Q: Son wants to break his lease, he no longer lives there. Landlord wants rent anyway. He entered a lease with his friends for a year. He has since left school and taken loans out to pay rent. He gave them over 8 months to find a sub-lease, which they did not. He does not want to pay last 8 months of rent.

A:  You need to read the lease carefully or have an attorney review it. Generally, if a tenant breaches a lease, and vacates the premises, he or she can be held for the balance of the lease. However, the landlord has a duty to mitigate the damages by preparing the unit for re-lease and finding a tenant as soon as possible. In your situation, I would have to read the lease to see if your son and his friends were responsible for finding another tenant, and not the landlord. As pointed out, you never know, there may be a defense for your son based on the facts, which an attorney could determine.