breaking lease

[newjersey]

new jersey- have written lease-one year
my roommate is breaking 1yr lease with no replacement. first, landlord wrote through a lawyer we are both responsible for rent for the duration of the lease. then verbally stated i'm responsible just like a husband/wife relationship, hence will be have to pay his portion. it is now less than 30 days until my roommate leaves, and i have not received any written word either from my roommate or landlord stating he is no longer responsible for rent. must they inform me of any agreements nullifying the lease, and is there such a thing as husband/wife relationship clause?

 

[LL]

It is not possible to nullify the lease except by the consent of all of the parties to the lease.

The lease clause you asked about is not called husband/wife, but it treats all roommates as a single joint entity, just like a marriage. It is called "jointly and severally responsible". It means that you are together responsible for the whole rent, and also each individually responsible for the whole rent, and the landlord can go after either one of you, or both together to get his money.