Lease Break Fee, Early Termination & Duty to Mitigate by State 2026
Three things drive what a tenant actually owes after breaking a lease: state duty-to-mitigate rule, state DV early-termination statute, and the federal SCRA military exception. All cited per row.
The Federal Floor, Same in All 50 States + DC
Two federal statutes override state law. Every landlord must follow them regardless of what the lease says or what the state landlord-tenant code provides.
- SCRA (50 U.S.C. § 3955): a servicemember on a permanent change of station (PCS) order, or with deployment orders for 90+ days, may terminate a residential lease with 30 days' written notice after the next rent due date following notice. Lease-break fees are void against a qualifying SCRA termination. Active duty = army, navy, marines, air force, space force, coast guard, NOAA, PHS commissioned corps, plus reserves on active duty 30+ days.
- VAWA (34 U.S.C. § 12491): in covered housing programs (HUD public housing, HCV/Section 8 vouchers, project-based Section 8, USDA Rural Development, LIHTC, HOME, HOPWA), a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, or stalking may terminate the lease early without lease-break liability, even if no state DV statute exists.
The Single Biggest Variable: Duty to Mitigate
If the state imposes a duty to mitigate, the landlord must take reasonable steps to re-rent the unit after a tenant breaks a lease. The tenant only owes rent for the period the unit was reasonably vacant despite the landlord's good-faith efforts. In states with a strong duty (most), a tenant who hands over keys and gives notice typically owes one to three months' rent, not the full remainder of the lease.
In the small minority of states that follow the historical no-duty rule, the landlord can let the unit sit empty and collect rent for the full remaining term. Mississippi is the cleanest example. Arkansas, Idaho, North Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming have unsettled or limited case law and should not be treated as duty-to-mitigate states without specific advice.
State-by-State Duty to Mitigate & DV Early Termination
Sorted with the strongest statutory protections first.
| State | Duty to Mitigate | State DV Early-Term Statute | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Statute | No specific statute | Ala. Code § 35-9A-105 |
| Alaska | Statute | Yes AS § 34.03.300 |
AS § 34.03.230 |
| Arizona | Statute | Yes A.R.S. § 33-1318 |
A.R.S. § 33-1370(C) |
| California | Statute | Yes Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.7 |
Cal. Civ. Code § 1951.2 |
| Colorado | Statute | Yes C.R.S. § 38-12-402 |
C.R.S. § 13-40-104(4) |
| Connecticut | Statute | Yes C.G.S. § 47a-11e |
C.G.S. § 47a-11a |
| Delaware | Statute | Yes 25 Del. C. § 5141A |
25 Del. C. § 5507(d) |
| Florida | Statute | Yes Fla. Stat. § 83.683 |
Fla. Stat. § 83.595(2) |
| Hawaii | Statute | Yes HRS § 521-80 |
HRS § 521-70(d) |
| Illinois | Statute | Yes 765 ILCS 750 |
735 ILCS 5/9-213.1 |
| Iowa | Statute | Yes Iowa Code § 562A.27A |
Iowa Code § 562A.29(3) |
| Kansas | Statute | Yes K.S.A. § 58-25,127 |
K.S.A. § 58-2565(c) |
| Kentucky | Statute | Yes KRS § 383.300 |
KRS § 383.670 |
| Maine | Statute | Yes 14 M.R.S. § 6001(6) |
14 M.R.S. § 6010-A |
| Montana | Statute | Yes Mont. Code § 70-24-322 |
Mont. Code § 70-24-426 |
| Nebraska | Statute | No specific statute | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1432 |
| Nevada | Statute | Yes NRS § 118A.345 |
NRS § 118A.490 |
| New Mexico | Statute | Yes NMSA § 47-8-33.2 |
NMSA § 47-8-6 |
| New York | Statute | Yes N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 227-c |
N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 227-e |
| North Dakota | Statute | No specific statute | N.D. Cent. Code § 47-16-13.5 |
| Ohio | Statute | No specific statute | Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.05(C)(2) |
| Oklahoma | Statute | Yes 41 Okla. Stat. § 113.4 |
41 Okla. Stat. § 129 |
| Oregon | Statute | Yes ORS § 90.453 |
ORS § 90.410(3) |
| Rhode Island | Statute | Yes R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-37-1 |
R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-18-40 |
