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

If you leave without a legal reason

1. 1

   Your lease may say that if you leave early, you owe the rent through the end of the lease. Your landlord will probably keep your security deposit. Your landlord may also sue you, or hold you responsible for the rent until another tenant moves in.

   Source:

   1. Moving Before the End of Your Lease, Massachusetts Legal Help. A nonprofit group.
   Tip.

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

2. 2

   Some landlords will not let you out of a lease. Your landlord must still make a reasonable effort to find another tenant.

   Source:

   1. You Leave, Massachusetts Legal Help. A nonprofit group.
3. 3

   For example, say you have 4 months left on your lease at $1,000 a month. You leave early. Another tenant moves in after 2 months. Your landlord could hold you responsible for about $2,000 in rent. Your landlord will probably also keep your deposit.

   Sources:

   1. Our editorial rules.
   2. You Leave, Massachusetts Legal Help. A nonprofit group.
   Tip.

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

When you can leave early

4. 4

   Say your home breaks the health code in a way that may endanger or materially (seriously) harm your health or safety. Tell your landlord in writing. The law gives your landlord 5 days after your notice to start repairs and 14 days to finish. If they do not, and a health board, code agency or court confirms it, you may end your lease. Pay only fair value and move out within a reasonable time.

   Sources:

   1. Our editorial rules.
   2. M.G.L. c. 111, § 127L, Massachusetts General Court. Law.
   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.

   From Massachusetts Legal Help.
   Tip.

   Write down each problem, every time you contacted your landlord, and the day you moved out.

   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.

How to leave

5. 5

   You can ask your landlord to let you leave early. If your landlord says yes, send a written notice saying you will give up (surrender) the apartment by a date. Ask for a written yes. Once your things are out, return the keys by that date. A spoken yes alone is risky. Your landlord may later say you owe rent.

   Sources:

   1. Our editorial rules.
   2. The Landlord Agrees to Your Moving Out, Massachusetts Legal Help. A nonprofit group.
6. 6

   You can write your landlord a letter that says they must make a reasonable effort to find a new tenant. That cuts the landlord's loss. You can also find someone willing to take over your lease. Keep a copy of every letter.

   Sources:

   1. Our editorial rules.
   2. You Leave, Massachusetts Legal Help. A nonprofit group.

After you move out

7. 7

   The law gives your landlord 30 days after your lease ends to return your security deposit, or what is left. Your landlord may keep unpaid rent or water bills, unless the law let you hold that money back.

   Source:

   1. M.G.L. c. 186, § 15B(4), Massachusetts General Laws. Law.
   Tip.

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

8. 8

   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.
9. 9

   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

10. 10

    To end your lease for domestic violence, rape, sexual assault or stalking, send your owner a written notice. Send it within 3 months of the most recent act. You can also end it if someone in your household reasonably fears serious harm soon. You must move out within 3 months of your notice. If you do not, your notice does not count.

    Source:

    1. M.G.L. c. 186, § 24(a), Massachusetts General Court. Law.
11. 11

    If you end your lease under the domestic violence law, your owner can ask for proof. Any 1 of these is enough. It can be a protection order or a record from a court or law enforcement. It can be a written note from a qualified third party you told. With the note, an adult victim who is able must also sign that it is true, under penalty of perjury (a crime if false).

    Source:

    1. M.G.L. c. 186, § 24(e), Massachusetts General Court. Law.
12. 12

    If you end your lease under the domestic violence law, you owe no rent after a set time. The time is 30 days or 1 full rental period from the day you move out, whichever is later. You get back any rent you paid ahead for after that. The law gives your landlord 30 days after the lease ends and everyone moves out to send a full, specific reason for any deposit kept.

    Source:

    1. M.G.L. c. 186, § 24(c), Massachusetts General Court. Law.
13. 13

    Say one tenant leaves the lease for domestic violence, rape, sexual assault or stalking. The other tenants are not let out of the lease. They still have to do what the lease says. They keep their other duties as renters too.

    Source:

    1. M.G.L. c. 186, § 24(d), Massachusetts General Court. Law.