Lease Acceleration Clause
in Your Lease
How this page is sourced
Statutes verified against primary state sources
Every statute cited here was read in its published text before this page went live: on the state's own site where that site can be reached, otherwise on a republished copy of the code. Court decisions are quoted from the published opinion and linked to it, so you can read the original yourself.
Primary sourcesNot legal advice
Content verified against primary state statutes before publicationLast updated: October 2026
What it actually means, what New York law says, what's specific to New York City - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- RPL § 227-e requires your landlord to try to re-rent once you vacate in violation of the lease.
- The re-rent target is fair market value or your lease rate, whichever is lower.
- Any lease clause exempting the landlord from that duty is void as contrary to public policy.
- The burden of proof is on the party seeking damages, normally the landlord billing you.
- The statute sets no deadline, and our record of New York City finds no city rule on acceleration.
Step by step
How it plays out
- You leave earlyRemaining rent may fall dueAn acceleration clause can make every remaining month due at once. RPL § 227-e limits what it can collect.
- Unit sits emptyLandlord must try to re-rentOnce you vacate in violation of the lease, your landlord must take reasonable, customary steps to re-rent. A waiver of that duty is void.
- Bill arrivesLandlord must prove the effortThe burden of proof is on the party seeking damages. The claim shrinks by what good faith re-renting should have brought in.
Copy and send: When your landlord bills you for the rest of the lease after you moved out
Ask what was done to re-rent the unit
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
How New York compares
Landlord duty to mitigate after an early lease break, state by state
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See all 25 cities as a chart
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Understanding the Lease Acceleration Clause
This page is for New York City renters whose lease has an acceleration clause: the paragraph that makes every remaining month of rent due at once if you break the lease. On paper the bill is simple math, months left times the rent.
In New York a state statute limits that number. What your landlord did to re-rent the apartment, and what re-renting should have brought in, shape how much you can owe.
What renters assume
If my lease says all remaining rent is due when I leave early, I owe that full amount the day I hand back the keys.
What is actually true
Not by default. RPL § 227-e makes the duty to re-rent mandatory, and a lease clause waiving it is void. The claim shrinks by what good faith re-renting should have brought in.
New York sits at the protective end of this chart. Florida landlords may legally stand by and bill you as rent comes due, and our Georgia record finds no mitigation statute - while RPL § 227-e both demands the effort and voids any clause trying to sign it away.
Rent Acceleration Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in New York City, NY
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
The clause the Montana Supreme Court had in front of it. It does not end where this extract ends - a further sentence on late fees and interest follows in the lease and is not printed below:
If any monthly installment under this agreement is not paid when due and remains unpaid after a date specified by a notice to Tenant, the entire principal rent amount owed for the full lease term shall at once become due and payable at the option of the Landlord and judgment may be had for all said amounts due. The foregoing provision shall not relieve the Landlord of its obligation to mitigate damages. In the event the rental premises is re-rented to another for full value prior to expiration of the lease term, Landlord shall file Notice of Partial Satisfaction of any judgment entered to the extent of the third party rental agreement.
[…]
Quoted from the published opinion in Summers v. Crestview Apartments, 2010 MT 164, 357 Mont. 123, 236 P.3d 586 (No. DA 09-0489). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
What the 4 highlighted phrases mean
“shall not relieve the Landlord”
In New York a lease cannot say the opposite of this. RPL § 227-e voids any provision exempting a landlord from the duty to re-rent, as contrary to public policy, so the drafter who wrote this concession in gave away nothing and a drafter who left it out would be no better off. What the statute does not do is bless the first half of the paragraph. It regulates what the landlord must do after you go; it says nothing about turning the balance of the term into a debt on the day a payment is missed.
“is re-rented to another”
The lease treats re-renting as something that might happen. New York treats it as something the landlord has to attempt, and the trigger is your departure: the duty attaches once the tenant vacates in violation of the lease, and the standard is reasonable and customary action taken in good faith. Note what is missing on both sides. Our New York record fixes no deadline for any of it, and the paragraph you signed fixes none either.
See the example
“for full value”
Full value is the lease's measure. New York's is narrower and the difference is money. Section 227-e requires re-renting at fair market value or the rate agreed in your lease, whichever is lower. In a falling market those are two different numbers and the statute picks the smaller one, so a landlord holding the unit empty rather than dropping below your old rent is not meeting the standard the statute sets. A clause that credits you only when the unit fetches its former price is measuring by the wrong yardstick.
“to the extent of the third party rental agreement”
The credit is capped by whatever the replacement tenant actually agreed to pay, which makes the replacement lease the document that decides most of the argument - and in New York you are not the one who has to produce it. Under § 227-e the burden of proof is on the party seeking to recover the damages, so a landlord suing for the balance has to show what the unit did and did not earn. Compare California, where Civ. Code § 1951.2 puts the avoidable-loss proof on the tenant instead.