| South Carolina | Statute | Yes S.C. Code § 27-40-740 |
S.C. Code § 27-40-730 |
| Tennessee | Statute | Yes Tenn. Code § 66-28-518 |
Tenn. Code § 66-28-507 |
| Texas | Statute | Yes Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0161 |
Tex. Prop. Code § 91.006 |
| Vermont | Statute | Yes 9 V.S.A. § 4474d |
9 V.S.A. § 4475 |
| Virginia | Statute | Yes Va. Code § 55.1-1236 |
Va. Code § 55.1-1251 |
| Wisconsin | Statute | Yes Wis. Stat. § 704.16 |
Wis. Stat. § 704.29 |
| District of Columbia | Case law | Yes D.C. Code § 42-3505.07 |
Truitt v. Evangel Temple, Inc., 486 A.2d 1169 (D.C. 1984) |
| Georgia | Case law | Yes O.C.G.A. § 44-7-23 |
Peterson v. P.C. Towers, L.P., 426 S.E.2d 243 (Ga. Ct. App. 1992) |
| Indiana | Case law | Yes Ind. Code § 32-31-9 |
Stewart v. Walker, 597 N.E.2d 368 (Ind. Ct. App. 1992) |
| Maryland | Case law | Yes Md. Real Prop. § 8-5A-02 |
Wilson v. Ruhl, 277 Md. 607 (1976) |
| Massachusetts | Case law | Yes M.G.L. c. 186 § 24 |
Krasne v. Tedeschi, 436 Mass. 103 (2002) |
| Michigan | Case law | Yes MCL § 554.601b |
Froling v. Bischoff, 73 Mich. App. 496 (1977) |
| Minnesota | Case law | Yes Minn. Stat. § 504B.206 |
Lefto v. Hoggsbreath Enters., 581 N.W.2d 855 (Minn. 1998) |
| Missouri | Case law | Yes Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.920 |
Bolling Co. v. Barrington Co., 818 S.W.2d 358 (Mo. Ct. App. 1991) |
| New Hampshire | Case law | Yes RSA § 540:2 |
Sommers v. Comstock, 163 N.H. 130 (2011) |
| New Jersey | Case law | Yes N.J.S.A. § 46:8-9.6 |
Sommer v. Kridel, 74 N.J. 446 (1977) |
| Pennsylvania | Case law | Yes 68 P.S. § 250.505-B |
Stonehedge Square Ltd. P'ship v. Movie Merchants, Inc., 552 Pa. 412 (1998) |
| Utah | Case law | Yes Utah Code § 57-22-5.1 |
Reid v. Mutual of Omaha Ins. Co., 776 P.2d 896 (Utah 1989) |
| Washington | Case law | Yes RCW § 59.18.575 |
Hargis v. Mel-Mad Corp., 46 Wn. App. 146 (1986) |
| West Virginia | Case law | No specific statute | Teller v. McCoy, 162 W. Va. 367 (1978) |
| Arkansas | Unclear | No specific statute | |
| Idaho | Unclear | No specific statute | |
| Louisiana | Unclear | Yes La. R.S. § 9:3261.1 |
|
| North Carolina | Unclear | Yes N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-45.1 |
|
| South Dakota | Unclear | Yes SDCL § 43-32-18.1 |
|
| Wyoming | Unclear | No specific statute | |
| Mississippi | No duty | No specific statute | Buchanan v. Stinson, 335 So. 2d 912 (Miss. 1976) |
What Landlords Should Actually Charge
In a duty-to-mitigate state, the lease-break fee that holds up in court is the rent lost during the period the unit was reasonably vacant, plus actual re-letting costs (advertising, showing, credit checks, prorated commission). A pre-printed "two months' rent" early-termination clause is enforceable in some states (notably Florida, where § 83.595(4) lets the parties agree to a 60-day liquidated damages alternative in advance), but in many states a flat fee untethered from actual loss is unenforceable as a penalty.
Practical landlord stance: reserve the right to re-let, advertise the unit promptly at the same rent, document the days-to-fill, and bill the departing tenant only for the actual gap. That number almost always settles faster than litigating a flat fee, and it survives review under the duty to mitigate.
Sources & Methodology
- Federal: 50 U.S.C. § 3955 (SCRA); 34 U.S.C. § 12491 (VAWA).
- Duty to mitigate: cited per row to the controlling state statute or leading appellate case. URLTA (Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, § 4.203(c)) imposes a mitigation duty in adopting jurisdictions.
- State DV early-termination statutes: cited per row to the state landlord-tenant or family-violence code.
- NULL / Unclear flagged honestly. States where the duty-to-mitigate rule is unsettled or where no state-specific DV statute exists are marked accordingly, never synthesized.
Federal authorities: 50 U.S.C. § 3955 (SCRA); 34 U.S.C. § 12491 (VAWA). State authorities: cited per row. Last updated August 28, 2026. For informational purposes only, not legal advice. Lease-break questions are highly fact-specific; consult a licensed attorney in your state before refusing or charging an early-termination fee.