Landlord's Duty to Mitigate Damages in Fixed-Term Lease Abandonment

A tenant, having signed a lease agreement stipulated to be for a fixed term, subsequently abandoned the leased premises before the term expired and refused to pay the remaining rent. The landlord sued to recover the unpaid rent for the remainder of the lease term. The court held that while a fixed-term lease obligates both parties for the entire duration, the landlord, upon the tenant's voluntary abandonment, has a duty to mitigate damages by seeking a new tenant, and the tenant is only liable for the rent due until a new lease commences or until the original lease would have otherwise expired, whichever occurs first, thus quashing the lower court's decision which had held the tenant fully liable for the entire remaining term without considering the landlord's obligation to relet.