Breaking a Lease Early in Texas

The Texas Property Code does not give tenants a general right to walk away from a fixed-term lease early. Instead it lists specific exits. A tenant who qualifies after family violence, certain sexual offenses or stalking, or certain military service events can leave and owe no future rent or early termination charges, and a tenant who leaves without a statutory right still has one protection: under Property Code section 91.006, the landlord has to mitigate its damages, and the lease cannot waive that duty.

Start with the lease itself

Many written leases contain their own early termination clause, sometimes with a fixed buyout amount, a notice period, or a reletting charge. Those terms are contract terms, and their wording matters. The statutory rights described below sit on top of whatever the lease says, and several of them cannot be signed away. If the tenancy has already rolled over to month to month, the picture is simpler: section 91.001 lets either side end a month-to-month tenancy with notice, and when rent is paid monthly the tenancy ends on the later of the date in the notice or one month after the notice is given. A different notice period agreed to in a document signed by both sides overrides that default.

Family violence: section 92.016

Under Property Code section 92.016, a tenant can end the lease, move out before the term is over, and avoid liability for future rent and any other sums the lease would charge for leaving early. The violence can be against the tenant or against an occupant, meaning someone living there with the landlord's consent who does not owe rent, such as a child. "Family violence" carries the definition in Family Code section 71.004. The statute does not set a time window for when the violence happened.

The tenant has to give the landlord one of two kinds of proof. The first is a copy of a court order: a temporary injunction under Family Code chapter 6, subchapter F, a temporary ex parte order under Family Code chapter 83, a protective order under Family Code chapter 85, or an order of emergency protection under Code of Criminal Procedure article 17.292. How those orders are obtained is covered in our guide to Texas protective orders. The second is documentation of the violence from a licensed health care provider who examined the victim, a licensed mental health provider who examined or evaluated the victim, or a family violence advocate, as Family Code section 93.001 defines that term, who assisted the victim.

1. An order is signed, if the tenant is relying on one

   Section 92.016(c)(1) counts from the date a judge signs the order. A tenant relying on provider or advocate documentation skips this step.

2. The landlord receives a copy of the proof

   The order or the documentation goes to the landlord or the landlord's agent.

3. The tenant gives written notice of termination

   The notice must be in writing and given at least 30 days before the date the lease is to end.

4. Thirty days pass, and the tenant moves out

   Liability ends beginning the day after the 30th day following the notice has run and the tenant has vacated, with every earlier step complete.

One variation matters a great deal. When the abuser is a cotenant or occupant of the same unit, section 92.016(c-1) removes the written notice requirement in subsection (c)(3). That route accepts the temporary injunction, the protective order, the emergency protection order, or the provider or advocate documentation; the list in (c-1) leaves out the chapter 83 temporary ex parte order. Rent that was already overdue before termination is generally still owed under 92.016(d). The right cannot be waived by the tenant, and a landlord who violates the section is liable under 92.016(e) for the tenant's actual damages plus attorney's fees and a civil penalty equal to one month's rent plus $500.

Sexual assault, child sexual abuse, or stalking: section 92.0161

Section 92.0161 gives a parallel exit to a tenant who is the victim, or the parent or guardian of the victim, of sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, indecency with a child, sexual performance by a child, continuous sexual abuse of a young child or disabled individual, or an attempt at any of these. Unlike the family violence section, this one has a time limit: the offense must have taken place during the preceding six months. A parent or guardian must live with the victim to use it.

For the sexual offenses, the proof is documentation from a licensed health care provider, a licensed mental health provider, or an individual authorized under Government Code chapter 420 who provided services to the victim, or a protective order under Code of Criminal Procedure chapter 7B, subchapter A, other than a temporary ex parte order. Stalking qualifies only if it happened on the premises or at any dwelling on the premises within the last six months, and the proof is either a chapter 7B protective order (again, not a temporary ex parte one) or provider documentation paired with a law enforcement incident report or other police record. The timing then works like the family violence section: proof to the landlord, written notice at least 30 days ahead, the 30 days pass, the tenant moves out. Anyone who receives this information may share it only for a legitimate or customary business purpose or as the law requires, under 92.0161(j). The penalty for a violating landlord and the bar on waiver match section 92.016. The section was most recently amended by H.B. 47, effective September 1, 2025, so older summaries of it may be out of date.

Military service: Texas law and the federal SCRA

The Texas rule in section 92.017

Under Property Code section 92.017, a servicemember or a servicemember's dependent may end a lease in two situations: the lease was signed before the person entered military service, or a servicemember signed it while serving and then received orders for a permanent change of station or to deploy with a military unit for 90 days or more. The tenant delivers written notice plus a copy of the orders, or a government document showing entry into service. For a lease with monthly rent, termination takes effect on the 30th day after the next rent due date that follows delivery of the notice. For any other lease, it takes effect on the last day of the following month. Prepaid rent for any period after that date must come back within 30 days.

