Breaking a Lease Early: Options and Consequences

You can end a lease early without penalty when a law gives you that right, including for military orders, domestic violence, a home the landlord has left unfit to live in, or, in some states, a landlord's unlawful or harassing entry. Otherwise you generally owe rent until the lease ends or the landlord re-rents the unit, plus reasonable re-renting costs, and California, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Washington limit that bill when the landlord does not make reasonable efforts to re-rent. If your lease offers an early termination option, paying its fee can end your rent obligation at a known cost, and Florida caps such fees at two months' rent.

When can you end a lease early without a penalty?

• Military orders. Under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, you can end a lease if you enter active duty after signing it, or if you signed it while in service and then receive permanent change of station orders, deployment orders for 90 days or more, or certain stop movement orders. Deliver written notice with a copy of your orders. For entry into service, permanent change of station, or deployment, a lease with monthly rent ends 30 days after the next rent due date following notice. For qualifying stop movement orders, the lease ends when you deliver the required notice and orders. The landlord cannot charge an early termination fee, and it must refund any rent paid for later dates within 30 days. Under the 30-day rule, if rent is due on the 1st and you deliver notice on March 10, the lease ends May 1, and you pay April's rent.
• Domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. California lets a survivor end a lease without penalty on 14 days' written notice, owing rent for those 14 days unless the unit re-rents sooner, with a restraining order or police report from the past 180 days or a statement from a qualified third party such as an advocate or doctor. In New Jersey, where your notice must say that you or your child face an imminent threat of serious physical harm from a named person, the lease ends on the 30th day after the landlord receives the notice and your documentation. In Texas, future rent liability ends only after you give the landlord the required documentation, move out, and complete any required notice period; qualifying termination carries no lease-breaking fee. Family violence generally requires 30 days' written notice, but qualifying violence by a cotenant or an occupant authorized by the landlord does not. For qualifying sexual offenses or stalking, give 30 days' written notice. The incident must have occurred within the preceding six months, and stalking must have occurred on the rental premises. Other states' rules are in protections for domestic violence survivors.
• A home the landlord has left unfit. If a serious health or safety problem you did not cause goes unrepaired after you notify the landlord and allow a reasonable time, state law may let you move out and stop paying rent. California's tenant guide says 30 days is usually a reasonable repair time, though a day or two can be reasonable for a blocked sewer line. Texas has a repair-request process that can let you end the lease, and New Jersey treats moving out over bad conditions as constructive eviction, meaning the landlord's failure forced you out. If a court later decides the problem was not serious enough, you can owe the rent, so read constructive eviction before you leave.
• Unlawful or harassing entry. In Arizona, if the landlord enters unlawfully, enters in an unreasonable manner, or makes repeated demands for entry that unreasonably harass you, you can end the lease and recover damages of at least one month's rent.
• Other state rights. New Jersey's disability and care-facility termination rights apply to residential leases of at least one year. For a disabling illness or accident, your written notice must include a treating physician's certification that you cannot continue working, proof of lost income, and proof that remaining income and benefits cannot cover rent. At 62 or older, you can also terminate such a lease when accepted into assisted living or a nursing home, with written notice, proof of acceptance, and a treating physician's certification that you need its services. For both routes, termination takes effect 40 days after the landlord receives notice; you must move out and return possession at least five working days before termination, but pay rent through termination. Texas lets the estate of a sole tenant who dies end the lease.

What you owe if no legal right applies

Without a legal right, the lease still binds you. The landlord can deduct unpaid rent from your security deposit, and Texas's State Law Library notes it can send any remaining debt to collections or sue you for it.

The landlord's duty to try to re-rent the unit, called mitigation, lowers that bill:

Florida works differently. If you break the lease and leave, the landlord can choose to leave the unit empty and hold you liable for rent as it comes due, unless you signed an early termination addendum with your lease and use it.

Early termination fees: what they cost and when they hold up

An early termination clause, sometimes called a buyout, lets you end the lease by giving set notice and paying a set fee. Read it for three things: the fee, the notice it requires, and whether paying it ends your rent obligation or only covers re-renting costs. A Texas reletting fee, for example, must be a fair amount to cover the landlord's actual re-renting expenses, and you still owe rent until a new tenant is found or the lease ends.

• Florida: a landlord can collect an early termination fee or liquidated damages (an amount set in advance as damages) only if you accepted it by signing a separate addendum when you signed the lease, the amount is no more than two months' rent, and the notice it requires is no more than 60 days. If you use it, you also owe rent through the end of the month in which the landlord retakes the unit, plus charges for any damage, but the landlord gives up any further rent.
• California: a residential lease clause that sets the damages for breaking the lease in advance is void unless the landlord's actual damages would be impracticable or extremely difficult to determine (Civ. Code 1671). If the landlord's actual loss, such as rent until the unit re-rents, can be calculated, you have grounds to challenge a fee charged as damages.

Worked example: fee or re-rent?

Your rent is $1,600, you need to leave with 6 months left, and the remaining rent totals $9,600 (6 x $1,600). Your lease lets you leave early for a fee of two months' rent, or $3,200. In a state that requires re-renting efforts, the alternative works out like this:

• The unit re-rents 6 weeks after you leave, at the same rent, and the landlord spends $250 advertising it: you owe 1.5 months of rent ($2,400) plus $250, or $2,650.
• Re-renting takes 4 months: you owe $6,400 plus $250, or $6,650.
• The unit re-rents after 6 weeks, but at $1,500: in Washington, you also owe the $100 monthly shortfall for the remaining 4.5 months, or $450, for a total of $3,100.

If replacement rent stays at $1,600, paying the $3,200 fee costs less than the re-rent route only after about 1.84 months of vacancy ($3,200 minus $250, divided by $1,600). In the Washington example at $1,500, that threshold is about 1.57 months (($3,200 minus $250 minus 6 x $100) divided by $1,500), so check how fast similar units near you rent before you choose. In Florida, the fee also protects you from a landlord that leaves the unit empty and bills the full $9,600 as it comes due.

Steps that lower the cost

1. Read your lease. Look for an early termination option and the rules for subletting or assigning the lease.
2. Tell the landlord in writing as early as you can. Give your move-out date and ask the landlord to start advertising right away. In a state with a re-renting duty, listing the unit before you leave can shorten the time you owe rent for.
3. Offer a replacement. A qualified applicant or subtenant can reduce or end what you owe. Get the landlord's written consent first if your lease requires it; see subletting your apartment.
4. Put any deal in writing. A signed agreement should state the end date, the amount you will pay, and that you owe nothing more after that date.
5. Leave the unit ready to re-rent. Pay rent through your move-out date, clean, photograph each room, return all keys, and give a forwarding address for your deposit refund.
6. Track the re-renting. Save the listing dates and asking rents, and if you get a bill, ask for an itemized statement showing when the unit re-rented and at what rent.

If a new job is the reason you are leaving, see breaking a lease for job relocation. For how your lease's rent and termination terms fit together, see understanding your lease terms.