Breaking a lease

Read your lease's early-termination terms, then talk to your landlord early. Offer a replacement tenant or a sublet if your state allows it. Some reasons, like military orders or domestic violence, give you legal rights to leave early.

What to know

1. Read your lease for an early-termination or buyout clause, subletting rules, and how much notice it requires. That's your starting point.
2. Talk to your landlord early, and follow up in writing. Explain the reason and the date. Offer help: you'll show the unit, find a qualified replacement or pay a set fee.
3. Ask about a sublet or assignment. In New York, tenants in buildings with four or more units have the right to sublet with the landlord's advance consent. If the landlord unreasonably refuses, you can be let out of the lease after 30 days' notice.
4. Know when the law lets you leave. If you're in the military and get PCS orders, or orders to deploy for at least 90 days, you can end a lease with written notice under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.
5. If you or someone in your home is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or human trafficking, many states let you leave early. In California, it's 14 days' written notice with a copy of a restraining order or police report, or a statement from a qualified third party.
6. Ask whether the landlord has to try to re-rent. In New York, a landlord must try to re-rent if you leave early, and a lease can't waive that. Rules vary by state.
7. Get the deal in writing: your end date, what you'll pay, and that you're released from the rest of the lease. Then leave it clean and photographed. See Move-in photos and getting your deposit back.