The landlord and tenant can agree to a waiver in one narrow case: a move into base housing or other housing within 30 miles. Section 92.017(j) requires that waiver to be signed, in writing, in a document separate from the lease, and consistent with federal law. It does not apply to a move into housing owned or occupied by relatives, or to a move driven by a loss of 10 percent or more of household income caused by the service. Otherwise the right cannot be waived, and a violating landlord faces the same one month's rent plus $500 civil penalty.

The federal rule in 50 U.S.C. 3955

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act lease section, 50 U.S.C. 3955, covers the same core situations and reaches further in places. It counts orders to deploy as an individual in support of a military operation, not just with a unit, and it treats separation or retirement as a permanent change of station. It covers certain stop movement orders. A spouse or dependent may end the lease within one year after a servicemember dies while in military service. Notice can go by hand, private carrier, return-receipt mail, or electronic means. Section 3955(e)(1) says the landlord may not impose an early termination charge, though prorated unpaid rent, reasonable excess wear charges, and other obligations under the lease remain. A landlord can ask a court, before the termination date, to modify the relief as justice and equity require.

When the lease leaves out the required notice

Texas leases are expected to warn tenants that these rights exist. If a lease does not contain language substantially equivalent to the statutory notice about special termination rights in cases of family violence or a military deployment or transfer, a tenant who ends the lease under 92.016 or 92.017 is released from all delinquent unpaid rent owed on the termination date, under 92.016(f) and 92.017(g). Section 92.0161(g) has its own version keyed to notice about sexual offenses or stalking. In other words, the overdue-rent exception described above disappears when the landlord's lease form skipped the warning. Whether a particular lease's wording is close enough to count is a question a court could decide differently from either party.

When the only tenant dies

Section 92.0162, in effect since January 1, 2020, lets a representative of the estate of a tenant who was the sole occupant end the lease. The representative gives written notice, the belongings are removed under the procedures in section 92.014, and the representative signs an inventory of the removed property if the landlord asks for one. Termination takes effect on the later of 30 days after the notice or the date every condition is met. The estate still answers for rent that was overdue before then and for damage beyond normal wear and tear. Settling an estate more broadly is covered in the probate guides.

Other statutory exits: repairs, casualty, and flooding

A landlord who fails to make a repair that materially affects health or safety, after the tenant gives the notices section 92.056(b) requires, and while the tenant was not behind on rent when giving them, can lose the lease. Section 92.056(e) lets that tenant terminate, and 92.056(f) then entitles the tenant to a pro rata rent refund and lets the tenant deduct the deposit from rent without suing, in exchange for giving up the repair and deduct remedies. The notice steps are strict and are laid out in the guide to getting repairs made.

If a fire, storm, or similar casualty that the tenant's household did not cause leaves the unit totally unusable, section 92.054(b) lets either side terminate by written notice at any point before repairs are finished. And under section 92.0135(f), if the landlord skipped the required floodplain notice and a flood then damages the tenant's belongings so badly that repair or replacement would cost at least half their market value, the tenant may terminate by written notice within 30 days of the loss.

Leaving without a statutory right

The landlord's duty to mitigate

A tenant who moves out mid-lease with no statutory right and no lease clause allowing it has abandoned the premises in violation of the lease. That is exactly the situation section 91.006(a) addresses: the landlord then has a duty to mitigate its damages, and 91.006(b) voids any lease clause that tries to waive the duty. The statute is short. It does not list the steps a landlord has to take or give a formula for what remains owed after a new tenant moves in. That is decided case by case, and in a dispute a judge weighs the evidence. A claim of up to $20,000 can be heard in justice court, the forum described in the small claims guide.

Reletting and early termination fees

Chapter 92 does not set or cap a reletting fee; a search of the full chapter turns up no section on the subject. Any such charge comes from the lease. For a tenant who qualifies under 92.016, 92.0161, or 92.017, the statutes release liability for the sums due under the lease for terminating early, and the SCRA separately bars an early termination charge for a covered servicemember.

How the security deposit fits in

Under section 92.104, a landlord can take out of the deposit what the tenant legally owes under the lease or because of a breach, though never anything for normal wear and tear. The refund and an itemized list are due within 30 days of surrender under 92.103, once the tenant provides a written forwarding address under 92.107. A lease clause conditioning the refund on advance notice of move-out counts only if it is underlined or in conspicuous bold print. One trap runs the other way: section 92.108 forbids withholding the last month's rent on the theory that the deposit covers it, and a tenant who does so is presumed to act in bad faith and can owe three times the withheld rent plus attorney's fees. Refund deadlines and remedies are covered in the Texas security deposit guide.

Where outcomes depend on the facts

Several questions here have no single statutory answer: whether a lease's notice language is substantially equivalent, how much a landlord's reletting efforts reduce what is owed, and whether a particular charge is enforceable. A person facing a demand for rent after moving out, or a landlord refusing a statutory termination, may want to talk with a lawyer, and the free legal help directory lists Texas legal aid programs. Linking each cited section to the official statute site is a rule the full guide library follows throughout. The rest of the tenant material, from eviction to repairs, is collected in the renters' rights guides.