Skip to content
PayByTown

Breaking a lease in Minnesota

Source: Minn. Stat. §§ 504B.131, 504B.135, 504B.154, 504B.206, 504B.265, 504B.266 · Checked against the statute

Tenant notice, month-to-month
1 rental period, ending with a rental period
Landlord must try to re-rent
Yes
State early-termination rights
Domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking; Age, illness or disability; Unit unlivable or landlord fails to repair; Other

When can I move out in Minnesota?

Choose your state, your situation and the date your landlord will receive notice.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

If you are the tenant

  • Tenant or landlord: Written notice must be at least as long as the interval between rent due dates (or 3 months, whichever is less). The Attorney General explains this means the notice must be received by the day before the last rental period begins: to leave at the end of June with rent due on the 1st, notice must be received by May 31 (Minn. Stat. § 504B.135).

Written notice required: Yes. A tenancy at will is ended by notice in writing (Minn. Stat. § 504B.135).

Leaving a fixed-term lease early

If a tenant abandons a unit during the lease, the landlord must make reasonable efforts to re-rent at a fair rental value; the lease ends when a new tenancy begins, and if the landlord does not try, the lease ends on the date the landlord learned of the abandonment (Minn. Stat. § 504B.154).

Landlord's duty to re-rent: Yes. Since 2024, Minn. Stat. § 504B.154 requires reasonable efforts to re-rent an abandoned unit; for a periodic tenancy, rent liability is capped at the notice period from when the landlord learns of the abandonment. The right cannot be waived.

Lease-break fees: No statutory cap on break-lease fees (the AG notes leases often charge one); liability is limited by § 504B.154 and the statutory termination rights above.

When Minnesota law lets you leave early

  • Domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking (Minn. Stat. § 504B.206)

    A tenant who fears imminent violence after domestic abuse, criminal sexual conduct, sexual extortion or harassment may end the lease with signed, dated advance written notice giving the termination date.

    Proof:
    A qualifying document: an order for protection, a no-contact order, a court official's or law enforcement official's signed writing, or a statement by a qualified third party (licensed health professional, domestic abuse advocate or sexual assault counselor).
    What you still owe:
    Owes rent for the full month in which the tenancy ends and gives up the security deposit; released from the rest of the lease.

  • Age, illness or disability (Minn. Stat. § 504B.266)

    A tenant found by a medical professional to need a move into a nursing home, assisted living or similar facility may end the lease with at least two months' written notice effective on the last day of a calendar month; longer notice clauses are void.

    Proof:
    A medical professional's written documentation that the tenant needs a medical care facility, plus proof of acceptance or a pending application there.
    What you still owe:
    Rent owed through the notice period; notice is at least two months and must end on the last day of a calendar month.

  • Unit unlivable or landlord fails to repair (Minn. Stat. § 504B.131)

    If the building is destroyed or becomes unfit to live in through no fault of the tenant, the tenant may leave and owes no more rent. The lease may expressly provide otherwise, except as barred by the habitability covenants (§ 504B.161). The AG warns that if the building was not condemned, a court may not agree it was uninhabitable.

    Proof:
    None specified.
    What you still owe:
    No further rent after leaving.

  • Other (Minn. Stat. § 504B.265)

    When the sole tenant (or all tenants) dies, the landlord or personal representative may end a lease with at least two months' written notice effective on the last day of a calendar month.

    Proof:
    Notice by the landlord or the estate's personal representative.
    What you still owe:
    The estate owes rent through the notice period.

Military orders, every state: the federal SCRA lets servicemembers with orders (permanent change of station or deployment of 90+ days) end a lease with written notice and a copy of the orders. How the SCRA date is counted.

Also good to know

  • A notice that misses the deadline by even one day is void, and the tenancy continues for another period (AG handbook).
  • Landlords cannot require a tenant to renew more than 6 months before the lease ends (§ 504B.144).

Next steps

Sources

Laws change. This page was checked against the sources above on October 13, 2026. It is legal information, not legal advice; see our methodology.