Title: If you want to 'break' your lease - Met Council on Housing
Headings: If you want to ‘break’ your lease
If you want to ‘break’ your lease
Why are most tenants not usually allowed to break their leases?
What are my options for moving out before the end of my lease?
Legal Disclaimer
What happens if I move out mid-lease without my landlord’s permission?
What are the exceptions which allow tenants to break their leases?
Exceptions: Seniors
Exceptions: Military Personnel
Exceptions: Victims of Domestic Violence
What if I am unable to pay the rent?
What if my landlord has refused to make essential repairs or provide essential services?
What if the apartment was not ready for occupancy on my move-in date?
What if the condition of the apartment was different from what how it was represented by my landlord, an agent of the landlord, or by a real estate broker?
What is the best way to approach my landlord if I want to break my lease?

Content: A partial list of circumstances that may qualify, as well circumstances that clearly do not, is explained further in this information sheet. Be advised that establishing this legal argument is complicated, and you should seek legal counsel before trying this. If you believe that your landlord breached the contract, but your landlord disagrees, be prepared to defend your position in court, and to face the consequences (such as potentially being held liable for back-rent, and ending up on the ‘tenant blacklist’.) What happens if I move out mid-lease without my landlord’s permission? If you move out before the expiration of your lease and don’t pay the rent for the remaining months, your landlord might sue you for the uncollected rent. If you no longer live in the apartment, your landlord will not be able to sue you in Housing Court, and will instead have to sue you in Small Claims Court, Civil Court or Supreme Court (depending on the amount owed). As of 2019, landlords in New York who sue tenants over breached leases have a “duty to mitigate”, meaning they must show that they made every effort to find a new tenant for the remaining months on the lease. If your landlord does find a new tenant and that tenant pays rent for part of your lease period, your landlord cannot sue you for those months that he collected rent from someone else. What are the exceptions which allow tenants to break their leases? Exceptions: