Notices to Vacate and Ending a Lease

A notice to vacate is a letter to end a lease. It can be written by you or by your landlord. There has to be a written notice to end any periodic lease. Even if it’s a verbal month-to-month lease. Some leases say you have to give notice even if you plan to move on the lease ending date. The kind of notice needed to end a lease depends on the kind of lease it is and the length of the rental period.

With a periodic lease, the rent period begins the day the rent is due and lasts until the rent is due again. The most common periodic lease is called a month-to-month lease. If your rent is due on the first of each month, your rent period runs from the first of the month to the end of the month. Most periodic leases have a monthly rent period. 

A fixed-term lease is a lease for a period of time. This is usually one year but can be a different period of time. Most fixed-term leases have a “notice period” to end the lease. The notice period is the amount of time before the lease ends. Either you or the landlord has to give notice during this time if you don’t want to renew or if the lease is ending. If you don’t give proper notice, you might have to pay rent for the months after you move out.

Generally, a lease for a fixed period of time can’t be changed or ended until the ending date that is written in the lease. But this can be changed if you and your landlord both agree to a change.

Usually, no notice is needed to end a fixed term lease (like a one-year lease) if you want to end it on the date given in the lease. But some fixed term leases have 30- or 60-days’ notice rules before the ending date. Some leases might even specify move-out times, or days.

Some fixed-term leases give 2 different “notice periods” to end the lease. The lease has 1 notice period for the landlord and a different notice period for the tenant. If your lease has 2 different notice periods like this, the law says you can pick which notice period works best for you to end your lease. For example, the lease says the tenant has to give 60 days’ notice to move, but the landlord only has to give 30 days’ notice. The law says the tenant can choose to give 30- or 60-days’ notice.

Some fixed term leases have an "automatic renewal clause." This means that if you don’t say anything to the landlord, your lease automatically renews. If the automatic renewal is for 2 months or more, it is only legal if the landlord sends you a reminder letter about it. The letter must be sent or personally delivered to you at least 15 days before the date you would have to give notice of your plans to move. It can’t be more than 30 days. The letter must state that the lease will be renewed unless you send a letter saying that you don’t want to renew and that you are planning to move.

If your rent is due once a month and your landlord accepts rent after the end of your lease, you could be automatically in a verbal month-to-month lease.

Always read your lease to make sure you know all the details of your rental agreement. Read your lease carefully to see if you have to give notice if you are planning to move when it ends.

Some leases say your landlord can’t end your lease without a good reason. Review your lease to see if your landlord must give you a good reason.

Remember, a lease is a binding contract! Don’t break a lease without thinking about your choices in advance. If you must break a lease, the best ways to get out of it are:

• Reach an agreement with your landlord. Some areas have local mediation services that can help.
• Ask if your landlord is willing to find a new tenant or let you find a new tenant.

Whatever kind of lease you have, get any agreements you make with your landlord in writing! An "I said, you said" argument could happen later. You could be held to the original terms of the lease, including payment of all rent due.

Warning! If you break your lease without the written agreement of the landlord, you may have to pay rent for the whole period of the lease. The landlord has to try to re-rent but you may have to pay until they find someone else.

If you need to move to be safe from domestic violence you may be able to end your lease early without an agreement from the landlord. If you are not safe because of domestic violence contact Day One Services at 1(866) 223-1111 or text (612) 399-9995. If you are not safe because of sexual assault call: 1(800) 656-4673. See our fact sheet Victims of Domestic Violence, Harassment, or Criminal Sexual Conduct: Your Rights in Breaking Your Lease.

There are a few reasons, but mostly you can’t break a lease. It’s up to the landlord. But landlords don’t have to let you out of the lease if you lose your job or if you get sick or hurt. Landlords don’t have to let you out of the lease if you are incarcerated.

They don’t have to let you out of the lease if you are buying a house or if your job transfers you out of state. If you might buy a house or be transferred for work, then put that language in your lease from the start that lets you break the lease for these reasons. 

