Tenant Abandonment: Good Faith Effort to Sublease, Ahmad v. Sekely, 2018 Ill. App. (4th District 1992) 180129-U

Facts: What Happened In Ahmad v. Sekely?

• Suzan Ahmad and Ashley Roberts (Plaintiffs) along with Paige Sekely (Defendant) signed a written lease as cotenants for an apartment from August 22, 2015 to August 4, 2016.
• Sekely moved out on October 21, 2015.
• In December of 2016, the plaintiffs Suzan Ahmad and Ashley Roberts filed small claims complaint against defendant Sekely, because she did not pay her portion of rent from November 2015 until July 2016.
• Sekely filed a counterclaim, arguing that the Plaintiffs failed to mitigate their damages by not making reasonable efforts to sublet the premises.

Issue: What Did the Court Need to Answer?

• Did the plaintiffs take sufficient action to mitigate damages?
• Was defendant liable for unpaid rent?

Rule: What Do the Laws Say About This Situation?

• According to 735 ILCS 5/9-213.1, a landlord is required to undertake reasonable efforts to relet the premises after a defaulting tenant departs. This way, they do not keep the unit vacant and then attempt to collect all the lost rent. Danada Square, LLC v. KFC National Management Co., 392 Ill. App. 3d 598, 609 (2009).

Analysis: What Did the Court Decide?

• YES. This court decided that the cotenants did enough to mitigate damages when advertised on Facebook and consulted with the landlord what to do. Ahmad responded to two Facebook posts from students that were in need of housing and made her own post on "the University of Illinois Sublets, Housing, and Roommates page." This post remained on the website "throughout the time [plaintiffs] were looking for a roommate.
• YES. Sekely failed to pay rent after moving out, so she's still liable for the unpaid rent. She did not try to find a sublet.

Conclusion: What Can We Learn From This Case?

This case doesn't apply to all circumstances, because the judges evaluated whether cotenants mitigated damages and found someone to sublet the unit. They didn't decide if the landlord properly mitigated damages.

Generally, when someone who rents an apartment leaves before their lease is over, it's called abandonment.

• Paying Rent: Usually, the person who rented the apartment still has to pay rent until the lease is supposed to end, even if they're not living there anymore. They have to follow the lease rules, including paying rent, until the lease is finished. There are times when the tenant can lawfully terminate the lease early.
• Landlord's Job: The landlord needs to do their part too. They have to try to rent the apartment again to someone else at a fair price. They must be fair and reasonable about this.

• If they find a new tenant right away at the same rent the old tenant was paying, the old tenant usually doesn't have to pay more.
• If the new rent is lower than what the old tenant was paying, the old tenant might need to pay the difference between the two rents for the rest of the lease.
• If the landlord can't find a new tenant, the old tenant may be held responsible for the full rent until the lease ends.