Handle a lease break by getting the request in writing, reading the lease clause and the statutes that can override it, and billing only the amount you can defend. A tenant who leaves before the end date still owes what the contract and the local law allow. They do not owe a number you made up in the hallway. None of this is legal advice, and the exceptions matter. A valid military termination under federal law is a different case from a job change, and California's rules for certain crime victims are not the rules in every province.

A taped cardboard moving box on a plain background.
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A lease break is a request to end a fixed term early, or a departure that happens before the end date without that agreement. Your first job is to sort which one you have. Some exits are a right the tenant can exercise. Some are a negotiation. Some are a breach you document while you re-rent. Treating all three as "they owe the rest of the term" will be wrong on at least one of them.

Write down the date you received the request, who sent it, the date they want to return the keys, and whether they are still in possession. Do not accept a phone call as the only record. Ask for the request by email or on paper, and file what you received.

Two statutes belong in the file before you quote a fee.

Federal law lets a servicemember end certain residential leases. 50 U.S.C. section 3955, part of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, allows the lessee to terminate after entry into military service, after qualifying orders, or after a qualifying stop-movement order. Termination of a residential lease is made by written notice to the landlord or the agent, with a copy of the orders. For a lease that pays rent monthly, the termination is effective 30 days after the next rent due date following delivery of that notice. The statute says the lessor may not impose an early termination charge. Unpaid rent for the time before the effective date is still owed, and it is figured through that date. Do not add your lease's early-exit fee on top of a termination that meets this section. This is federal law. It applies when the facts fit the section, not when a tenant wishes they were covered.

California gives a different early-exit right to tenants who qualify under California Civil Code section 1946.7. The notice has to be in writing, with a protective order, a police report, or the qualified third-party documentation the section describes. The tenant is responsible for rent for no more than 14 calendar days after giving that notice, or a shorter period set out in the section. The notice also has to be given within the time limits in the section, including a 180-day window tied to the document or the event. This is California law. Do not ask the tenant to narrate the incident at the front desk beyond the paper the statute lists. Do not charge a break fee on a notice that meets the section.

If neither statute fits, you are in the lease clause and the general rule for your state or province. Read both before you answer.

What does the lease fee actually allow you to bill?

Many leases say the tenant may leave early if they give a set number of days of notice and pay a stated fee, often one month of rent, and pay rent through the vacate date. That clause is only as good as local law. Some places limit fees. Some require you to credit rent you actually receive from a new tenant. In California, if the tenant breaches and abandons, or you end their right of possession because of a breach, California Civil Code section 1951.2 lets the landlord recover unpaid rent, reduced by the rental loss the tenant proves could reasonably have been avoided. Section 1951.4 is a different path. Do not export that formula to another state. Use it as a reason to read the local rule before you invoice "all remaining months."

Get the owner's approval before you offer a deal that is softer than the lease. A fee of one month gives up the later months of rent. The owner should see the number. If you agree, put the deal in a one-page letter: vacate date, keys, the fee, the last rent month, and a statement that later months will not be billed if those conditions are met.

What does a worked break look like in dollars?

Unit 6 rents for $1,650 a month, due on the 1st. The term ends August 31. The lease, which the owner approved, says the tenant may leave early with 30 days of notice and a fee equal to one month of rent, plus rent through the vacate date. On April 2 the tenant asks to leave May 31. You confirm the clause is one you are willing to honor, and the owner agrees on April 4.

Line Amount Why it is on the bill
May rent $1,650 Rent through the agreed vacate date
Early-exit fee $1,650 One month, as the clause states
June, July, August $0 Not billed if they vacate May 31 and pay the two lines
Total if May was unpaid $3,300 $1,650 plus $1,650

Four months left at $1,650 would be $6,600. You do not bill $6,600 if you signed the one-month-fee deal. You bill $3,300, and you stop there when the keys are back and both lines are paid. If they leave and the unit is re-rented June 1 at $1,650, you do not also keep June rent from the old tenant under this deal, because the letter said later months would not be billed.

If the same tenant had a valid termination under 50 U.S.C. section 3955, you would not add the $1,650 fee at all. You would bill only through the effective date the statute sets. If the tenant qualified under California Civil Code section 1946.7, rent responsibility is capped at 14 calendar days after the notice, not at a one-month fee.

Tivio can stop the recurring rent on the vacate date in the signed letter and hold the $1,650 fee as its own charge, so June does not keep billing $1,650 after the deal closed.

How do you close the file after they leave?

  1. File the request, the owner's yes, and the signed letter with the lease.
  2. Stop the recurring rent on the vacate date. Do not leave it running and plan to "fix it later."
  3. Enter the fee as its own charge, with the letter as the backup.
  4. Log the keys the day they come in. If they do not come in, the deal's vacate date has not been met, and you do not zero the later months yet.
  5. Note whether a statutory right, rather than the lease clause, was the reason. A later reader should not think you waived four months out of kindness when a statute required the exit.

Tell the owner the same week: the tenant leaves May 31, the fee is $1,650, May rent is $1,650, and June through August will not be charged if the conditions are met. Owners hear "they broke the lease" and picture $6,600. The letter is how you keep that expectation honest.

Do not lock the tenant out because they asked to leave. Do not refuse to accept a 1946.7 notice because the fee clause "always applies." The statute wins over the clause when the facts fit. Do not erase the balance in the software before the money or the signed waiver is in the file.

What does the break letter actually say?

Keep the letter shorter than the lease. Four sentences are enough, and each one should carry a number or a date.

"We agree you will return possession of Unit 6 on May 31, including all keys and fobs. May rent of $1,650 is due on May 1. An early-exit fee of $1,650 is due on May 1, separate from rent. If those amounts are paid and the keys are back on May 31, we will not bill June, July, or August."

If the exit is under 50 U.S.C. section 3955, do not use that letter. Use a different note: you received the written notice and the orders on a stated date, the effective date under the statute is a stated date, and you will not add an early termination charge. If the exit is under California Civil Code section 1946.7, the note should say you received the written notice and the attached document the section requires, and that rent responsibility follows the 14-calendar-day cap in that section. Do not staple the fee letter to a statutory notice. The two paths do not mix.

Have the owner initial the fee letter if the management agreement says the owner approves early exits. File their initial with the letter. A manager who signs away $3,300 of remaining rent, the gap between $6,600 and the $3,300 you billed, without the owner's mark, will be explaining that gap on the next owner call.

File the signed break letter with the lease, and post the charges it allows as their own lines so the tenant's balance matches the letter. Tivio lets you do both from the lease page.