State Laws on When a Landlord Must Rerent After a Tenant Breaks a Lease

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.

State Laws on a Landlord's Duty to Rerent

Alabama

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.

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Alaska

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Alaska Stat. § 34.03.230(c)

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Arizona

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1370

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Arkansas

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.

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California

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.

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Colorado

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Schneiker v. Gordon, 732 P.2d 603 (Colo. 1987)

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Connecticut

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-11a

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Delaware

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Del. Code tit. 25, § 5507(d)(2)

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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District of Columbia

Statute or case on duty to rerent: D.C. Code § 42-3505.52

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Florida

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.

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Georgia

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.

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Hawaii

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.

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Idaho

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.

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Illinois

Statute or case on duty to rerent: 735 Ill. Comp. Stat. § 5/9-213.1

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Indiana

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.

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Iowa

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Iowa Code § 562A.29(3)

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Kansas

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Kan. Stat. § 58-2565(c)

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Kentucky

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.670

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Louisiana

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.

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Maine

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 14, § 6010-A

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Maryland

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Md. Code Real Prop., § 8-207

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Massachusetts

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.

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Michigan

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Fox v. Roethlisberger, 85 N.W.2d 73 (Mich. 1957)

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Minnesota

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.

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Mississippi

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.

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Missouri

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.

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Montana

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Mont. Code § 70-24-426

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Nebraska

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1432

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Nevada

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Nev. Rev. Stat. § 118.175

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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New Hampshire

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.

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New Jersey

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Sommer v. Kridel, 378 A.2d 767 (N.J. 1977)

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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New Mexico

Statute or case on duty to rerent: N.M. Stat. § 47-8-6

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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New York

Statute or case on duty to rerent: N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 227-e

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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North Carolina

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.

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North Dakota

Statute or case on duty to rerent: N.D. Cent. Code § 47-16-13.5

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Ohio

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.

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Oklahoma

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 129

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Oregon

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.410

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Pennsylvania

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.

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Rhode Island

Statute or case on duty to rerent: R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-18-40

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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South Carolina

Statute or case on duty to rerent: S.C. Code § 27-40-730(c)

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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South Dakota

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.

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Tennessee

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.

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Texas

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Tex. Prop. Code § 91.006

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Utah

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.

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Vermont

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.

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Virginia

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Va. Code § 55.1-1251

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Washington

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Wash. Rev. Code §§ 59.18.310, 59.18.595

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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West Virginia

Statute or case on duty to rerent: W. Va. Code § 37-6-7

Landlord must make efforts to rerent.

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Wisconsin

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Wis. Stat. § 704.29

Landlord must make reasonable efforts to rerent.

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Wyoming

Statute or case on duty to rerent: Goodwin v. Upper Crust, Inc., 624 P.2d 1192 (Wyo. 1981)

Landlord must make efforts to rerent.

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