One example of when you can end a lease early is if you or someone in your household has a medical condition and needs to move into a medical care facility. You must give the landlord at least 2 months’ notice about your need to end the lease. The notice to your landlord must include:

1. A copy of the doctor’s written record of the illness or disability and
2. Papers showing that the person has been accepted as a resident of a medical care facility. Or has a pending application at a medical care facility that the doctor said they need to move to.

Also, families of tenants who die may be able to end a lease early without an agreement from the landlord. 

Remember, if both you and your landlord agree in writing to change or end the lease, that should be enough to make the change or end the tenancy. This is true for a verbal or written lease, a fixed term lease or a periodic lease. It could be different, though, if you are on Section 8 or another housing subsidy. Call your local legal aid office if you have questions about this.

If you live in a unit in Saint Paul that is considered Affordable Housing you may have extra rights if your landlord is selling the building. For more information, call the Saint Paul Department of Safety and Inspections at 651-266-8989. Or go to: https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/safety-inspections/rent-buy-sell-property/renting-property/tenant-protections.

If you or your landlord gives a written notice to end a lease, the landlord has to tell you about your right to ask for a move-out inspection. They also have to tell you that you have a right to be at the inspection. This has to be done in writing. If you ask for a move-out inspection, it must be scheduled at a reasonable time. But it can’t be more than 5 days before your lease ends or 5 days before your  move out date. If you ask for the inspection, you and your landlord must try to schedule the inspection at a date and time that you both agree on.

If your landlord gives you the notice and you choose to not ask for a move-out inspection, they don’t have to do one.

You have the right to ask for repairs, call an inspector, or bring a rent escrow case to court if your landlord doesn’t get things done. You also have the right to demand that your landlord respect your privacy. These things are part of your legal rights as a tenant in Minnesota.

Your landlord can’t retaliate against you (get back at you or get revenge) for standing up for your rights as a tenant. Your landlord can’t raise your rent, ask you to move out, or decrease your services because of it. You still need to pay your rent on time.

You are safe if you stand up for your rights as a tenant and ask for repairs or call an inspector. If you get a notice to vacate or a notice about raising your rent within 90 days of asking for repairs or calling an inspector, the law assumes that the landlord is retaliating. The landlord has to be able to show a good reason for giving the notice to vacate. 

Write a letter to your landlord right away saying that the notice to vacate or raise rent is retaliation because it is within the 90 days. Tell them that the notice they gave you is void. Make sure you keep a copy of the letter in case you need it for court.

Sometimes a landlord goes ahead and files an eviction case anyway. Maybe they say you stayed past the move-out date in a notice to vacate or didn’t pay the new rent amount. If that happens, tell the judge. Tell the judge what you did or asked for (repairs etc.) within the 90 days before you got the notice.

Ask the court to start counting the 90-day period from the time your landlord got the things you asked for done, like doing all repairs. 

Note: if your landlord raised your rent and you are going to court you might have to pay your old rent amount into the court.

The judge will deny the eviction if the landlord can’t show a good, non-retaliation reason for the notice. If it has been longer than 90 days, you will have to prove that the landlord is trying to get back at you if you go to court.

A landlord or a tenant can give notice to end a lease during cold weather months. Even if you don’t give "proper notice,” when you move out of an apartment during periods of cold weather, always tell the landlord that you are moving. Tenants have to give landlords at least 3 days’ notice before moving any time between November 15th and April 15th. Tenants who don’t give this 3-day notice may be found guilty of a criminal misdemeanor. The reason for this law is that plumbing may be damaged by freezing if the apartment is empty and unheated. 

If the landlord takes rent money from you after the date you were supposed to move, the move-out notice may be canceled by law. The taking of rent could renew your lease.

Talk to a lawyer before you assume that your notice to move has been canceled because your landlord took your rent payment.

If you leave your apartment before your rental period is up, the landlord must try to re-rent it at fair market price. You are responsible for paying the rent until a new renter is found. If they find a renter, the new renter takes over as the tenant. 

For example: you rent an apartment from January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2026. But you move out in May without a written agreement. You have to keep paying the rent from June through December even if you are not there.

But, the landlord has to try to rent the apartment to someone else. If they find someone who moves in September 1, you only have to pay rent through August. The new tenant pays rent starting in September and your responsibility ends.