Short story: My roommates and I broke the lease early at our apartment. We gave a 60 day notice that will end at the end of February (we are paying January and February as if we still live there), and the apartment complex claims they will have to set us up on a payment plan to pay the remaining 3 months and damages.

My question is, after doing a little research, are we obligated to pay the remaining 3 months if the apartment complex can find another tenant as soon as we move out? I am OK with paying for damages, but not so OK about paying another $3,000 on a place that I'm not living in. I am also OK with paying until someone else takes over the apartment.

I came across this article: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/tenants-right-break-rental-lease-alabama.html

quote:
Landlord’s Duty to Find a New Tenant in Alabama

If you don’t have a legal justification to break your lease, the good news is that you may still be off the hook for paying all the rent due for the remaining lease term. This is because under Alabama law (Ala. Code §§ 35-9A-105, 35-9A-423), 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 Alabama requires landlords to take reasonable steps to keep their losses to a minimum—or to “mitigate damages” in legal terms.

So, if you break your lease and move out without legal justification, your landlord usually can’t just sit back and wait until the end of the lease, and then sue you for the total amount of lost rent. Your landlord must try to rerent the property reasonably quickly and subtract the rent received from new tenants from the amount you owe. The landlord does not need to relax standards for acceptable tenants—for example, to accept someone with a poor credit history. Also, the landlord is not required to rent the unit for less than fair market value, or to immediately turn his or her attention to renting your unit disregarding other business. Also, the landlord can add legitimate expenses to your bill—for example, the costs of advertising the property.

If your landlord rerents the property quickly (more likely in college towns and similar markets), all you’ll be responsible for is the (hopefully brief) amount of time the unit was vacant.

The bad news is that if the landlord tries to rerent your unit, and can’t find an acceptable tenant, you will be liable for paying rent for the remainder of your lease term. This could be a substantial amount of money if you leave several months before your lease ends. Your landlord will probably first use your security deposit to cover the amount you owe. But if your deposit is not sufficient, your landlord may sue you, probably in small claims court where the limit is $3,000 in Alabama.

Is this article accurate? I brought up said law to the leasing agent and she stated their company isn't required to do anything like that.

What should I do, all-mighty OTers?