If you want to move out, and you’re wondering how to get out of a lease in Texas without penalty, there are a few options that could fit your situation.
Knowing which reasons can get you out of a lease in Texas legally, can save you from paying hefty penalties or damaging your rental history.
How To Get Out Of A Lease in Texas Without Penalty
What reasons can you break a lease in Texas? To avoid a financial penalty, these are the only legally protected reasons for breaking a lease in Texas:
- Relocating for military service
- Family Violence
- Victim of sexual offense or stalking
- Landlord’s failure to repair
- Landlord’s failure to install or repair a smoke alarm
- Landlords failure to disclose property ownership/management details
While it’s perfectly legal to break a lease in Texas for other reasons, like moving for a new job, you’ll be responsible for paying the rent until the lease ends or a new tenant is found. You’ll also be charged a lease break fee.
Read Also: How Late Can You Be On Rent Before Eviction in Texas?
Relocating For Military Service
Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), 50 U.S.C. § 3955, tenants needing to move after entering military service or receiving new deployment orders, have the right to break their lease without penalty.
The lease termination provisions of the SCRA also cover tenants who suffer catastrophic injury or illness during military service.
You’ll need to give your landlord a copy of your deployment orders as proof that you’re covered by the SCRA.
SCRA legislation: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/3955
Family Violence
In Texas, tenants can break a lease early without penalty if they are victims of the following situations:
- Physical harm or threats within a household
If a member of your family, or another person living with you, suffers abuse that causes (or threatens to cause) physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault, you have the right to break your lease early.
- Child abuse within the household
If a child in the family or household is being abused (whether physically, sexually, or through severe neglect), by another member of the household, that qualifies as a legal reason to end the lease early.
- Dating violence
If someone is experiencing violence or threats from a person they’re dating or have dated, they are protected under Texas law and can break their lease for safety.
To break the lease without penalty, Texas law requires the tenant to give the landlord 30 days notice and provide a copy of the protective court order or documentation from a licensed healthcare provider.
The 30-day notice requirement is waived if the person responsible for the violence lives with you.
Victim Of Sexual Offenses Or Stalking
Under Texas law, you can break your lease early without penalty if you’re the victim of a sexual offense or are the parent of a sexual abuse victim.
The abuse must have taken place on the premises or at a dwelling on the premises. This includes your home, another apartment in the building or complex, stairwells, footpaths, hallways, parking lots or any other common areas.
To break your lease without penalty, give 30 days’ written notice to your landlord and provide proof of the offense. Acceptable proof includes a law enforcement report or documentation from a licensed healthcare provider.
Landlord’s Failure To Repair
Your landlord is responsible for providing a habitable dwelling free from any defect that “materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant”.
If you’ve asked your landlord to make repairs, and they haven’t done so in a reasonable time-frame (usually defined as 7 days) you may be able to break your lease without penalty.
Examples of defects that are grounds for breaking a lease in Texas include:
- Sewage backups
- Roaches
- Rats
- No hot water
- Faulty wiring
- Roof leaks
- Anything that violates your city’s building, health, or fire code
Breaking a lease in Texas for landlord’s failure to repair requires you to:
- Be current on rent
- Have informed your landlord about the issue
- Not be the cause of the problem
If your landlord doesn’t make the repair within a reasonable time, send another request in writing and allow another reasonable period for the repair before sending notice that you’re terminating your lease.
Landlord’s Failure To Install, Inspect, Or Repair A Smoke Alarm
Texas law says the smoke alarms in your rental must be in good working order. At the beginning of your lease, your landlord must make sure:
- Smoke alarms are installed
- They’ve been inspected
- They work
If you don’t have smoke alarms, or the smoke alarms don’t work, notify your landlord in writing, allowing 7 days for the installation or repair.
If they don’t fix the problem, you can give notice and break your lease without penalty.
Landlords Failure To Declare Property Management Details
In Texas, you can break a lease without penalty if your landlord doesn’t provide written details about who owns and manages the property. This information should be in your lease initially.
If the details change, your landlord must tell you who the new owner or property manager is. They must also confirm these details if you make a written request.
To break your lease for this reason, you’ll need to submit a written request for the information, which also informs the landlord you will terminate your lease if the information isn’t provided.
You must allow 7 days for the landlord to respond before giving notice that you’re breaking your lease.
Is Breaking A Lease In Texas For Medical Reasons Allowed?
While Texas law doesn’t explicitly allow medically driven termination, tenants with serious illnesses or disabilities may still be able to exit the lease by:
- Requesting a reasonable accommodation under federal disability laws (ADA, Fair Housing Act)
- Negotiating directly with the landlord (e.g., offering a replacement tenant)
- Checking for health-related clauses already written into the lease
Always get any agreements in writing, especially when negotiating a lease break for medical or personal reasons.
How To Break A Lease In Texas
To break your lease, first check if any of the reasons listed above apply in your case. If they don’t, you may be able to come to a mutual agreement with your landlord.
Getting your landlord’s agreement is the key to avoiding penalties and having a broken lease recorded in your rental history.
Your landlord may agree to let you out of your lease if you find another tenant.
Even when your landlord won’t cooperate with you, they still have a duty to make reasonable efforts to find a new tenant. Once a new tenant is in place, you won’t be responsible for paying any more rent.
Whatever your reason for breaking a lease in Texas, always provide notice in writing and supply any documentary proof required.
Alex Graham is a co-founder and manages high-quality content that helps once evicted/ex-felons find a place to call. home. Alex believes even if he can help one person return to a good, wholesome life it is well worth the effort.