So we rented a lake house in upstate New York a year in advance for 11 people. The lease was from 8/19 - 8/26. We got an email from the owner yesterday, 8/16 with a picture of a letter he had sent on 8/3 along w/ a check by registered mail that he had sent cancelling our rental. The person who had signed the lease had moved (but also did the proper change of address forwarding, for some reason it never got forwarded).
It turns out the house had been sold in July to a new owner and he was the one cancelling the lease. We immediately contacted the new owner and the old owner to see what was going on (the old owner was now the property manager). Turns out the new owner scheduled construction (alarm system, sprinkler system and new dock) for this week and that was the reason he was cancelling the lease.
The property manager was complete unaware the new Owner had cancelled the lease. We had been in contact with the property manager just the week before with some questions about the rental and no cancellation was mentioned.
We contacted the new Owner several times and he repeatedly took the stance that he did not have to honor the lease. He suggested finding another rental because "this had happened to him before" and refused to move the construction. One thing to note is the dock is a key feature, we had rented a boat for the week and without a dock at this lake there is nowhere to put it. Also the cancellation period for the boat was 30 days so at this point we would be getting zero money back (~3K).
One person is flying cross country and a few others are traveling from the south to get here. Everyone had to take time off work.
Are one friend is an attorney but not in this state, but they contacted him and tried to have a reasonable discussion on a solution. He admitted that he did in fact assume the leases when he had purchased the property and had honored 8 out of the 9 in effect. The alarm needed to be installed because of insurance purposes by 9/1 but the other construction was because "he wants to do it". He also seemed to acknowledge what he was doing was not legal, but was of the "go ahead and sure me" attitude.
Right now we were able to find another almost comparable rental (4 instead of 5 bedrooms) but it is significantly more money due to the last minute nature and there are really only two properties on the lake that would fit or amount of people and available at such short notice. The new owner is refusing to cover the difference in rental price because it is too much ($2,400). At this point we will probably book the new rental because otherwise we are out 3k plus all the travel expenses for people flying.
Last but not least, the lease provide for 45 days notice from the Lessee to cancel. There is no provision for Owner cancellation but it does state that any changes to the lease needs to be in writing and signed by both parties.
Has anyone experienced something like this and was able to recover the difference in rentals?

UPDATE: New owner saw reason, is overnighting a cashiers check with the difference