When a San Antonio Tenant Breaks the Lease Early: Legal Exits, Your Duty to Mitigate, and What You Can Actually Collect

A tenant hands you keys eight months into a twelve-month lease. Before you send a bill for the balance, understand two things. First, Texas law protects certain early terminations no matter what the lease says — military PCS, family violence, certain sex offenses, and tenant death. Second, even when the tenant has no statutory right to leave, Texas Property Code § 91.006 makes you re-rent the unit with reasonable diligence. You cannot let it sit empty for four months and then sue for four months of rent.

This is the framework Bexar County JP courts apply when a landlord sues for lease-break damages, and it is where most self-managing owners lose money they thought they were owed.

The four statutory exits you cannot override

These rights exist by statute. A lease clause that waives them is void.

• Servicemember on PCS or deployment orders — SCRA § 3955 plus Texas Property Code § 92.017. Written notice with a copy of orders; termination effective 30 days after the next rent due date.
• Family violence victim — § 92.016. Tenant provides a temporary ex parte protective order, a final protective order, or a qualifying magistrate's order for emergency protection. Tenant remains liable for rent through the termination date, which is typically 30 days after notice.
• Victim of certain sex offenses or stalking — § 92.0161. Requires documentation from law enforcement or a licensed healthcare provider, and the offense must have occurred at the premises or within the recent statutory window.
• Death of a sole tenant — § 92.0162. The tenant's representative may terminate with 30 days' written notice; liability ends at the termination date, and the estate is entitled to the deposit refund per § 92.103.

If the tenant follows the statute, your claim ends on the termination date. You still return the deposit under the same 30-day rule in § 92.103, and you cannot withhold for future rent that no longer accrues.

When there is no statutory exit

Everything else — new job in Austin, buying a house in Schertz, roommate conflict, wanting a bigger yard — is a breach. The tenant owes the remaining rent, but only to the extent you cannot re-rent the unit through reasonable effort.

What § 91.006 actually requires

The statute says the landlord "has a duty to mitigate damages if a tenant abandons the leased premises." Reasonable diligence in the San Antonio market usually looks like:

• Relisting on the MLS through SABOR and on public syndication within a week of getting the keys back.
• Pricing at market — the same number you would set for a fresh vacancy, not a punitive rate that guarantees the unit sits.
• Showing the unit on the same cadence you would for any turn.
• Keeping records: listing screenshots, showing logs, applications received, and reasons any were declined.

If you sue for the balance of the lease and cannot show these steps, a JP judge in Precinct 1, 2, 3, or 4 will cut your damages to what the unit reasonably should have re-rented for.

Reletting fees vs unpaid rent — do not confuse them

A lease can include a reletting fee (TAA lease paragraph 11 handles this) that compensates the landlord for the administrative cost of turning the unit early — marketing, screening, paperwork. To be enforceable it must be a reasonable estimate of actual costs, typically 85 percent of one month's rent or less in the TAA form.

A reletting fee is not liquidated damages for lost rent. You can charge the reletting fee and separately pursue actual rent lost during the vacancy, minus what the new tenant pays once they move in. What you cannot do is collect a reletting fee, keep the deposit, and also bill for every month remaining on the lease as if you never had a mitigation duty.

Documenting the break so you can actually recover

Whether the exit is statutory or a breach, paper the file the day you get notice.

• Get the notice in writing. Email counts. If the tenant just texts "I'm out," reply in writing confirming the date they intend to surrender and requesting keys.
• Do a move-out walk. Photograph and video every room, meter readings, and the exterior. Note damages against your move-in condition form.
• Send a written accounting within 30 days of surrender under § 92.103 — deposit disposition, itemized deductions, and a statement of any remaining balance. Miss the 30 days and you risk forfeiture of the right to withhold plus up to $100 plus three times the wrongfully withheld amount plus attorney's fees under § 92.109.
• Log every mitigation step — listing date, price, inquiries, showings, applications, and the final lease start date with the replacement tenant.

Filing suit in Bexar County JP court

Small claims and landlord-tenant money disputes up to $20,000 go to the Justice of the Peace court in the precinct where the property sits. Bexar County has four precincts; check the property address against the county's precinct map before filing. Filing is done through eFileTexas. You will need:

• The signed lease and any addenda.
• The written notice of termination or abandonment.
• The move-out condition documentation.
• The § 92.103 deposit accounting you sent.
• Your mitigation log and the replacement lease if one exists.
• A ledger showing rent charged, payments received, and the balance.

JP judges move quickly and expect organized exhibits. Bring copies for the court, the defendant, and yourself.

Special case: JBSA tenants without PCS orders

A servicemember at Lackland, Randolph, or Fort Sam Houston who wants out for reasons other than PCS or deployment — a divorce, a housing preference change, moving to on-base housing without orders — is not covered by SCRA § 3955 or § 92.017. Treat it as an ordinary breach with a mitigation duty. The military clause is powerful, but it is not a general opt-out. Ask for the orders; if there are no orders, there is no protected termination.

What most people get wrong

• Suing for the full balance of the lease. Texas is a mitigation state. You recover lost rent up to the point a diligent re-rental would have started, not the whole remaining term.
• Refusing to accept the keys to "preserve" the claim. Refusing surrender does not extend the tenant's liability; it just delays your ability to relet and undermines your mitigation record.
• Charging a reletting fee that equals a full month's rent plus damages plus future rent. Stacking recovery on the same loss is how landlords end up paying attorney's fees to the tenant.
• Missing the 30-day deposit deadline because the tenant "still owes money." § 92.103 still applies. Send the itemized accounting on time; any unpaid balance goes on the statement, not into indefinite silence.
• Treating a family-violence or sex-offense termination as optional. These are statutory. Demanding a lease-break fee from a protected tenant exposes you to a suit for actual damages plus one month's rent plus $500 plus attorney's fees under § 92.0163.
• Advertising the vacated unit at a punitive price to prove the market is bad. A judge will price your mitigation against comparable SABOR listings, not your revenge number.

When to bring in a pro

If the tenant is claiming a statutory exit and you doubt the documentation, or if the damages exceed what a JP court can hear, talk to a Texas landlord-tenant attorney before you file or withhold. A one-hour consultation is cheaper than a § 92.109 treble-damages judgment. For routine breaches with clean paperwork, most self-managing owners can handle the JP filing themselves.

If you would rather not deal with mitigation, ledgers, and JP filings the next time this happens, browse vetted local property managers and landlord resources on HomeFinder at /agents and /resources, or list your next rental at /list-your-home when the unit is ready to turn.