Breaking a Lease Early in Minnesota: The Four Statutory Exits — and the 2024 Statute That Matters More Than All of Them

Almost every article on this subject asks the same question — do I qualify for one of the statutory exits? — and the answer for most tenants is no. Domestic violence, military orders, a move into a nursing home, death: those are the enumerated escape hatches, and most people facing a job transfer, a broken relationship, or a rent they can no longer afford fit none of them.

That framing misses the most useful provision in the chapter. Since August 1, 2024, Minn. Stat. § 504B.154 has imposed a statutory duty on the landlord to re-rent an abandoned unit, and it does something the common-law mitigation rule never did. It does not merely reduce the tenant’s damages. It terminates the lease — as of the date the landlord learned the unit was empty — if the landlord fails to make reasonable efforts to re-rent at fair rental value. The right cannot be waived by any lease.

That is a different animal from a termination right. A tenant who does not qualify for any of the four statutory exits, and who moves out anyway, is not automatically on the hook for the balance of the term. The landlord’s conduct after the tenant leaves decides how much is owed — and the landlord who does nothing collects the least.

This article walks the whole map: § 504B.154 first, then the four express terminations, then the uninhabitability route, and finally the fee and deposit rules that determine what a departure actually costs.

What happens if a tenant simply moves out?

Minn. Stat. § 504B.154, subd. 1, in full:

(a) If a residential tenant abandons a dwelling unit during the lease term, the landlord shall make reasonable efforts to rent it at a fair rental value. If the landlord rents the dwelling unit for a term beginning before the expiration of the rental agreement, the agreement is terminated on the date the new tenancy begins. The rental agreement is terminated by the landlord on the date the landlord has notice of the abandonment if the landlord fails to use reasonable efforts to rent the dwelling unit at a fair rental value or if the landlord accepts the abandonment as a surrender. The tenant shall not be liable for rent after the termination of the tenancy.

(b) If the rental agreement was for a periodic tenancy or tenancy at will, the maximum rent liability for the tenant is the notice period required to end the lease from the date the landlord has notice of the abandonment.

Subdivision 2: “Any waiver of the rights provided by this section shall be void and unenforceable.”

The section was enacted by 2024 Minn. Laws ch. 118, § 10, which carries no effective-date clause. Under Minn. Stat. § 645.02, an act enacted at a regular session “takes effect on August 1 next following its final enactment, unless a different date is specified in the act.” Chapter 118 was signed by the governor on May 24, 2024, which puts § 504B.154 at August 1, 2024.

Three things follow, and each is worth stating precisely.

The termination is automatic, not discretionary. Paragraph (a) does not say the tenant may recover for failure to mitigate, or that damages shall be reduced. It says the rental agreement “is terminated by the landlord on the date the landlord has notice of the abandonment” if the landlord fails to use reasonable efforts. The consequence attaches by operation of the statute.

Re-renting also terminates the lease. If the landlord succeeds in re-renting for a term starting before the original lease would have ended, “the agreement is terminated on the date the new tenancy begins.” A landlord who re-rents in 45 days cannot collect rent for months 2 through 9 of a lease that the new tenant is now paying for.

Notice of the abandonment starts the clock. The termination date under the failure-to-mitigate branch is “the date the landlord has notice of the abandonment” — not the date the tenant moved, and not the date the landlord got around to inspecting. A departing tenant who wants the benefit of § 504B.154 should therefore create a clean, dated record of notice: written, delivered, and specific about the fact that the unit is vacant and the keys are surrendered.

For a month-to-month tenancy, paragraph (b) caps exposure at “the notice period required to end the lease from the date the landlord has notice of the abandonment.” That is a ceiling, not a floor.

What § 504B.154 does not do: it does not erase rent that came due before the termination date, it does not waive damages for the tenant’s own physical damage to the unit, and it does not make abandonment a good idea. It reallocates the risk of an empty unit — which is exactly the risk a landlord is better positioned to manage.

Exit 1 — Violence: Minn. Stat. § 504B.206

This is the broadest statutory termination right in Minnesota, and it was materially rewritten in 2024 and again in 2025.

Who qualifies

Under subdivision 1(a), a residential tenant may terminate “without penalty or liability” if the tenant or another authorized occupant fears imminent violence after being subjected to:

domestic abuse as defined in Minn. Stat. § 518B.01, subd. 2;
criminal sexual conduct under §§ 609.342 to 609.3451;
sexual extortion under § 609.3458; or
harassment under § 609.749.

