duty to mitigate damages

"The landlord has a duty to mitigate damages, which means to use good faith in seeking an alternative tenant.

A plaintiff has a duty to mitigate damages and can not recover losses it could have avoided through reasonable efforts.

But, Mr. Ng said, an appellate court with jurisdiction in Manhattan and the Bronx has ruled that a landlord has no duty to mitigate damages.

Yet another instance in which tenants in different parts of the city may have different protections under the law relate to what is known as a landlord's duty to mitigate damages.

In 1976, as a Civil Court Judge, he decided, in Parkwood v. Marcano, that a landlord has a duty to mitigate damages upon a tenant's default, similar to all contract damages.

Once a breach has occurred, the non-breaching party has a duty to mitigate damages, which means that damages will not be awarded if the plaintiff could have avoided the losses without undue risk, expense, or humiliation.

In addition, he said, according to rulings in the judicial district that covers Manhattan and the Bronx, a landlord has no duty to mitigate damages if a tenant stops paying rent and vacates an apartment without justification.

But according to Richard Kahn, a Hackensack, N.J., lawyer specializing in real estate, under New Jersey law, if rent is not paid the landlord has the duty to mitigate damages by making a good-faith attempt to find a new tenant who would pay comparable rent.