Lease Termination Letter: End Your Lease Early, the Right Way
Write a lease termination letter to your landlord in minutes. If your state's law or the federal military law gives you a right to leave early, the tool lists its conditions and documents in the law's own words, counts the date where the law gives a number, and cites the section. If not, it writes a polite request built on your lease's own early termination terms. Copy it, print it as a PDF or download it as a Word file. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Which letter do you need?
Write your lease termination letter
1. Your situation
What you offer
2. Your letter
Add your names and addresses under the letter; it updates as you type.
Read it through, sign it, and keep a copy with your proof of delivery. The .docx opens in Word, Pages or Google Docs. This is general information, not legal advice.
3. Your details
Back to your letter. Names and addresses are never put in the page link, which holds only your state, the letter type, the right and the dates.
Lease termination letter templates
Four sample letters to copy and fill in. Replace every [bracket], date the letter with the day your landlord will receive it, and have every tenant on the lease sign.
End my lease early: I have a legal right
For a tenant whose state law gives a right to leave early, for example after domestic violence or for a repair the landlord never made. Cite the section, give the end date it allows, and enclose the documents it lists.
Military orders: SCRA lease termination letter
For a servicemember ending a lease under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Enclose a copy of your orders. On a monthly lease, the end date is 30 days after the first rent due date after your landlord receives the letter.
End my lease early: ask the landlord
For everyone else. It asks your landlord to agree to an early end and says what you offer. Delete any offer you do not want to make.
End at the end of my lease
For a fixed-term lease you will not renew. For a dated version, or a month-to-month tenancy, use the notice to vacate letter. Open the notice to vacate letter.
What to include in a lease termination letter
- The date your landlord receives it. Every count in the law starts from delivery, so the letter carries that date, not the day you wrote it.
- Your landlord's name and mailing address, and the rental address and unit. Use the address your lease names for notices if it names one.
- What the letter does, in one sentence. Ending the lease under a section of the law, asking to end it, or not renewing it.
- The end date. For a legal right, the date the section allows. For a request, the date you are asking for.
- The section you rely on, and what you enclose. A protective order, a copy of military orders or another document the section lists.
- Your forwarding address and a request for your security deposit, then a signature line for every tenant on the lease.
How to deliver it
- Send it by certified mail with a return receipt, or hand it over and ask your landlord to sign and date your copy. Both show the day it arrived.
- Use email only if your lease says notices can go by email, and keep the sent message. Some sections name a method of their own, and the tool shows their words.
- Allow for mail time. The date that counts is the day your landlord receives the letter.
- Keep a copy of the signed letter, the enclosures and the receipt together until your deposit is back.
Rights to end a lease early, by state
The early exit routes listed in the sections we read for each place, by reason. The tool above shows each one's conditions, documents and timing in the law's own words. The federal military route applies in every state on top of these.
| State | Rights listed | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Domestic violence (1), Repairs and unsafe homes (2), Fire or damage (1), Other (6) | Breaking a lease in Phoenix |
| California | Military (1), Domestic violence (1), Repairs and unsafe homes (2), Fire or damage (1) | Breaking a lease in Los Angeles |
| Colorado | Domestic violence (1), Sexual assault (1), Stalking (1), Repairs and unsafe homes (3), Other (2) | Breaking a lease in Denver |
| District of Columbia | Domestic violence (1), Repairs and unsafe homes (2) | Breaking a lease in Washington |
| Florida | Military (2), Repairs and unsafe homes (1), Fire or damage (1), Other (1) | Breaking a lease in Miami |
| Georgia | Military (2), Domestic violence (1), Stalking (1) | Breaking a lease in Atlanta |
| Illinois | Military (3), Domestic violence (1), Sexual assault (1), Repairs and unsafe homes (3), Fire or damage (1), Other (11) | Breaking a lease in Chicago |
| Indiana | Military (1), Domestic violence (1) | Breaking a lease in Indianapolis |
| Kentucky | Military (1), Domestic violence (1), Sexual assault (1), Stalking (1), Repairs and unsafe homes (2), Fire or damage (1), Other (4) | Breaking a lease in Louisville |
| Maryland | Military (1), Domestic violence (1), Age, disability or care (2), Repairs and unsafe homes (1), Fire or damage (1), Other (4) | Breaking a lease in Baltimore |
| Massachusetts | Military (1), Domestic violence (1) | Breaking a lease in Boston |
| Michigan | Domestic violence (1), Sexual assault (1), Stalking (1), Age, disability or care (2), Fire or damage (1), Other (1) | Breaking a lease in Detroit |
| Minnesota | Military (1), Domestic violence (1), Sexual assault (1), Stalking (1), Age, disability or care (1), Fire or damage (1), Death of a tenant (1), Other (2) | Breaking a lease in Minneapolis |
| Missouri | Military (1), Domestic violence (2), Sexual assault (2), Stalking (2), Fire or damage (1) | Breaking a lease in Kansas City |
| Nevada | Domestic violence (1), Sexual assault (1), Stalking (1), Age, disability or care (1), Repairs and unsafe homes (2), Fire or damage (1), Death of a tenant (1), Other (4) | Breaking a lease in Las Vegas |
| New Jersey | Military (1), Domestic violence (1), Age, disability or care (4), Fire or damage (1), Death of a tenant (1) | Breaking a lease in Newark |
| New Mexico | Military (1), Repairs and unsafe homes (1), Fire or damage (1), Other (3) | |