Two structural points get missed. The predicate act may have been committed against “another authorized occupant,” not just the leaseholder — a child, a roommate on the lease, a household member. And the statutory test is prospective: the person must fear imminent violence if they remain in the premises. It is not enough that something happened; the statute is about staying being dangerous.

Note also that the list reaches beyond intimate-partner violence. Harassment under § 609.749 covers conduct by a stranger, a neighbor, or anyone else. On the related order-for-protection and harassment-restraining-order tracks, see orders for protection versus harassment restraining orders.

The notice, and the document

The tenant must give “signed and dated advance written notice” that (1) states the tenant fears imminent violence from a person indicated in a qualifying document, (2) states the tenant needs to terminate the tenancy, (3) provides the date on which the lease will terminate, and (4) gives written instructions for disposition of any remaining personal property under Minn. Stat. § 504B.271. Subd. 1(b).

Delivery must occur before termination “by mail, in person, or by a form of written communication the plaintiff regularly uses to communicate with the landlord,” and the notice “be accompanied by a qualifying document.” Subd. 1(c). That last clause is the 2024 modernization — a tenant who has always dealt with the property manager by email or a tenant portal can use that channel; the pre-2024 text listed only mail, fax, or in person.

Also from the 2024 amendment, and easy to trip over:

The tenancy terminates for the tenant who exercises the right granted under this subdivision, including the right of possession of the premises, on the date provided in the notice required under paragraph (b). Vacation of the premises under this section by the tenant prior to the date provided in the notice does not constitute termination of the tenancy for the purposes of this section.

Subd. 1(c). The notice date controls, not the moving date. A tenant who leaves early for safety reasons — which is often the point — does not shorten the tenancy by doing so, and the lease still ends on the date stated in the notice.

A “qualifying document” under subdivision 6(3) is one of five things:

a valid order for protection under chapter 518B;
a no contact order currently in effect under § 629.75 or chapter 609;
a signed writing from a court official acting in an official capacity, documenting victim status under one of the four predicate statutes and naming the perpetrator if known;
a signed writing from a city, county, state, or tribal law enforcement official acting in an official capacity, with the same content; or
a statement by a qualified third party in the statutory form set out in the section.

“Qualified third party” means a person acting in an official capacity “who has provided professional services to the tenant” and who is a licensed health care professional operating within the scope of the license, a domestic abuse advocate as defined in § 595.02, subd. 1(l), or a sexual assault counselor as defined in § 595.02, subd. 1(k). Subd. 6(2).

That phrase — “has provided professional services to” — replaced “has had in-person contact with” in the 2024 amendment. The change matters practically: services delivered by telehealth, by phone, or through a remote advocacy program now support a qualifying statement.

The landlord may ask who the perpetrator is, and if the landlord asks, must explain that the request is to protect other tenants. But “[t]he tenant may decline to provide the name of the perpetrator for safety reasons. Disclosure shall not be a precondition of terminating the lease.” Subd. 1(d).

What the landlord may not do with the information

Subdivision 2(a) bars the landlord from disclosing the tenant’s notice, the contents of the qualifying document, “the address or location to which the tenant has relocated,” or “the status of the tenant as a victim of violence.” That information “must not be entered into any shared database or provided to any person or entity,” with narrow exceptions: as evidence in an eviction action, in an action for unpaid rent or damages arising out of the tenancy, in claims under § 504B.178, with the tenant’s consent, or as otherwise required by law. Subd. 2(b).

The 2025 Legislature added paragraph (c), effective the day following final enactment (the act was signed May 23, 2025):

The requirements of this subdivision to treat the information enumerated in paragraph (a) are paramount and supersede any other document or form previously signed by the tenant, including but not limited to any release of information form.

Minn. Stat. § 504B.206, subd. 2(c), as added by 2025 Minn. Laws ch. 32, art. 4, § 5. That closes a real gap. A blanket release buried in a rental application no longer authorizes disclosure.

Violation carries a fixed number: “A landlord who violates this section is liable to the tenant for statutory damages of $2,000, plus reasonable attorney fees and costs.” Subd. 2(d). That damages provision was added in 2024.

What it costs the tenant

Subdivision 3 is where tenants are most often surprised.

