My wife and I recently bought a house, so we are discussing breaking our lease 3 months early. We signed a early termination clause (2 months rent). However, Arizona law dictates that Landlords must search for another tenant and if they find one then they cannot collect from us and them. Because it was an early termination clause vs the landlord simply asking us to pay for the additonal rent, are we having to pay the 2 months or will they be forced to look for a new tenant?
For Reference here is the Law I am asking about:
This is because under Arizona law (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1370), your landlord must make reasonable efforts to re-rent your unit—no matter what your reason for leaving—rather than charge you for the total remaining rent due under the lease. So you may not have to pay much, if any additional rent, if you break your lease. You need pay only the amount of rent the landlord loses because you moved out early. This is because Arizona requires landlords to take reasonable steps to keep their losses to a minimum—or to "mitigate damages" in legal terms.