Leaving A Lease Early
Prop. Code 92.016 — out of the lease after family violence, on 30 days' written notice
The landlord has to mitigate. A Texas landlord has a duty to mitigate damages when a tenant abandons the premises in violation of the lease, and a lease term waiving that duty is void.
A tenant may end the lease, move out and avoid liability for future rent when the tenant or an occupant is protected by a family violence order, such as a protective order, a temporary ex parte order or an emergency protection order, or has documentation of the violence from a licensed health care or mental health provider who examined them or an advocate who assisted them.
- The tenant gives the landlord a copy of the order or documentation.
- The tenant gives written notice of termination at least 30 days before the lease would end.
- The release takes effect after the 30th day after that notice, once the tenant has moved out.
- When the violence was by a cotenant or occupant, the written notice step is not required.
Rent already past due is still owed, unless the lease lacks the statutory sentence telling tenants they may have special rights to end a lease over family violence or military deployment. A landlord who violates the section owes actual damages, one month's rent plus $500, and attorney's fees, and the right cannot be waived.
Sources for this section (2)
- Prop. Code 92.016 — Right to vacate and avoid liability following family violence
- Prop. Code 91.006 — Landlord's duty to mitigate damages
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Texas attorney.