OK, I guess I didn't put it right the first two times .im sorry. The new lease started in June I paid June, the landlord said the kids found another tenant and he starts July. So your done! That's how he told me and in a email so I waited and waited and haven't gotten any money since then. I just emailed him again and haven't heard anything but while I was a tenant he was very nice and would answer every email and every phone call.

Emails won't hold up in court, as you can understand. You need a signed release or need to see a lease for the "kids" in place. Else, you are still at risk. See, right now, your landlord literally has two parties guaranteeing payment. Every landlord wants this. If the "kids" don't pay, he can come after you, and all of those "understandings" can miraculously disappear in court. However, if he has signed another lease with the "kids" on top of your lease without obtaining a release with you, you be able to countersue for the damages, i.e. being the rent during the period you would have stayed in the apartment.

In either case, I would want a clean break, and it's in your interest to pressure your previous landlord for it. If he doesn't respond, you might try showing to the your previous residence and make known the "complications" that may effect the apartment. The "kids" may give you a copy of the lease just out of pure fear.