Whether it is because of a job relocation, a big personal life event, or being really fed up with a landlord who won’t make repairs, each month we hear from a number of tenants who have questions about breaking their lease. The most frequent questions we get are when does a tenant have a right to break the lease and ones about the lease break fees or early termination penalties charged by landlords. As always, because landlord-tenant laws are very state specific, the information below is a general overview. If you have questions about a breaking your lease, use this information as a starting point but be sure to look into your state’s landlord-tenant law as well.
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Based on our reading and research, in most states, there are three circumstances under which a tenant has a right to break the lease early. Two of these require your landlord to let you end the lease early without paying an early termination fee or lease break penalty. If you do not qualify under one of the three things which make it a right to break your lease, then you have two options that we’ll discuss in more detail below.
LEGAL RIGHT TO BREAK THE LEASE
The two situations under which a landlord MUST allow a tenant to end the lease early without charging any fee or penalty are:
- If the tenant is active duty military and qualifies under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”).
- If the tenant is a victim of domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault and has complied with certain steps required under state law.
The third situation under which a tenant has the right to break the lease is if there is a provision in the lease that permits the tenant to break the lease before the scheduled end date. Whenever these provisions are contained in the lease, they usually tell the tenant the exact terms they must comply with. The terms often include payment of an early termination fee or lease break penalty.
Military personnel and the SCRA right to lease break
The SCRA is a law designed to ease financial burdens on servicemembers during periods of military service. This federal law covers many issues including rental agreements, security deposits, prepaid rent, evictions, and civil judicial proceedings. Qualifying for early lease termination under the SCRA requires the following:
- The apartment or house is occupied (or are intended to be occupied) by a servicemember or a servicemember’s dependents.
- The lease must be signed by a person who later enters military service or is in military service and receives permanent change of station (“PCS”) orders or deployment orders for a period of at least 90 days.
If you qualify for a lease break under the SCRA, you must submit written notice of termination (the notice must be at least 30 days) and a copy of the PCS or deployment orders (a letter from a commanding officer can be substituted) to the landlord. Once you do these things, the lease terminates after 30 days (or the date in the notice to terminate if it is later).
You can visit the following sites to read more about breaking a lease early under the SCRA:
https://www.military.com/benefits/military-legal-matters/scra-lease-termination-provisions.html
https://www.justice.gov/servicemembers/servicemembers-civil-relief-act-scra
Lease break right for victims of domestic violence, stalking or sexual assault
In many states the landlord-tenant law provides tenants who have been subject to domestic violence, stalking or sexual assault a right to break the lease without penalty. While the requirements that must be met to be entitled to break the lease for these reasons vary from state to state, they often include at least the following:
- Written notice of termination, usually at least 30 days, must be given to the landlord.
- The notice of termination must be accompanied by one of the following:
- An order of protection issued by a court
- A temporary injunction issued by a court
- A written departmental report from a law enforcement agency that states the tenant notified the law enforcement agency the tenant was a victim of domestic violence
Because this right to terminate is state specific, if you think you qualify, the best way to know exactly what is required in your state is to take a look at your state’s landlord tenant law.
That’s pretty much it for the basics of Lease Break 101. There are a few additional ways under which a tenant might be able to lease break without a penalty that we will talk about in an upcoming post, Lease Break 101 – Part 2. Are you thinking about breaking your lease early? If it’s because you are having difficulty getting your landlord to make repairs, be sure to read our post on how to get your landlord to make repairs https://protenantagency.fairness4tenants.com/repairs/tips-for-tenants-to-get-wall-street-sfr-landlord-to-make-repairs/. Have you had to break a lease before? We’d love to hear about your experience and what worked for you in the comments section.