A sole tenant terminating under this section “is responsible for the rent payment for the full month in which the tenancy terminates,” relinquishes all claims for the return of the security deposit under § 504B.178, and is relieved of any other contractual obligation for rent or other charges for the remaining term. Subd. 3(a).

Read that again: the deposit is gone. Not applied to damages, not accounted for — relinquished, as the price of the statutory exit. A tenant with a $1,600 deposit and eight months left on the lease is trading the deposit for the balance of the term, which is a good trade. A tenant with the same deposit and five weeks left may be better off riding out the term, if it is safe to do so.

In a multi-tenant lease where one tenant terminates, subdivision 3(b) ends the lease for everyone: “any lease governing all remaining tenants is terminated at the later of the end of the month or the end of the rent interval in which one tenant terminates.” All tenants owe the full month’s rent, all relinquish deposit claims, and all are released from the remaining term. Any tenant whose tenancy was terminated this way “may reapply to enter into a new lease with the landlord.”

The section does not wipe out arrears: “This section does not affect a tenant’s liability for delinquent, unpaid rent or other amounts owed to the landlord before the lease was terminated.” Subd. 3(c).

Finally, the 2024 amendment added an eviction bar. “Except as provided in section 504B.285, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), a landlord may not commence an eviction action against a tenant who has terminated a lease as provided in this section.” Subd. 3(d). And under the cross-referenced provision, a landlord who violates it “is liable to the tenant for reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred by the tenant for obtaining an expungement” under Minn. Stat. § 484.014, subd. 3 — a meaningful remedy, because the filing itself is the harm. On that point generally, see eviction expungement in Minnesota.

Two closing rules. The right cannot be waived: “A residential tenant may not waive, and a landlord may not require the residential tenant to waive, the tenant’s rights under this section.” Subd. 5. And if a federal statute, regulation, or handbook governing a federally subsidized tenancy conflicts with the section, “the landlord must comply with the federal statute, regulation, or handbook.” Subd. 7.

Exit 2 — Military service: the SCRA, and the Minnesota statute that does not exist

A servicemember’s residential lease termination right in Minnesota comes from federal law: the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. § 3955. Chapter 504B contains no parallel residential lease-termination provision for servicemembers, and Minn. Stat. § 192.502 — the state’s protections statute for people ordered to active service — addresses postsecondary students, professional and driver’s license renewal, vehicle registration, and unpaid leave for military ceremonies. It does not provide a residential lease termination right. If you are looking for a Minnesota statute here, there isn’t one to find; the SCRA is the authority.

Which leases are covered. Section 3955(b)(1) covers a lease of premises occupied or intended to be occupied by a servicemember or the servicemember’s dependents “for a residential, professional, business, agricultural, or similar purpose” if:

(A) the lease was executed by or for a person who thereafter, during the lease term, enters military service;
(B) the servicemember, while in military service, executed the lease and thereafter receives military orders for a permanent change of station or to deploy with a unit, or as an individual in support of a military operation, “for a period of not less than 90 days”; or
(C) the servicemember executed the lease upon receipt of such orders and thereafter receives a stop movement order “effective for an indefinite period or for a period of not less than 30 days” that prevents occupancy.

The statute also permits termination by a spouse or dependent within one year of the lessee’s death in service, § 3955(a)(3), and, within one year, by a lessee who incurs a catastrophic injury or illness during military or covered service — or by the spouse or dependent if the lessee lacks capacity to manage his or her own affairs because of it. § 3955(a)(4). And “[a] lessee’s termination of a lease pursuant to this subsection shall terminate any obligation a dependent of the lessee may have under the lease.” § 3955(a)(2).

How to terminate. By delivering written notice of termination together with a copy of the military orders to the lessor or the lessor’s agent. § 3955(c)(1)(A). Delivery may be by hand, by private business carrier, by mail with sufficient postage and return receipt requested, or “by electronic means” — including direct delivery to a designated electronic address, posting to a portal the lessee has been granted access to, or “other electronic means reasonably calculated to ensure actual receipt . . . .” § 3955(c)(2).

When it takes effect. For a lease of premises with monthly rent under subparagraph (A) or (B), termination is effective “30 days after the first date on which the next rental payment is due and payable after the date on which the notice under subsection (c) is delivered.” § 3955(d)(1)(A). For any other lease under those subparagraphs, it is effective on the last day of the month following the month in which notice is delivered. For a stop-movement lease under (b)(1)(C), it is effective on the date the notice requirements are met. § 3955(d)(1)(B).

