Lease Break Cost Calculator

See what walking away from your lease will actually cost. Enter your rent, months remaining, and how your lease handles early exits — a flat termination fee or rent until re-rented — and get an instant estimate including any lost deposit, compared against just finishing the lease.

📖 How it works & FAQ

Monthly rent ($)

Months left on lease

How your lease handles early exit

Fee size (months of rent)

Security deposit ($)

Deposit outcome

What breaking a lease really costs

Most leases handle early exits in one of two ways. The first is a flat early termination fee — commonly two months' rent — spelled out in a buyout or early termination clause. The second is stricter: you stay on the hook for rent until the landlord re-rents the unit. In most US states the landlord has a duty to mitigate — make a reasonable effort to find a new tenant — rather than billing you for the full remaining term. On top of either route, many renters also lose part or all of their security deposit. This calculator adds those pieces together so you can see a realistic number before you give notice, and compares it against the cost of simply finishing the lease. Every assumption — fee size, vacancy time, deposit outcome — is editable, because leases vary widely. These figures are estimates only, not legal or financial advice; always read your actual lease and check your state and local tenant laws before acting.

How to use it

Enter your monthly rent and how many months remain on your lease.
Choose how your lease handles an early exit: a flat termination fee, or rent owed until the unit is re-rented.
Adjust the assumption that appears — the fee size in months of rent, or how long you expect the unit to sit vacant before a new tenant moves in.
Enter your security deposit and whether you expect it back. The result cards update instantly, including a side-by-side look at breaking versus staying.

FAQ

Is two months' rent a normal termination fee?: It is the most common flat buyout in US leases, but one to three months all appear in practice. Check your lease's early termination or liquidated damages clause for the exact figure and change the fee-size field to match.
What does duty to mitigate mean?: In most states a landlord cannot leave the unit empty and bill you for every remaining month. They must make reasonable efforts to re-rent, and your liability generally ends once a new tenant starts paying.
Can I break a lease without paying anything?: Sometimes. Active-duty military orders, an uninhabitable unit, landlord lease violations, and in many states domestic violence situations allow penalty-free exits. Subletting or transferring the lease, where permitted, can also shrink the cost to nearly zero.
Does this tool store or send my numbers?: No. Everything runs locally in your browser — nothing is uploaded, saved, or shared.