A tenant signed a one-year residential lease requiring monthly rent payments of $1,000. Five months into the lease, the tenant vacated the property without notice or explanation. The landlord made reasonable efforts to re-rent the apartment but was unable to secure a new tenant until three months later. The landlord then sued the original tenant for damages. What is the maximum amount the landlord may recover from the tenant under traditional common law principles?
At common law, landlords were not always required to mitigate damages when a tenant abandoned a lease. However, modern law imposes a duty on landlords to mitigate damages by making reasonable efforts to re-rent the property. In this case, the landlord fulfilled this duty by attempting to re-rent the property but suffered a three-month vacancy as a result of the tenant’s abandonment. Therefore, the maximum recovery is for three months of unpaid rent ($3,000). The other options are incorrect because they either fail to account for the landlord's duty to mitigate or calculate damages inappropriately.
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