Money. Unpaid rent for the period preceding the effective date “shall be paid on a prorated basis,” and — the sentence that matters — “[t]he lessor may not impose an early termination charge,” though taxes, summonses, and other lease obligations including “reasonable charges to the lessee for excess wear” that are due and unpaid at termination remain payable. § 3955(e)(1). Rent paid in advance for a period after the effective termination date “shall be refunded to the lessee by the lessor . . . within 30 days of the effective date of the termination . . . .” § 3955(f).

And the deposit is protected by criminal penalty. Section 3955(h) makes it a federal misdemeanor — fine, imprisonment up to one year, or both — for any person who knowingly “seizes, holds, or detains the personal effects, security deposit, or other property” of a servicemember or dependent who lawfully terminated a covered lease, or who knowingly interferes with removal of that property, for the purpose of subjecting it to a claim for rent accruing after the termination date.

One counterweight: on the lessor’s application to a court before the termination date stated in the notice, “relief granted by this section to a servicemember may be modified as justice and equity require.” § 3955(g). Also note that “military orders” is defined to include “orders for separation or retirement,” and “permanent change of station” expressly “includes separation or retirement from military service.” § 3955(i)(1), (3). Getting out counts.

Exit 3 — Moving into a medical care facility: Minn. Stat. § 504B.266

This is the exit that goes unused most often, usually because nobody knows it exists.

Who qualifies. A tenant, or the tenant’s authorized representative, may terminate early if the tenant (or, in a multi-tenant lease, one of the tenants) “has been found by a medical professional to need to move into a medical care facility” and meets one of three conditions: (1) requires assistance with instrumental activities of daily living or personal activities of daily living due to medical reasons or a disability; (2) meets one of the nursing facility level of care criteria under Minn. Stat. § 144.0724, subd. 11; or (3) has a disability or functional impairment in three or more of the areas listed in § 245.462, subd. 11a, so that self-sufficiency is markedly reduced because of a mental illness. Subd. 2(a).

The defined terms are broad. “Medical care facility” reaches ten categories, including a nursing home under § 144A.01, subd. 5; hospice care and residential hospice facilities under § 144A.75; boarding care homes; supervised living facilities; a facility providing assisted living under § 144G.08, subd. 7; an accessible unit as defined in § 363A.40, subd. 1(b); a state facility under § 246.50, subd. 3; adult foster care under § 245A.02, subd. 6c; and intensive residential treatment services under § 245I.23. Subd. 1(d). “Medical professional” means a physician licensed under § 147.02, subd. 1, an advanced practice registered nurse under § 148.171, subd. 3, or a mental health professional under § 245I.04, subd. 2. Subd. 1(e). “Authorized representative” means an attorney-in-fact under a power of attorney under § 523.24 or a court-appointed conservator or guardian under chapter 524. Subd. 1(b).

The accessible-unit carve-out. If the tenant needs an accessible unit and the landlord “can provide an accessible unit in the same complex where the tenant currently resides that is available within two months of the request,” the section does not apply and the tenant may not terminate. Subd. 2(b). A landlord with suitable inventory can defeat this exit by offering it.

Notice. At least two months’ written notice, effective on the last day of a calendar month, hand-delivered or mailed first class postage prepaid, and it must include (1) a copy of the medical professional’s written documentation of the infirmity, and (2) documentation showing the tenant “has been accepted as a resident or has a pending application” at a location the medical professional indicated the tenant needs to move to. Subd. 3.

Termination does not relieve the tenant of liability for rent or other sums owed before or during the notice period, or for restoring the premises to their condition at the start of the tenancy, ordinary wear and tear excepted. Subd. 3.

Anti-waiver. “Any waiver of the rights of termination provided by this section, including lease provisions or other agreements that require a longer notice period than those provided for in this section, shall be void and unenforceable.” Subd. 4. Note the specific target: a lease clause demanding more than two months’ notice is void as applied to this exit.

And subdivision 5 preserves everything else: “Nothing in this section affects the rights or remedies available in this chapter or other law, including but not limited to chapter 363A” — Minnesota’s Human Rights Act, which is where a reasonable-accommodation request would live.

Exit 4 — Death of the tenant: Minn. Stat. § 504B.265

For any residential lease other than a lease at will, either the landlord or the personal representative of the tenant’s estate may terminate early upon the death of the tenant, or, if there is more than one tenant, upon the death of all tenants. Subd. 1.

