Break Leases & Contracts Penalty-Free
End apartment leases, auto leases, and phone contracts without fees when orders move you.
- Rent you still owe
- The 30 days after the next due date
50 U.S.C. § 3955. A monthly-rent lease, month-to-month or fixed term, ends 30 days after the next rent due date. Get your exact date and savings from the lease termination calculator.
If you have orders, you can get out of the lease, and the landlord cannot charge you a termination fee for it. That is federal law, 50 U.S.C. § 3955, not a courtesy clause your lease happens to contain.
The protection is wider than most people assume. It covers leases of premises used for residential, professional, business, agricultural or similar purposes, and it separately covers motor vehicle leases. Terminating also ends any obligation a dependent has under the same lease.
What trips people up is not eligibility, it is the paperwork and the dates. The termination is not effective when you hand over the notice; for a monthly-rent lease it takes effect 30 days after the next rental payment falls due. Send the notice with a copy of your orders, keep proof of delivery, and count the dates before you plan the move.
At a glance
- Statute
- 50 U.S.C. § 3955
- Premises lease trigger
- PCS orders, or deployment of 90 days or more
- Vehicle lease trigger
- Entry into service on a call or order of 180 days or more
- How to terminate
- Written notice plus a copy of your orders, delivered to the lessor
- Vehicle handover
- Return the vehicle within 15 days of delivering the notice
- Effective date (monthly rent)
- 30 days after the next rental payment is due following delivery of notice
- Early termination charge
- Prohibited. The lessor may not impose one
- Prepaid rent refund
- Within 30 days of the effective termination date
- Withholding your deposit
- A misdemeanor under § 3955(h) if done knowingly after a lawful termination
Start here
- You are breaking an apartment or house lease on orders: Breaking an apartment lease with military orders
- You are getting out of a car lease: Terminating a car lease under the SCRA
- You need out of a phone, internet, cable, gym or home security contract: Cancelling service contracts on orders
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ADT Military Cancellation Under the SCRA: Orders, Email, No ETF
ADT's SCRA page (effective April 9, 2026): email notice and orders to docs6273@adt.com. No early termination fee, refund in 60 days, free reinstatement in 90.
No ETF on a 36-month monitoring plan
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AT&T Military Cancellation and Number Hold: The SCRA Rules
AT&T cancels wireless with no ETF on deployment or transfer orders, holds a number up to 39 months, and can stop device installments. Online path, fax, forms.
No ETF, installments can stop
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SCRA Lease Termination Letter Template (Apartment & Car Lease)
Two fill-in letters under 50 U.S.C. § 3955: end an apartment lease 30 days after the next rent date, or return a leased car in 15 days. No early fee.
No early-termination fee
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Spectrum Military Deployment: Number Hold, Mobile Suspension, Cancel
Spectrum reserves a Home Phone or Mobile number for 3 years after an SCRA cancellation, suspends Mobile up to 39 months, and takes requests online or by mail.
Reconnect fees waived, number saved 3 years
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T-Mobile Military Suspension: 39-Month Hold, EIP, and Cancelling
T-Mobile suspends a verified active-duty line up to 39 months with no plan charges, taxes, or fees, but device installments keep billing. Steps, cancel route.
Plan charges to $0 for up to 39 months
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Verizon SCRA Benefits: Military Suspension & Cancellation
Verizon holds a deployed line up to 3 years and 90 days at $0, offers a $10 short-term hold, and disconnects lines and device plans under the SCRA. The details.
Line and device charges paused at $0
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Vivint Military Cancellation Policy: Deployment, PCS, and the SCRA
Vivint waives its ETF for deployments of 90 days or more, ordered moves, 20-year retirement, and medical discharge. Its page says the SCRA does not apply.
ETF waived on qualifying orders
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Break Your Apartment Lease with Military Orders (SCRA)
PCS or deployment orders of 90+ days let you end a residential lease penalty-free under the SCRA, often saving thousands. Exact steps and timing.
Avg. savings: $3,000–$10,000
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Cancel Phone, Internet & Cable Contracts on Military Orders
Federal law (50 U.S.C. § 3956) lets military members cancel cell phone, internet, and cable contracts with no early-termination fee on 90-day orders.
Kill ETFs on phone, cable, internet
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End a Car Lease Early with Military Orders, No Fee (SCRA)
Deploying 180+ days or PCSing OCONUS? The SCRA lets you return a leased car with no early-termination charge. Phone and internet contracts too.
Avg. savings: $2,000–$6,000
Frequently asked questions
Can the landlord charge me an early termination fee?
No. Section 3955(e) says the lessor may not impose an early termination charge on a lawful SCRA termination. You still owe prorated rent for the period before the effective date, and you still owe things like unpaid taxes or reasonable charges for excess wear that were already due under the lease.
When does the termination actually take effect?
For a premises lease with monthly rent, 30 days after the first date the next rental payment falls due after your notice is delivered. For other premises leases, the last day of the month following the month the notice is delivered. It is not the day you hand over the letter, which is the single most common planning mistake.
What happens to my security deposit and prepaid rent?
Rents or lease amounts paid in advance for a period after the effective termination date must be refunded within 30 days of that date. Knowingly seizing, holding or detaining the personal effects, security deposit or other property of a servicemember who lawfully terminated is a misdemeanor under § 3955(h).
Does terminating cover my spouse who signed the same lease?
Yes. Section 3955(a)(2) says a lessee’s termination also terminates any obligation a dependent of the lessee may have under that lease.
What if the servicemember dies or is catastrophically injured?
Section 3955 provides for both. A spouse or dependent may terminate during the one-year period beginning on the date of death if the lessee dies in military service or while performing covered duty, and there is a parallel one-year window where the lessee incurs a catastrophic injury or illness.