Landlord hindering re-rental after breaking lease

[ashv2116]

I took a job out of state and had to break my lease in Manhattan.

There are 3 months left on the lease.

I agreed to forfeit the security deposit; however, it will not go toward one of the 3 months rent left on the lease. Is that legal?

But, my more pressing situation is this:

I found new tenants, and contacted the landlord, as did the prospective new tenants. We both contacted them multiple times; however, it took nearly a week for the landlord to respond to the potential new tenants with the necessary paperwork. Because it took too long, the potential new tenants no longer wanted to rent my apartment.

This is a lease assignment situation.

The landlord's negligence directly hindered my ability to re-rent the apartment, alleviating me of the responsibility for the next 3 months. I believe this also goes against laws I've read that the landlord must make a good faith effort to re-rent the apartment in an effort to mitigate damages.

If the landlord sues me for the remaining 3 months rent, will I win in court because their negligence lead to the apartment not being re-rented before my lease was up?

Any legal guidance would be much appreciated. Thank you!

[TenantNet]

It use3d to be that the LL was required to mitigate any economic loss by making a determined effort to re-rent the apartment. But the courts changed that a number of years ago, first in the outer borough, then in Manhattan. So that is no longer the case.

If you're rent stab, the laws on assignment are better. But check the details of your lease.

You might be stick on this, but I would consider having the deposit cover the unpaid rent (unless there are real damages). Yes, deposits are not supposed to be used as rent, but in my experience that is a grey area.

Taking a week for the LL to respond does not create a situation of negligence.

One thing to consider, even if the LL does sue you, they would have to collect. I would consider putting your financial assets in another state, where they would find it more difficult to collect (although not impossible). If you're worried about your credit rating, you might consider getting some legal advice.