The mechanism is “at least two months’ written notice, to be effective on the last day of a calendar month,” hand delivered or mailed first class postage prepaid to the other party’s address — and the landlord may satisfy the requirement by delivering or mailing to the premises the tenant formerly occupied. Subd. 2. Termination does not relieve the estate of liability for rent or other sums owed before or during the notice period, or for restoring the premises, ordinary wear and tear excepted.

The waiver rule here is unusually shaped. Any attempted waiver of the right of termination, “and any lease provision or agreement requiring a longer notice period than that provided by this section, shall be void and unenforceable” — but “the landlord and tenant or tenant’s personal representative may agree to otherwise modify the specific provisions of this section.” Subd. 3. The core right and the two-month ceiling are locked; the rest is negotiable after the fact.

The section applies to leases entered into or renewed after May 12, 1981. Subd. 4.

When the unit is uninhabitable

Minnesota’s version of constructive eviction is largely statutory, and it starts with a short section most tenants have never read. Minn. Stat. § 504B.131:

A tenant or occupant of a building that is destroyed or becomes uninhabitable or unfit for occupancy through no fault or neglect of the tenant or occupant may vacate and surrender such a building. A tenant or occupant may expressly agree otherwise except as prohibited by section 504B.161.

That is a surrender right, and its outer limit is the non-waivable habitability covenants in § 504B.161, subd. 1(a), which every residential lease carries by operation of law:

that the premises and all common areas “are fit for the use intended by the parties”;
to keep them “in reasonable repair during the term of the lease or license,” including the services and conditions listed in § 504B.381, subd. 1, and extermination of insects, rodents, vermin, or other pests — except where the disrepair was caused by the willful, malicious, or irresponsible conduct of the tenant or someone under the tenant’s direction or control;
to make the premises reasonably energy efficient by specified measures where the energy savings will exceed the cost over ten years;
to maintain the premises and common areas in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local health and safety laws, “including ordinances regulating rental licensing,” subject to the same tenant-conduct exception; and
“to equip or furnish heat capable of maintaining at a minimum temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit in all places intended for habitation including kitchens and bathrooms from October 1 through April 30, unless a utility company requires and instructs the heat to be reduced.”

Clause (5) was tightened by the 2025 Legislature — the prior text said “to supply or furnish heat at a minimum temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit,” without the “capable of maintaining” language and without the room-by-room specification. A landlord whose furnace hits 68 in the living room and 58 in the bathroom is now squarely in breach of the covenant.

“The parties to a lease or license of residential premises may not waive or modify the covenants imposed by this section.” § 504B.161, subd. 1(b). A landlord may contract with the tenant to perform specified repairs, but only with adequate consideration and in a conspicuous writing, and no such agreement can waive subdivision 1 or relieve the landlord of the duty to maintain common areas. Subd. 2. The section “shall be liberally construed, and the opportunity to inspect the premises before concluding a lease or license shall not defeat the covenants.” Subd. 3.

A word of caution about strategy. Vacating and surrendering under § 504B.131 puts the tenant in the position of proving, after the fact, that the building was “destroyed or bec[a]me uninhabitable or unfit for occupancy.” That is a real evidentiary burden, and it is carried by the party who has already left. The alternative routes — rent escrow under § 504B.385 and the tenant remedies action under § 504B.381 — keep the tenant in possession and put the condition of the building in front of a judge while the tenant still lives there. We walk that track in habitability and rent escrow. Constructive eviction is a common-law doctrine that remains available in Minnesota alongside these statutes, but a tenant who can build the record before leaving is in a much better posture than one who leaves and argues about it later.

Note also the 2025 expansion of the escrow and tenant-remedies routes: § 504B.385, subd. 1(c), and § 504B.395, subd. 4, were amended to reach violations defined in § 504B.001, subd. 14, clauses (4) and (5), in addition to clauses (2) and (3).

What can a landlord charge for an early departure?

Fees have to be disclosed, and the penalty is treble damages. Minn. Stat. § 504B.120, subd. 1, requires a landlord to “disclose all nonoptional fees in the lease agreement,” and provides that “[t]he sum total of rent and all nonoptional fees must be described as the Total Monthly Payment and be listed on the first page of the lease.” Advertisements must disclose nonoptional fees within the total rent figure, and the lease or advertisement must state whether utilities are included. Subdivision 2: “A landlord who violates this section is liable to the residential tenant for treble damages and the court may award the tenant reasonable attorney fees.”

