Tenant Who Vacated Must Pay Four Months' Rent

Tenant moved out of apartment two months after renewing his lease. He signed a surrender agreement with landlord in which he agreed to pay four months' rent in exchange for being allowed to break his lease. Landlord later sued tenant to recover the four months' rent, which totalled $25,000. The court ruled for landlord, and tenant appealed. Tenant claimed that he agreed to pay this amount only because landlord said it would cost that much to remove improvements tenant made to the apartment. But landlord then re-rented the apartment "as is,'' without removing the improvements. The appeals court ruled against tenant. Landlord's action was based on the surrender agreement---not on the lease. Landlord was entitled to the four months' rent tenant had agreed to pay. The fact that landlord had re-rented the apartment on terms more advantageous to it didn't negate landlord's entitlement to what it had bargained for in the surrender agreement.

985 Fifth Avenue v. Goldin: NYLJ, p. 22, col. 1 (12/28/93) (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Murphy, PJ, Carro, Ellerin, Kupferman, JJ)