Pay a lot of money or go to collections? Not great options...

[Account Closed]

Hey BP, I've got a question for you. I'll keep this short for the sake of simplicity and would be open to providing any more context/paperwork if need be. The synopsis of my situation is that I'm in dispute with my Denver, CO, landlord over my move-out notice. I, unfortunately, did not give my apartment complex a 60-day notice to move out. I told them that with 24 days left on my lease. My issue is that they are now trying to hold me liable for an additional 36 days from my lease end date of 10/8. The biggest problem is that they are trying to charge me at the month-to-month rate (substantially higher than my current rate). I hope I can get some insight from real estate contract experts on what to do. The way I see it is that I can either pay up and hope that they rent out the apartment quickly so I won't be liable anymore or not pay, let my account go to collections, and eventually refute the charges and cross my fingers. Challenging situation either way because they're asking for a lot of money, and with my new rent and moving costs, I'd have to dig into my REI savings which I'd not like to do.