Late fees are capped. A landlord “may not charge a late fee if the rent is paid after the due date, unless the tenant and landlord have agreed in writing that a late fee may be imposed,” the agreement “must specify when the late fee will be imposed,” and “[i]n no case may the late fee exceed eight percent of the overdue rent payment.” Minn. Stat. § 504B.177(a). Any late fee charged “is not considered to be either interest or liquidated damages.”

A “lease break fee” is a contract term, not a statutory entitlement. Chapter 504B does not authorize one. Where a lease contains such a clause and the tenant qualifies for one of the statutory exits, the exit statutes control by their own terms — § 504B.206 terminates “without penalty or liability,” §§ 504B.265 and 504B.266 void waivers and longer notice requirements, and the SCRA flatly provides that “[t]he lessor may not impose an early termination charge.” 50 U.S.C. § 3955(e)(1).

Where the tenant does not qualify, the clause is enforceable as a contract term — but it does not displace § 504B.154. That section is non-waivable, so a landlord who collects a lease-break fee and then leaves the unit empty without making reasonable efforts to re-rent at fair rental value has, by the terms of the statute, terminated the lease as of the date it learned the unit was vacant.

The security deposit

Three rules govern the money at the end.

The clock. Every landlord must, within three weeks after termination of the tenancy — or within five days if the tenant left because the building was legally condemned for reasons not caused by the tenant’s willful, malicious, or irresponsible conduct — and after receipt of the tenant’s mailing address or delivery instructions, either return the deposit with interest or furnish “a written statement showing the specific reason for the withholding.” Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 3(a). Mailing first class, postage prepaid, correctly addressed, within the deadline is sufficient compliance. Subd. 3(b).

The permitted deductions, and who proves them. The landlord may withhold only amounts reasonably necessary “(1) to remedy tenant defaults in the payment of rent or of other funds due to the landlord pursuant to an agreement; or (2) to restore the premises to their condition at the commencement of the tenancy, ordinary wear and tear excepted.” Subd. 3(b). And: “In any action concerning the deposit, the burden of proving, by a fair preponderance of the evidence, the reason for withholding all or any portion of the deposit shall be on the landlord.” Subd. 3(c).

The penalties. A landlord who misses the deadline, fails to transfer or return the deposit on a change of ownership, or fails to give notice of and complete the initial and move-out inspections required by § 504B.182, is liable “for damages in an amount equal to the portion of the deposit withheld… as a penalty, in addition to the portion of the deposit wrongfully withheld.” Subd. 4. Bad-faith retention adds “punitive damages not to exceed $500 for each deposit,” and retention is presumed to be in bad faith if the landlord failed to comply with subdivision 3 or 5, “unless the landlord returns the deposit within two weeks after the commencement of any action for the recovery of the deposit.” Subd. 7.

Two practical rules. Do not self-help the last month’s rent: subdivision 8 prohibits withholding rent for the last payment period on the theory that the deposit should cover it, creates a rebuttable presumption that a tenant who does so was doing exactly that, and imposes a penalty plus interest. And the whole section is non-waivable — “[a]ny attempted waiver of this section by a landlord and tenant, by contract or otherwise, shall be void and unenforceable.” Subd. 10. An action for the deposit, including in conciliation court, may be brought where the property is located or, at the tenant’s option, in the county of the landlord’s residence. Subd. 9. More detail in Minnesota security deposits under § 504B.178.

The exception, again, is § 504B.206: a tenant terminating for violence “relinquishes all claims for the return of the security deposit under section 504B.178.” Subd. 3(a).

Two small statutes that decide real cases

Cold weather notice — and it is a crime. Minn. Stat. § 504B.155:

Except upon the termination of the tenancy, a tenant who, between November 15 and April 15, removes from, abandons, or vacates a building or any part thereof that contains plumbing, water, steam, or other pipes liable to injury from freezing, without first giving to the landlord three days’ notice of intention so to remove is guilty of a misdemeanor.

A Minnesota tenant leaving mid-winter without giving the landlord three days’ notice commits a misdemeanor. The exception is a departure “upon the termination of the tenancy,” which covers an ordinary end-of-lease move-out — but a mid-term departure between November 15 and April 15 is exactly the fact pattern this article is about. Give the notice. It costs nothing and it is also, conveniently, the written record that starts the § 504B.154 clock.