| New York | Military (1), Domestic violence (1), Age, disability or care (2), Fire or damage (1), Death of a tenant (1), Other (2) | Breaking a lease in New York City |
| North Carolina | Military (3), Domestic violence (1), Sexual assault (1), Stalking (1), Fire or damage (1), Other (2) | Breaking a lease in Charlotte |
| Ohio | Military (1), Repairs and unsafe homes (1), Other (2) | Breaking a lease in Columbus |
| Oklahoma | Military (1), Domestic violence (1), Repairs and unsafe homes (3), Fire or damage (1), Other (3) | |
| Oregon | Military (2), Domestic violence (1), Repairs and unsafe homes (4), Fire or damage (1), Other (9) | Breaking a lease in Portland |
| Pennsylvania | Military (1), Domestic violence (1), Death of a tenant (1) | Breaking a lease in Philadelphia |
| Tennessee | Domestic violence (1), Sexual assault (1), Stalking (1), Age, disability or care (1), Fire or damage (2), Other (1) | Breaking a lease in Nashville |
| Texas | Military (1), Domestic violence (1), Sexual assault (1), Stalking (1), Repairs and unsafe homes (1), Fire or damage (1), Death of a tenant (1), Other (9) | Breaking a lease in Austin |
| Utah | Military (1), Domestic violence (1), Repairs and unsafe homes (1), Other (1) | |
| Virginia | Military (1), Domestic violence (1), Repairs and unsafe homes (2), Fire or damage (1), Other (8) | |
| Washington | Military (2), Domestic violence (1), Sexual assault (2), Repairs and unsafe homes (1), Other (5) | Breaking a lease in Seattle |
| Wisconsin | Military (1), Domestic violence (1), Sexual assault (1), Repairs and unsafe homes (1), Fire or damage (1), Death of a tenant (1) | Breaking a lease in Milwaukee |
Not yet checked on this site: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming. In these states the tool offers the federal military route and the request letter; state law may give you other rights.
Lease termination letter questions
Write it as a dated notice to your landlord. Start with the date your landlord will receive it, your landlord's name and mailing address, and a subject line naming the rental address. Then say plainly what the letter does: ends the lease early under a law that gives you that right, asks your landlord to agree to an early end, or gives notice that you will leave when the lease ends. Give the end date, list anything you enclose, ask for your security deposit at your forwarding address, and have every tenant on the lease sign. Deliver it in a way you can prove, such as certified mail with a return receipt, and keep a copy. The generator above writes all three kinds and counts the dates it can.
Sometimes, when a law gives you a right to leave. In the 29 places (28 states and DC) whose sections we read, the law lists an early exit for domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking in 26, a military route of the state's own in 23, an exit tied to repairs or an unsafe home in 18, and one for age, disability or a move into care in 7. The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act adds a route for servicemembers with qualifying orders in every state. Each route has its own conditions, documents and rules on rent and fees, and the tool above shows them in the section's own words. Without such a route you are asking your landlord: your lease's early termination clause may set a fee, and in 24 of those 29 places the law we read says the landlord has a duty to try to re-rent the home (to mitigate). The request letter offers help finding a replacement tenant for that reason.
It depends on why the lease ends. To end a month-to-month tenancy or leave when a lease runs out, the notice period calculator and the notice to vacate letter give your state's rule and the dates. To leave early under a law that allows it, the section sets the timing: among the routes we read that count a plain number of days from the day the landlord receives the notice, the figures run from 5 to 90 days, and 30 days is the most common (34 of 72 routes). The federal military route counts from rent instead: on a monthly lease, the termination is effective 30 days after the first rent due date after the notice is delivered. If you are asking your landlord, check your lease's early termination clause for the notice it asks for.
Yes, if your orders qualify. The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. 3955, lets a servicemember end a lease of a home signed before entering military service, or signed while in service and followed by orders for a permanent change of station or a deployment of not less than 90 days. You deliver written notice with a copy of your military orders, and on a monthly lease the termination is effective 30 days after the first rent due date after delivery. The section says the lessor may not impose an early termination charge. 23 of the 29 places we read add a military route of their own, and the tool lists it beside the federal one. Our military lease termination guide walks through each step.
The date, your landlord's name and mailing address, the rental address and unit, a plain statement of what you are doing and the end date, and the section of the law you rely on if you have a legal right. Add a list of the documents you enclose, your forwarding address with a request to return your security deposit, and a signature line for every tenant on the lease. For a request, say what you offer: the notice and fee your lease sets, help finding a replacement tenant, or a sublet where the lease allows it. Keep a copy and your proof of delivery.
More tools for moving out
- Notice to Vacate Letter: Leaving when the lease ends, or ending a month-to-month tenancy: the dated notice.
- Notice Period Calculator: The date your notice must reach your landlord under your state's rule.
- Early Termination Fee Calculator: What leaving early could cost under your lease's clause.
- Deposit Return Deadline Calculator: When your landlord must return the deposit after you move out.
- Move Out Checklist: Room by room, so the deposit comes back.
Leaving on military orders? Read the military lease termination guide. How early termination clauses work in any lease: early termination clauses explained.