Leaving A Lease Early

The landlord tries to rent it. When a tenant leaves in violation of the lease, the landlord, in good faith and according to the landlord's resources and abilities, takes reasonable and customary steps to rent the home at fair market value or the rate in the lease, whichever is lower. Once a new tenant's lease takes effect, the old tenant's lease ends, and that reduces what the landlord can recover from the old tenant. A lease clause excusing the landlord from this is void.

• Real Prop. Law § 227-e

Thirty days' notice after domestic violence. A tenant who, or a member of whose household, is a victim of domestic violence and reasonably fears staying may end the lease by written notice to the landlord and to any co-tenant other than the abuser. The end date is no earlier than thirty days after the notice is delivered, and a notice sent first class is treated as delivered five days after mailing. Within twenty-five days the tenant provides documentation, which may be an order of protection, a police record, a health care record, or a written verification from a qualified third party. Rent stops being owed after the end date.

• Real Prop. Law § 227-c

At sixty-two, or with a disability. A tenant who is sixty-two or older, or has a disability, may end the lease when a physician certifies the tenant can no longer live independently and the tenant is moving to a family member's home, or when the tenant is offered a place in an adult care facility, a residential health care facility, subsidized housing, or less expensive housing built for seniors or people with disabilities. Written notice ends the lease no earlier than thirty days after the next rent payment falls due.

• Real Prop. Law § 227-a