Notices to Vacate and Ending a Lease

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Education for Justice

Last Updated

05/2026

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This fact sheet talks about ending different kinds of leases, proper notice to end a lease, lease laws and your rights as a tenant.

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 type of notice needed to end a lease depends on the type of lease and the length of the rental period.

If you or your landlord give 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.

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.

If you live in a unit in Saint Paul that is considered Affordable Housing you may have additional rights if your Landlord is selling the building. For more information, call the Saint Paul Department of Safety and Inspections at 651-266-8989.

Ending a Month to Month or Other Periodic Lease

With a periodic lease, the rent period begins the day the rent is due and lasts until the rent is due again. 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.

To end a periodic lease, like a month-to-month lease, either you or your landlord must give proper written notice at least one full rent period before the move-out date. If you want to end your lease at the end of next month your landlord has to get that notice by 11:59 p.m. the day before your next month’s rent is due.

For example: let’s say you are renting month-to-month with rent due on the first of the month. You want to move out at the end of April. You have to give your landlord written notice that you want to move before the end of March. Your landlord has to get your written notice to vacate by 11:59 p.m., on March 31st.

In order to be a proper written notice, your letter needs to say you are ending the month-to-month lease. It also needs to give the date at the end of the month you will move out.

So, for example, your letter would say, “I am ending our month-to-month lease at the end of April. I will vacate and move out of the rental property on or before April 30th.” You can fill out the letter attached or write your own.

If you want to move but you don’t give a proper notice to vacate, your landlord may hold you responsible for an extra month of rent, or longer. This can happen even if you move out before the next month begins.

If your landlord wants you to move but doesn’t give you proper notice to vacate, you can stay in your apartment until they give you a new, proper notice. You have to pay rent. Even if the notice isn’t done right, your landlord might still file an eviction against you. You need to go to court and show the judge that the notice was not proper.

NOTE: Not all periodic leases are month-to-month. Not all periodic leases have a one-month notice rule. Some periodic leases have a rule of 2 months’ notice, 60 days’ notice, or even 45 days’ notice. If you have a written lease, make sure you look at how much notice you have to give to move.

When Can I End a Fixed Term Lease?

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. You or the landlord have to give notice during this time if you don’t want to renew or that the lease is ending.

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.

Read your lease

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 will move. 

Read your lease carefully to see if you have to give notice if you are planning to move when it ends. 

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.

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.

There are a few ways to change or end a lease agreement. It depends if you have a lease for a fixed term or a periodic lease. 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. Call your local legal aid office if you have questions about this.

Be sure to get any agreement in writing.

If you don’t get the agreement 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. You won’t have to if the landlord can re-rent the apartment to another tenant. But the landlord doesn’t have to try to find someone to replace you. 

What if I need to move because of domestic violence?

Are there other reasons I can break my 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. 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:

A copy of the doctor’s written record of the illness or disability and
Papers showing that the person has been accepted as a resident to 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.

Can a landlord end my lease if I stand up for my rights as a tenant?

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 do 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.

If your landlord goes ahead and files an eviction case anyway because you stayed past the move-out date in a notice to vacate, or didn’t pay the new rent amount, tell the judge what happened. 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 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.

Are there special rules for notices to vacate during cold weather?

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.

Notices to Vacate and Ending a Lease

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