the lease says, what your state law says, and what your local judge says if it gets to that point. Rather than make a big hubbub about it, here's what I suggest.

Have your nephew offer Mr. Big LL cash for two months rent to be allowed to break the lease with no further obligation and no negative remarks to the credit agency and a positive letter of reference for his next land lord. Get it all in writing, go to Mr. Big's office, and lay the cash (not a check or money order...CASH) on the table. Explain to Mr. Big that if he can find a tenant tomorrow, he gets to pocket the entire amount, effectively doubling his income. All for a simple agreement to go separate ways with no muss and no fuss.

If that doesn't work, you cannot just "walk away." Probably thousands of tenants do stupid things like that every day thinking they are entitled to do so because their land lord is jerking them around, in their opinion. A judge will disagree and slap a nice fat judgment on them for monetary damages, and if the land lord has an ounce of sense he'll report it to a collection agency or the credit bureaus.

Do this right, do it legally, and do it to where everyone is happy. If he's totally unreasonable, you MIGHT have a chance at getting a judge to allow them to break the lease and only award 1-2 months' rent, but that's about what you were going to offer for the early lease termination anyway. So why go to court and risk it?

I'm with Sid - offer a buyout. Get approval in writing.

No, he cannot insist the LL change the new pricing and tersm

BUT...

he CAN use that as a reason to re-negotiate.

PLEASE help nephew learn to honor his contract.

in order to hold your nephew and his friend liable for the rent until the place is re-rented, the LL is required to use good faith efforts to find a new tenant. Many judges (most??) would find that the LL's advertising the place for a higher rent and longer term is not good faith, and would hold tha the LL's bad faith relieves your nephew and his friend of any obligations.

If I were your nephew, I would document the fact that the place is being offered on more onerous terms, and would send a letter to the LL politely telling him that his attempt to rent the place for more money and a longer term is not in good faith and that his conduct has relieved them of all obligations to pay damages under the lease.

In Texas, Landlords MAY be required to allow their tenants to sublet or re-let their apartments; and as long as tenants offer suitable replacements, their landlords must accept their replacements as part of their duties to mitigate their damages. Landlords can charge their tenants re-letting fees as long as their fees are reasonable and based on their actual rental fees. Tenants can NOT be penalized with fees or loss of SD for lease termination.

A landlord's duty to mitigate means they must engage in a reasonable attempt to find a replacement tenant. A landlord cannot waive their legal duty to mitigate through written agreement, and any attempt to do so is void.

Usual offer is SD plus 1 month in exchange for a tenant lease agreement release form if there is little to nothing above normal wear and tear - 2 months if there is several things that ding the SD. They don't have to agree but give it a try. Remember to use the advertising at a higher rate as a claim to circumvent their duty to mitigate. Judge wouldn't like that...

Mike45 and GruvinTX are absolutely correct.

Landlords cannot ask for higher rent and a longer term making it more difficult to get a replacement tenant.

Also what kind of landlord doesn't have applicants fill out a rental application.

Seems to me this is one shady landlord and being this type of landlord I would definitely NOT give cash to break the deal - thereby having no proof - and relying on this landlord's non-existent integrity.

To answer your questions specifically - is my nephew still obligated to pay? The answer is Yes.

Can my nephew just walk away or should he talk to the landlord and ask him to change his listing price and rental term? My answer is NO.

I would advise your nephew to see a lawyer - take a copy of the lease and a copy of the advertisement showing the higher rent and lease term and see what happens then.

is the friend also offering to pay his part of the rent?