Indiana · Breaking a Lease

Breaking a Lease Early in Indiana: What Are My Options?

This is not legal advice. We explain what the law says. We cannot tell you what to do in your situation. For that, talk to a lawyer. Find free legal and rent help in Indiana.

Get legal help early.

Breaking a lease early is legally complicated. If you are in danger, leave and get safe first. Otherwise, talk to legal aid as soon as you can, before you move out or stop paying rent.

Think before you call an inspector.

You or a neighbor can ask the city to send a code inspector. Be careful: if the home is in very bad shape, the inspector can condemn it (say no one may live there). Then everyone must move out, you too, sometimes on short notice. Think about where you would go before you call.

This page covers leaving a lease early in Indiana. It covers what you may owe and how to give notice. It covers the deposit after you move out.

If you leave without a legal reason

  1. Many leases make you owe rent for the whole lease, even if you move out early. A lease may also charge cleaning fees, fees for leaving before the lease is over, and attorney fees.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. Small Claims Manual, what all landlords and tenants should know, item 2, Indiana Supreme Court, Office of Court Services, Small Claims Manual (updated 12/23/2025). A government guide.
    Tip.

    Read your lease before you decide. Check whether it lets you end it early and what penalty you must pay.

  2. If you leave before your lease is up, your landlord must make every reasonable effort to re-let (rent again) the home. That reduces the rent you owe for the rest of the lease.

    Source:
    1. Small Claims Manual, landlord and tenant item 20, Indiana Supreme Court, Office of Court Services, Small Claims Manual (updated 12/23/2025). A government guide.

  3. For example, say you leave with 6 months left on your lease at $1,000 a month. Your landlord makes every reasonable effort and rents the home again after 2 months. Your landlord can claim about $2,000 in rent, not the $6,000 left on the lease, plus any other lease costs.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. Small Claims Manual, landlord and tenant item 20, Indiana Supreme Court, Office of Court Services, Small Claims Manual (updated 12/23/2025). A government guide.
    Tip.

    This is only an example to show how the rule works. If it goes to court, a court decides the real amount.

How to leave

  1. To end a month-to-month lease (a lease that renews each month), send your landlord notice at least 30 days before it should end. Your landlord must give you the same notice. The notice can be written or oral. Your lease can say something different.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. Small Claims Manual, what all landlords and tenants should know, item 3, Indiana Supreme Court, Office of Court Services, Small Claims Manual (updated 12/23/2025). A government guide.
    Tip.

    Keep a copy of every letter you give your landlord, and keep your mail receipt. Save the texts and emails you send your landlord, and any replies.

  2. Return all keys to your landlord as soon as you move out. Your landlord may charge extra rent until you return the keys or the locks are changed. The cost of new locks may be taken out of your deposit.

    Source:
    1. Small Claims Manual, landlord and tenant item 15, Indiana Supreme Court, Office of Court Services, Small Claims Manual (updated 12/23/2025). A government guide.

  3. Giving up the home (surrender) cannot be done by one side alone. You cannot force your landlord to accept it by what you do alone.

    Source:
    1. quoting Turner v. Knowles, 208 N.E.3d 614, 617 (Ind. Ct. App. 2023), Indiana Court of Appeals, Wang v. Sun, No. 22A-SC-1473 (June 23, 2023). A court decision.

After you move out

  1. Always give your landlord a forwarding address (where to send mail after you move). Give it in writing and keep a copy.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. Small Claims Manual, landlord and tenant item 13, Indiana Supreme Court, Office of Court Services, Small Claims Manual (updated 12/23/2025). A government guide.

  2. Your landlord must return your deposit minus certain amounts. One is rent you owe. Another is losses from your not following the law or your lease, including losses the landlord reasonably expects. A third is unpaid utility (water, electric, gas) or sewer charges your lease says you must pay.

    Source:
    1. quoting IC 32-31-3-12(a), Indiana Court of Appeals, Wang v. Sun, No. 22A-SC-1473 (June 23, 2023). A court decision.
    Tip.

    Before you leave, clean the home and take photos of how you left it.

  3. Your landlord must send a written list of each amount taken from your deposit, with the amount due. The law gives your landlord 45 days after your lease ends and you hand over the home to send it. If you move out early, the 45 days start only when the lease ends or the home is rented again.

    Source:
    1. quoting IC 32-31-3-12(a), Indiana Court of Appeals, Wang v. Sun, No. 22A-SC-1473 (June 23, 2023). A court decision.

  4. If your landlord does not follow the deposit rules, you may recover all of the deposit due to you and reasonable attorney's fees. You get this money only if you win your case and your landlord pays.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. quoting IC 32-31-3-12(b), Indiana Court of Appeals, Wang v. Sun, No. 22A-SC-1473 (June 23, 2023). A court decision.

  5. If your landlord says you owe more, a debt collector may call or write to you. The collector must tell you how much, who it is for and how to say it is wrong. You have 30 days after you get that notice to write back. Then the collector must stop trying to get that money until it answers you.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. What information does a debt collector have to give me, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A government guide.
    3. What should I do when a debt collector contacts me, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A government guide.

  6. Your landlord can take money from your pay or benefits only after winning in court. The court must issue a judgment (the court's final decision) that you owe the debt. If you are sued, do not ignore it. You can lose the case if you do not go to court.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. Can a debt collector take or garnish my wages, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A government guide.
    Tip.

    If you get court papers, do not ignore them. Go to court, or you can lose the case.

    From Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Special protections

  1. If you are a victim of certain crimes involving domestic violence, you have extra rights. Your landlord cannot retaliate against you (punish you) or ask you to leave because of an act of violence against you. Your landlord may have to change the locks. If you decide to leave, you may be able to end your lease early with no financial cost. You need a current court protection order.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. Small Claims Manual, landlord and tenant item 23, Indiana Supreme Court, Office of Court Services, Small Claims Manual (updated 12/23/2025). A government guide.

Published by Nazanin, October 28, 2026. Sources checked October 26, 2026. Is something on this page wrong or out of date? Tell us.