Cost to replace landlord's property when exact replacement is unavailable

[Eisnel]

Summary:

After renting the common room ("party room") at my apartment building, the landlord discovered damaged furniture and is charging me (a significant amount, more than the security deposit covered). The piece of furniture, a glass tabletop, is no longer manufactured (not an antique). I'm worried the landlord may be going to unreasonable (and expensive) extremes to recreate an exact replacement, instead of opting for a reasonable equivalent.

Details:

After determining that the exact table in question was no longer manufactured, the landlord has rather quickly decided that the only solution is to have a glassmaker craft a new tabletop. I am convinced that an equivalent glass tabletop can be found for cheaper (the size and style are not all that uncommon). However, the apartment's representative will likely respond that only a glassmaker can craft an exact replica; the room has other matching glass tables, and I think the management is very keen on maintaining the room's aesthetic. I certainly understand their concern, but I'm convinced that a reasonable (and aesthetically pleasing) replacement can be found for less.

I signed a contract which makes me liable for damages. I'm working on acquiring that contract, but in lieu of that, assume that it's a standard contract.

Questions:

1. If the damaged part cannot be replaced with the exact model, due to that model being out of stock or discontinued, what is the standard for replacing it? Is there a way I can force them to opt for a very similar replacement part, or can they insist on having an exact replica crafted by a glassmaker for a much higher price?

2. Is the apartment required to find the cheapest replacement available, within reason, or are they free to choose any a replacement of any price? Is there where "good faith" would come into play?

3. Let's say that I do my own search and find the exact replacement part or one that is indistinguishable. Can my landlord still opt to go the more expensive route of having it crafted? If that occurs, do I have the legal footing to insist that I will only pay the price of the cheaper replacement, so the landlord must foot the extra cost of using the more expensive method?

4. They seem to be fast-tracking this, I'm worried they might contract with the glassmaker before I have the chance to locate a cheaper replacement. I've asked for details about the tabletop (model, etc), but haven't recieved those yet. If they pay the glassmaker before I get the info I need to search for a cheaper replacement, am I out of luck? If I find a cheaper replacement, can I push back and say that I will only pay them the price of the cheaper replacement, even though they already rushed into a more expensive solution? Since they wouldn't like that, would I have a legal leg to stand on in that case? I don't want to force a confrontation if I'm on weak legal footing.

5. I've given them my bank account info so that they can auto-pay my rent every month. The apartment's representative already told me that they can tack the damages onto my next month's rent. If I dispute the replacement costs (for any of the reasons above), could they take their desired amount from my bank account ("tacked on" to the rent payment) without my permission?

6. This may be a weird question, consider this a low priority to answer: Should the landlord take some responsibility for using furniture in a public room that is not easily replaceable? Is there any way that I might be liable only for the reasonable replacement cost of existing equivalents to the tabletop -- rather than the high price of having it custom made -- simply because the landlord made the irresponsible decision to use difficult to replace parts? I realize this last question is probably a stretch, don't consider it a priority to answer, I'm much more interested in answers to the other questions.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have.

Edit: This is in Minnesota.

(Note: I've posted another forum question that has to do with whether or not I am liable for these damages at all, due to some circumstances that I didn't discuss in this post. Any help with that would be appreciated as well, the post is called "Damage in my apartment building's "party room", also a common room").

You don't need to pay to replace exactly...just something similar and he should not place rare items etc. in a rental room