Breaking a Lease

What a tenant owes when leaving before a fixed-term lease ends, the landlord's duty in most states to re-rent, and the situations in which the law lets a tenant end a lease early.

Looking for a lawyer rather than a definition? Skip to the state-by-state list of Landlord-Tenant law firms.

What it means

A fixed-term lease is a contract to pay rent for the whole term. A tenant who moves out early without a legal reason is generally liable for the rent the landlord loses as a result, plus any costs the lease validly allows. But in most states the landlord cannot simply leave the unit empty and bill the tenant for the rest of the term: the landlord has a duty to mitigate, meaning a duty to make reasonable efforts to re-rent, and the tenant owes only the rent lost until a new tenant takes over and the reasonable cost of finding one. A minority of states do not impose that duty for residential leases, and the lease itself may contain an early-termination clause with a set fee.

Several situations let a tenant end a lease early without owing the rest of the rent. Federal law lets a servicemember terminate a residential lease after entering active duty or receiving permanent change-of-station or deployment orders, by giving written notice with a copy of the orders. Many states let a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking terminate with notice and documentation. A unit that becomes seriously unfit to live in may justify leaving under the warranty of habitability or constructive eviction, though tenants should follow the state's notice steps first. A landlord's own serious breach, such as repeated unlawful entry, can also end the tenant's obligation.

Practical options often cost less than a dispute. Many leases allow the tenant to sublet or assign with the landlord's consent, and some states require that consent not be unreasonably withheld. A written buyout agreement or a replacement tenant the landlord approves can end the lease cleanly. A tenant who leaves should give written notice, return the keys, photograph the unit, and give a forwarding address so the security deposit accounting reaches them.

Where this comes from

When people hire a lawyer for this

Read the lease for an early-termination or subletting clause before you decide, and put every communication with the landlord in writing. Talk to a landlord-tenant lawyer, a tenant rights organization or a legal aid program if the landlord refuses to let you go despite a legal reason, sues you for the rest of the term, or keeps the deposit; many legal aid programs handle these cases at no cost, and servicemembers can get help from their installation's legal assistance office.

Worried about the cost? A lawyer can be hired for one part of a case only (limited-scope representation), may be paid from what a claim recovers (contingency fee), or may be free through a pro bono program or legal aid; a court can also waive its own filing fees.

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Choose your state to see Landlord-Tenant law firms in the city where we list the most; your city may be under “other cities”, A to Z. A state marked “Real Estate” has no Landlord-Tenant listing yet and opens the broader page.

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Related terms

Entries on the same subject:

• Eviction (Unlawful Detainer)The court process a landlord must use to make a tenant leave - and in most states, the only lawful way to do it.
• Implied Warranty of HabitabilityA landlord's obligation to keep a rented home fit to live in - one the lease usually cannot sign away.
• Security DepositMoney a tenant leaves with a landlord against damage or unpaid rent - held under state rules that usually require an itemized accounting within a fixed period after move-out.

Other entries in the same area of law, each written from the same primary sources.

• Adverse PossessionThe doctrine by which a person who occupies land they do not own, openly and continuously for the period the state sets, becomes its owner - the elements, the "color of title" and tax-payment variations, and why it decides fence and driveway disputes far more often than it transfers whole parcels.
• Boundary Line DisputeHow property lines are established, why fences and old surveys so often disagree with the deed, the doctrines that can move a boundary, and how disputes are resolved.
• Construction Defect ClaimsAn owner's or association's claim against a builder, developer, contractor or design professional for defects in how a home or building was designed or built.
• Deed Types: Warranty, Special Warranty and QuitclaimWhat the different forms of deed promise about the title they convey - the general warranty deed's guarantee against every defect, the special warranty deed's narrower one, and the quitclaim deed's none - and what each is used for.
• EasementA legal right to use someone else's land for a defined purpose, without owning it.
• Eminent Domain (Condemnation and Just Compensation)The government's power to take private property for public use, which the Constitution allows only with just compensation, and the owner's rights when it does.
• Foreclosure (Judicial and Non-Judicial)The process by which a mortgage lender takes and sells a home after default - the court-supervised route some states require and the trustee's sale others permit, the federal servicing rules that must be followed first, the loss-mitigation alternatives, and what the borrower can still owe or reclaim after the sale.
• HOA Covenants and Assessment LiensThe recorded restrictions that bind every owner in a planned community or condominium, the association that enforces them, and the assessment lien that lets it foreclose on a home for unpaid dues - what the documents control, how they are amended and enforced, and the limits the states have placed on association power.
• Homeowners Insurance ClaimHow a property loss claim actually works - what the policy covers, the duties it imposes on you, and where claims most often fail.
• Land Use and ZoningThe local rules that decide what can be built where, and the variances, special permits, rezonings and appeals an owner uses when the rules stand in the way.
• Loan Modification and Foreclosure AlternativesThe options a homeowner behind on a mortgage can ask the servicer for - forbearance, repayment plans, loan modification, short sale and deed in lieu - and the federal rules on how servicers must handle the request.
• Mechanic's Lien (Construction Lien)The statutory lien a contractor, subcontractor, supplier or laborer may record against a property for unpaid work or materials - the preliminary notices and filing deadlines that make or break it, why an owner who paid the general contractor can still face a subcontractor's lien, and how the lien is enforced or released.
• Private Nuisance (Neighbor Disputes)When a neighbor's noise, smoke, odors, light, water or trees become a legal wrong, how courts weigh the harm, and what remedies are available.
• Purchase Contract ContingenciesThe conditions in a home-purchase agreement that let a buyer walk away with the deposit - inspection, financing, appraisal, sale of the buyer's current home, title - how each is exercised and waived, and what happens to the earnest money when the deal fails.
• Quiet Title ActionThe lawsuit that asks a court to declare who owns a property and to remove a competing claim from the record - used to clear an old mortgage never released, a break in the chain of title, a tax-sale or adverse-possession claim, or a deed that should never have been recorded.
• Seller Disclosure DutiesWhat a seller of a home must tell a buyer about the property - known material defects, water intrusion, structural and system problems, and under federal law lead-based paint - the state disclosure forms, the "as is" sale, and what a buyer can do when a problem was concealed.
• Title Search and Title InsuranceThe examination of public records that establishes who owns a property and what claims stand against it, and the insurance policy that pays if that examination missed something - who is protected by the lender's policy, who by the owner's, and what neither covers.
• Transfer-on-Death DeedA recorded deed that leaves a house to someone at death while changing nothing during life - available in many states, and not all.

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