<p>I’ll jump in on this one, coleman4. Just hiring a lawyer probably won’t get the family off of the hook for rent. I would imagine the lease is pretty airtight. The landlord does have an obligation to “mitigate damages,” which means it needs to use reasonable efforts to find another tenant for the room. Of course, that might mean that your S and his 2 friends end up with a stranger as a roommate. It would behoove the guys to look hard to find somebody of their liking to fill the space. Good luck.</p>