An adult college student entered into a written, one-year lease of a condominium unit owned by a professor who was taking a one-year sabbatical. The lease began on September 1 and called for a yearly rent of $12,000 in monthly installments of $1,000. The student lived in the unit for four months and paid rent for each month. The student moved out in late December and has not paid rent since. In a signed note, the student transferred all of his rights under the lease for the remaining eight months to an employee of the college. The employee moved into the unit on January 1 and lived there for five months, mailing the $1,000 monthly payments for those five months to the professor. At the end of May, what is the correct characterization of the employee’s liability for rent for the remaining term?

• A. The employee is liable to the landlord for the rent for the remaining term as an assignee tenant, amounting to $3,000.
• B. The employee is not liable because the tenant who signed the lease remains primarily liable.
• C. The student's liability absolves the employee of liability under the lease terms.
• D. The employee’s liability is limited to the months she occupied the unit.

Answer: (A)

When a tenant assigns a lease, the person taking the remaining term becomes primarily liable to the landlord for the rent during that term. The original tenant, the assignor, usually remains liable to the landlord as a secondary (or guarantor) unless the landlord releases him. In this scenario, the student’s transfer of all rights under the lease for the remaining eight months to an employee constitutes an assignment, not a novation. The employee then became the tenant for the rest of the term and is responsible to the landlord for the rent for those months. Since five months have already passed and the term continues through June to August, there are three months left, totaling $3,000. The landlord can sue the employee for those three months (and could also pursue the original student if the assignee fails to pay), but the employee is the one primarily liable for the remaining rent.