New Jersey · Breaking a Lease
Breaking a Lease Early in New Jersey: 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 New Jersey.
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.
If you leave early, you can still owe rent after you move out, up to the end of your lease.
Even with a good reason to leave, a court might disagree.
This page covers when New Jersey law lets you leave a lease early. It also covers what you may owe, how to give notice, and your deposit after you move out.
If you leave without a legal reason
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If you leave early without a legal reason, you may owe rent. You may owe it until the home is rented again or your lease ends, whichever comes first. Your landlord must try to rent it again and prove the attempt.
Source:Tip.Read your lease before you decide. Check whether it lets you end it early and what penalty you must pay.
When you can leave early
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If you move out because your landlord fails to make needed repairs, you must have proof of the bad conditions. Then the law holds your landlord responsible for breaking the lease. The law calls this constructive eviction (being forced out by bad conditions).
Source: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.
Tip.Write down each problem, every time you contacted your landlord, and the day you moved out.
After you move out
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If you leave early without a legal reason, your lease ends when the home is rented again or the lease runs out, whichever is first. That is so only if you told your landlord as your lease requires. The law gives your landlord 30 days after that to return your deposit, plus interest. Your landlord may keep money for damage beyond normal wear and tear (normal use over time) and other money you owe.
Source:Tip.Before you leave, clean the home and take photos of how you left it.
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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.
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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: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
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To end your lease without penalty for domestic violence, send your landlord a written notice. It must say you or your child faces an imminent (about to happen) threat of serious physical harm from a specific person if you stay. Name that person. Also give one of the papers that prove it.
Source: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.
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To end your lease for domestic violence, give your landlord one of these. One is a certified copy of a permanent restraining order (a court order to stay away from you). It must protect you or your child from the person you name. Others are a law enforcement record and medical papers from a health care provider. Or give a statement from a licensed social worker, certified Domestic Violence Specialist or domestic violence agency director.
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If you end your lease for domestic violence, it ends on the 30th day after your landlord gets two things. One is your written notice that you will move out and end the lease. The other is one of the papers that prove it. Rent is pro-rated (charged only up to that day). The law gives your landlord 15 business days after the lease ends to make your deposit, plus interest, available.
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Under the Service Members Civil Relief Act, you can end a lease you signed before entering the military at any time after you enter service. If you signed it while in service, you can end it after orders for a permanent change of station outside the continental United States. Orders to deploy with a military unit for at least 90 days also count.
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You can end a lease of one year or more after a disabling illness or accident that caused you to lose income. Submit the form the law requires with a written notice. Your lease ends on the 40th day after your landlord gets it. Move out and give back the home at least 5 working days before that day. Pay rent until the end date.
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You may end your lease if you are 62 or older and accepted into a nursing home, assisted living facility, or retirement community with care. You, your spouse, or your legal representative can give your landlord written notice. Send with it a note from your treating physician that you or your spouse needs the care. Also send proof you were accepted.
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Say your landlord cannot or will not make your home handicapped-accessible at their own expense. The lease can end on the 40th day after your landlord gets written notice. This covers a tenant or immediate family member who lost one or more limbs or needs a device to help them move about. Send a treating physician's certification on a form with the notice. A lease that specifically says otherwise is not covered.
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If a tenant or a tenant's spouse dies, the lease can end on the 40th day after the landlord gets written notice. No form is required.
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