The automatic renewal you may not be bound to. Minn. Stat. § 504B.145 provides that to enforce an automatic renewal clause in a lease of an original term of two months or more — one providing the term is deemed renewed for an additional period of two months or more unless the tenant gives notice of intent to quit — the landlord “must give notice to the tenant as provided in this section.” The notice must be in writing, must “direct the tenant’s attention to the automatic renewal provision of the lease,” and must be “served personally or mailed by certified mail at least 15 days, but not more than 30 days prior to the time that the tenant is required to furnish notice of an intention to quit.”

If the landlord did not send that notice, in that window, by one of those two methods, the automatic renewal is unenforceable. A tenant who believes they are trapped in a renewed term should ask that question before assuming the term exists. Related: § 504B.146 requires a written residential lease to identify the lease start and end dates on the first page, and to state prorated rent amounts where the move-in or move-out date is not the first or last day of a month.

What to do

Check the four exits first, in this order: violence (§ 504B.206), military orders (50 U.S.C. § 3955), medical care facility (§ 504B.266), death of the tenant (§ 504B.265). Each has a defined notice and a defined document. Each is non-waivable.
If none applies, do not assume you owe the balance of the lease. Section 504B.154 puts the duty to re-rent on the landlord and terminates the lease if the landlord does not carry it.
Create the notice record. Written, dated, delivered, and specific: the unit is vacant, the keys are surrendered, here is the forwarding address. That single document sets the § 504B.154 termination date, satisfies § 504B.155 if sent three days out in winter, and starts the § 504B.178, subd. 3, deposit clock.
Ask what the landlord did after you left. Was the unit listed? At what rent? When was it re-rented? Under § 504B.154 those facts, not the lease’s balance, determine the number.
Read the fee clause against § 504B.120 and § 504B.177. Undisclosed nonoptional fees carry treble damages; a late fee above eight percent of the overdue payment is not collectible.
Do not withhold the last month’s rent. Section 504B.178, subd. 8, penalizes it, and it hands the landlord a counterclaim.
If the problem is the condition of the building, build the record before you leave. Rent escrow under § 504B.385 or a tenant remedies action under § 504B.381 keeps you in possession and puts the landlord’s non-waivable § 504B.161 covenants in front of a judge.

Madgett Law, LLC

Madgett Law, LLC represents Minnesota tenants and landlords in residential lease disputes: early termination under the violence, medical-infirmity, and death provisions of chapter 504B; abandonment and mitigation fights under § 504B.154; security deposit claims, including conciliation court actions; habitability, rent escrow, and tenant remedies actions; and eviction defense and expungement. If you need out of a lease, or you are being billed for months after you left, call 612-470-6529 or send us a message.

