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

If you leave without a legal reason

1. 1

   If you abandon (leave for good) your home in violation of your lease, your landlord must try to limit the money you owe. A lease term that gives up this duty does not count.

   Sources:

   1. Our editorial rules.
   2. § 91.006(a), Texas Property Code. Law.
   Tip.

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

2. 2

   Do not hold back your last month's rent because your deposit covers unpaid rent. The law presumes (assumes) you did it in bad faith. If you did, you owe 3 times the rent kept without a legal right to it. Example: 3 times $1,000 is $3,000. You also owe the landlord's reasonable attorney's fees in a suit to recover the rent.

   Sources:

   1. Our editorial rules.
   2. § 92.108(a), Texas Legislature. Law.
   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

3. 3

   If a repair problem seriously affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant, you may end your lease. Give notice where you pay rent. After a reasonable time, send a second written notice. Or send the first one by certified or tracked mail, and save texts and emails too. Your landlord must have had time to fix it and made no steady effort. You must not be behind on rent.

   Source:

   1. § 92.056(b), Texas Legislature. 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.

   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.

After you move out

4. 4

   The law gives your landlord until the 30th day after you give back the home to refund your deposit. Your landlord may first take out damage and charges you owe under the lease or by breaking it. Your landlord does not have to return it until you give a written forwarding address. You do not lose your refund by not giving one.

   Source:

   1. § 92.103(a), Texas Legislature. Law.
   Tip.

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

5. 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 and say so. 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. 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

7. 7

   You can end your lease after family violence and not owe future rent. It can be against you or a person who lives there with the landlord's permission and pays no rent. Give your landlord a copy of a court order that protects the victim. The law lists which orders count. Or give papers from a licensed health or mental health provider who saw the victim, or an advocate who helped.

   Sources:

   1. Our editorial rules.
   2. § 92.016(b), Texas Legislature. Law.
8. 8

   Your right to leave after family violence starts the day after five things have happened. A judge signed your order, if you got one. You gave your landlord the papers. You gave written notice of ending the lease at least 30 days before it ends. 30 days passed after the notice. You moved out.

   Source:

   1. § 92.016(c), Texas Legislature. Law.
9. 9

   Ending your lease after family violence does not erase rent you owed before. But check your lease. It may not say that tenants may have special rights to end early for family violence or a military move. Then you owe none of it.

   Source:

   1. § 92.016(d), Texas Legislature. Law.
10. 10

    You can end your lease and not owe future rent after stalking where you rent in the past 6 months. A parent or guardian who lives with the victim can too. Give your landlord a copy of a protective order, but not a short-term one made without the other side there. Or give papers from certain providers and a report or record from law enforcement.

    Sources:

    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. § 92.0161(b), Texas Legislature. Law.
11. 11

    You can end your lease early and avoid future rent after certain sex crimes in the past 6 months. Sexual assault is one. A parent or guardian who lives with the victim can do this too. Give your landlord a copy of a protective order, but not a temporary one made without the other side there. You can also give a copy of papers from a licensed health care or mental health provider.

    Sources:

    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. § 92.0161(c), Texas Legislature. Law.
12. 12

    A service member or their dependent can leave early and avoid future rent if the lease was signed before entering military service. It also works for a lease signed during service. Then orders must come to move to a new post or to deploy with a unit for 90 days or more.

    Sources:

    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. § 92.017(b), Texas Legislature. Law.
13. 13

    To leave early for military service, give your landlord written notice with a copy of your military orders. If you entered service after signing, a government paper showing that works instead. With monthly rent, the lease ends 30 days after the next rent due date after your landlord gets the notice. Otherwise, it ends on the last day of the next month.

    Source:

    1. § 92.017(c), Texas Legislature. Law.