See the example
The Montana Supreme Court struck this paragraph down, and its conclusion is one sentence: “Thus, we conclude that the accelerated rent provision is unconscionable and therefore unenforceable.” The tenants had moved out of their apartment on October 13, 2006, and Crestview answered with a Statement of Deductions from the Security Deposit charging rent through the end of the lease in June - $6,505.75 billed against a $2,170 deposit. Two reasons carried the court. Acceleration undermines the landlord's duty to mitigate and reduces the incentive to re-rent promptly, because a landlord already holding a judgment for the whole term has little reason to fill the unit. And Crestview drafted the lease while these tenants had no meaningful choice and no opportunity to negotiate any of it. The case was reversed and remanded, and two justices wrote separately - their objection being that the majority had gone as far as treating acceleration clauses as unenforceable in themselves. So read the holding narrowly, as the majority wrote it: this provision, in this residential lease, unconscionable and unenforceable. It is a Montana decision and it binds no other state's courts. What travels is the reasoning, and the reasoning is about mitigation - which is exactly the question the statute in your own city's decode answers.
How this state's law treats this clause
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
New York Law on Lease Acceleration Clause
- Section 227-e requires the landlord, in good faith, to take reasonable and customary action to re-rent at fair market value or the lease rate, whichever is lower.
- Any lease provision exempting the landlord from this duty is void as contrary to public policy.
- The burden of proof is on the party seeking to recover damages.
- The statute sets no deadline; the duty attaches once the tenant vacates in violation of the lease.
Sources include N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 227-e - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
In New York this question is answered by N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 227-e. It sets a duty to mitigate, meaning a duty to try to cut the loss by re-renting.
- When it starts. The duty attaches once you vacate the unit in violation of the lease.
- What it requires. Your landlord must act in good faith to take reasonable and customary action to re-rent, at fair market value or your lease rate, whichever is lower.
- No waiver. Any lease provision exempting the landlord from the duty is void as contrary to public policy.
- Who proves it. The burden of proof is on the party seeking to recover damages, normally the landlord.
- No deadline. The statute sets no time limit for re-renting.
Statutes are amended, so check the text at nysenate.gov as it reads on the day you need it.
What's Specific to New York City
Our record of New York City finds no city rule on acceleration. RPL § 227-e already applies citywide, while HPD and rent-stabilization rules cover separate topics like renewals, registration and harassment.
That leaves your lease and the statute as the documents to read. If your old apartment shows up on StreetEasy or the management company's own site, save a dated screenshot of the listing and its rent.
Those dates and prices are the facts the re-rent question turns on.
It should. RPL § 227-e makes the duty to re-rent mandatory, and a lease that stays silent does not erase it.
Fair leases show the math. The re-rent target is fair market value or your lease rate, whichever is lower.
That full balance ignores the statute, which cuts the claim by what good faith re-renting should have brought in.
Any provision exempting your landlord from RPL § 227-e is void as contrary to public policy.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 227-e on nysenate.gov, New York's own publication of its statutes.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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Full remaining rent due immediately
The bill charges every unexpired month. RPL § 227-e still cuts that claim by what reasonable, customary re-renting should have recovered.
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Wording that waives the re-rent duty
A clause saying the landlord has no obligation to re-rent is void in New York, whatever you signed.
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Acceleration stacked on re-letting fees
The lease takes all remaining rent and a separate re-letting charge. Ask in writing which amounts are credited against the re-rental before you pay.
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Unit relisted above your rent
Your old apartment reappears priced higher than you paid. The statute sets the target at fair market value or your lease rate, whichever is lower.
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No proof of re-rental effort
A bill with no listing dates, showings or new rent. The burden sits on the party seeking damages, so ask for those facts in writing.
Your Rights as a New York City Tenant
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A landlord who must try
Once you vacate in violation of the lease, your landlord must act in good faith to take reasonable and customary steps to re-rent.
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Waivers that do not count
Any lease provision exempting your landlord from that duty is void, so signing the paragraph does not make it enforceable.
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The lower of two rents
The re-rent target is fair market value or your lease rate, whichever is lower.
-
The burden is not yours
The party seeking to recover damages carries the burden of proof, normally your landlord.
What To Do - Step by Step
Find the acceleration paragraph
Search your lease for 'accelerate', 'all remaining rent' or 'balance of the term'. That wording is the number your landlord will open with.
Put your move-out date in writing
Send a dated notice. The duty under RPL § 227-e attaches once you vacate in violation of the lease, so make that date easy to prove.
Return keys with a paper trail
Photograph every room and hand back keys on a date you can prove.
Track the relisting
Check StreetEasy, Zillow and the management company's own site weekly. Save the listing dates and the asking rent.
Ask for the re-rent facts in writing
Ask for listing dates, showings and the new rent. The burden is on the party seeking damages, not on you.
Get free New York tenant help
Contact the Legal Aid Society, Housing Court Answers or a local tenant association before paying a lump sum or signing a repayment plan.
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Lease Acceleration rules near New York
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
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