Sources: Minn. Stat. § 504B.120, subd. 1 (nonoptional fee disclosure; Total Monthly Payment on the first page; advertising disclosure); subd. 2 (treble damages and attorney fees). § 504B.131 (tenant of a destroyed, uninhabitable, or unfit building may vacate and surrender, subject to § 504B.161). § 504B.145 (automatic renewal enforceable only after written notice directing attention to the clause, served personally or by certified mail at least 15 but not more than 30 days before the tenant’s notice deadline). § 504B.146 (lease start and end dates and prorated rent on the first page). § 504B.154, subd. 1(a) (landlord “shall make reasonable efforts to rent it at a fair rental value”; lease terminated on the date of the new tenancy, or on the date the landlord has notice of the abandonment where the landlord fails to use reasonable efforts or accepts the abandonment as a surrender; “The tenant shall not be liable for rent after the termination of the tenancy.”); subd. 1(b) (periodic tenancy cap); subd. 2 (waiver void), as enacted by 2024 Minn. Laws ch. 118, § 10 (no effective-date clause; act signed May 24, 2024). § 504B.155 (three days’ notice before a November 15–April 15 departure; misdemeanor). § 504B.161, subd. 1(a)(1)–(5) (non-waivable covenants, including the 2025 heat provision “to equip or furnish heat capable of maintaining at a minimum temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit in all places intended for habitation including kitchens and bathrooms”); subd. 1(b) (no waiver or modification); subd. 2 (tenant repair agreements require adequate consideration and a conspicuous writing); subd. 3 (liberal construction; pre-lease inspection does not defeat the covenants). § 504B.177(a) (written agreement required; late fee capped at eight percent of the overdue rent payment; not interest or liquidated damages). § 504B.178, subd. 3(a)–(c) (three weeks / five days; permitted deductions; landlord bears the burden of proof); subd. 4 (penalty equal to the amount withheld); subd. 7 (up to $500 punitive damages per deposit; presumption of bad faith); subd. 8 (no withholding last month’s rent); subd. 9 (venue); subd. 10 (waiver void). § 504B.206, subd. 1(a)(1)–(4) (four predicate acts; fear of imminent violence by the tenant or an authorized occupant); subd. 1(b)(1)–(4) (notice contents, including the date on which the lease will terminate and § 504B.271 property instructions); subd. 1(c) (delivery methods including a regularly used form of written communication; tenancy terminates on the notice date; early vacation does not terminate); subd. 1(d) (perpetrator disclosure not a precondition); subd. 2(a)–(b) (nondisclosure and shared-database prohibition with enumerated exceptions); subd. 2(c) (2025 addition: paramount over any previously signed release of information form); subd. 2(d) ($2,000 statutory damages plus fees and costs); subd. 3(a) (sole tenant; full month’s rent; relinquishment of deposit claims); subd. 3(b) (multi-tenant lease terminates for all; right to reapply); subd. 3(c) (pre-termination arrears preserved); subd. 3(d) (eviction bar, except as provided in § 504B.285, subd. 1(b)); subd. 5 (waiver prohibited); subd. 6(2) (“qualified third party” — “has provided professional services to” the tenant); subd. 6(3)(i)–(v) (five qualifying documents and the statutory third-party statement form); subd. 7 (federal subsidy conflicts). § 504B.265, subds. 1–4 (termination on death of all tenants; two months’ notice effective the last day of a calendar month; estate liability preserved; waiver and longer-notice provisions void; applicability to leases entered or renewed after May 12, 1981). § 504B.266, subd. 1(b)–(e) (authorized representative, disability, ten categories of medical care facility, three categories of medical professional); subd. 2(a)(1)–(3) (eligibility findings); subd. 2(b) (accessible-unit carve-out; two months); subd. 3 (two months’ written notice; required documentation; liability preserved); subd. 4 (waiver and longer-notice provisions void); subd. 5 (other rights preserved, including ch. 363A). § 504B.285, subd. 1(b) (no eviction of a tenant who terminated under § 504B.206; landlord liable for expungement fees and costs under § 484.014, subd. 3), as amended by 2024 Minn. Laws ch. 118. § 504B.385, subd. 1(c), and § 504B.395, subd. 4, as amended by 2025 Minn. Laws ch. 32, art. 4, §§ 6–7 (escrow and tenant-remedies routes extended to § 504B.001, subd. 14, cls. (4) and (5)). Minn. Stat. § 192.502, subds. 1–3 (state protections for persons ordered to active military service — postsecondary students, license and registration renewal, unpaid leave for military ceremonies; no residential lease termination right). Minn. Stat. § 645.02 (default effective date of August 1 next following final enactment). 2024 Minn. Laws ch. 118, §§ 10, 13, 17–20, 24 (signed by the governor May 24, 2024; § 504B.206, subds. 1 and 3, effective 30 days following final enactment; subd. 2 effective August 1, 2024). 2025 Minn. Laws ch. 32, art. 4, §§ 4–7 (signed by the governor May 23, 2025; § 504B.206, subd. 2, amendment “effective the day following final enactment”). 50 U.S.C. § 3955(a)(1)–(4) (termination options, joint leases, death of lessee, catastrophic injury or illness); (b)(1)(A)–(C) (covered leases of premises; 90-day and 30-day thresholds); (c)(1)–(2) (manner of termination and delivery of notice, including electronic means); (d)(1)(A)–(B) (effective dates); (e)(1) (prorated rent; “The lessor may not impose an early termination charge”); (f) (advance rent refunded within 30 days); (g) (lessor may seek modification from a court); (h) (misdemeanor for detaining a security deposit or personal effects); (i)(1), (3) (“military orders” and “permanent change of station” include separation or retirement), retrieved from uscode.house.gov.

This article is general legal information about Minnesota law. It is not legal advice, it does not create an attorney–client relationship, and no particular outcome is promised or implied. Statutes change; verify current authority before relying on anything here.