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Breaking a lease

Breaking a lease in Alaska

Checked against the Alaska statutes on October 1, 2026 General information, not legal advice

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Key numbers

Month-to-month notice: 30 days; written, before the rental due date it names; 14 days week to week; AS 34.03.290(b)
Deposit refund deadline: 14 or 30 days; 14 when proper notice was given and nothing is deducted for damage, otherwise 30; units renting for more than $2,000 a month are outside the deposit section; AS 34.03.070(g)AS 34.03.070(a)

Ending a fixed-term lease early

AS 34.03 gives a tenant no general right to end a fixed-term lease early, including for domestic violence. If a tenant abandons the unit, you must make reasonable efforts to rent it at a fair rental value; if you do not, or you accept the abandonment as a surrender, the lease ends on the date you had notice of the abandonment (AS 34.03.010 to 34.03.380; AS 34.03.230(c)).

If you re-rent for a term starting before the lease expires, the old lease ends when the new tenancy begins (AS 34.03.230(c)).
Abandonment means the tenant left belongings in the unit, has been absent for seven days or more without giving the extended-absence notice, and has defaulted in rent (AS 34.03.360).
A tenant may end the lease for your uncured material breach, failure to deliver possession, fire or casualty damage, unlawful ouster or cutoff of services, or abuse of access (AS 34.03.160; AS 34.03.170; AS 34.03.200; AS 34.03.210; AS 34.03.300(b)).
Under federal law, a servicemember may end a lease after entering military service or receiving orders for a permanent change of station or a deployment of 90 days or more; with monthly rent, termination takes effect 30 days after the next rent due date following delivery of the notice (50 U.S.C. 3955).
A domestic violence protective order may remove and exclude the respondent from the petitioner's residence, regardless of who owns it (AS 18.66.100(c)(3)).

In the Rentari Alaska lease

The Alaska lease states the duty to re-rent after abandonment, the federal servicemember termination right, and that the Act grants no early termination right for domestic violence.

Tenant repair remedies

For a material breach of the lease, or a failure to maintain the premises that materially affects health and safety, the tenant may give written notice that the lease will end on a date at least 20 days after you receive it unless you remedy the breach within 10 days. The Act has no general repair-and-deduct remedy; the tenant may deduct from rent only when you deliberately or negligently fail to supply running water, hot water, heat, sanitary facilities or other essential services (AS 34.03.160(a); AS 34.03.180).

If substantially the same breach recurs within six months and you did not use due care, the tenant may end the lease on at least 10 days' written notice (AS 34.03.160(a)).
The tenant may also recover damages and get a court order for your failure to meet the lease or your maintenance duties (AS 34.03.160(b)).
For a failure of essential services, after written notice the tenant may buy reasonable amounts of the service and deduct the actual and reasonable cost from rent, recover damages for the reduced rental value, or get substitute housing and pay no rent for that period. A tenant who uses this remedy may not also proceed under AS 34.03.160 for the same breach, whether by the 20-day termination notice or by a claim for damages or a court order (AS 34.03.180(a); AS 34.03.180(b); AS 34.03.160).
None of these rights arises for a condition caused by the tenant, the tenant's family or someone on the premises with the tenant's consent (AS 34.03.160(a); AS 34.03.180(c)).
In an eviction for nonpayment, the tenant may counterclaim for your noncompliance, and the court may reduce the rent, give you time to cure, or order rent paid into court (AS 34.03.190).
If fire or casualty substantially impairs the unit, the tenant may move out and end the lease, or vacate the unusable part and pay reduced rent (AS 34.03.200).

In the Rentari Alaska lease

The Alaska lease restates the tenant's 20-day termination notice, the essential-services remedies and the rule that no remedy arises for a condition the tenant caused.

Sublease and assignment

Unless agreed otherwise in writing, the tenant needs your consent to sublet or assign. When the lease requires consent, you may refuse a prospective occupant who made the written offer the Act describes only by a signed written rejection delivered within 14 days that states one of the listed grounds; if you do not reject in time, consent is conclusively presumed (AS 34.03.060).

The permitted grounds are insufficient credit or financial responsibility, the number of people or of minors in the household, refusal to take on the same lease terms, pets, commercial activity, or a prior landlord's signed report of abuse of other premises (AS 34.03.060(d)).
No other restriction on subletting or assignment is enforceable (AS 34.03.060(b)).
If your rejection states no permitted ground, the tenant may treat consent as given or end the lease on at least 30 days' written notice (AS 34.03.060(e)).

In the Rentari Alaska lease

The Alaska lease requires consent and states the 14-day written rejection, the permitted grounds and the presumed consent.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

Either you or the tenant may end a month-to-month tenancy with written notice given at least 30 days before the rental due date named in the notice. While rent is current, either may end a week-to-week tenancy with written notice given at least 14 days before the termination date (AS 34.03.290(a); AS 34.03.290(b)).

A tenancy with no definite term is week to week when the tenant pays weekly rent, and month to month in all other cases (AS 34.03.020(d)).
If the tenant stays after the tenancy ends, serve a notice to quit before suing for possession; a wilful holdover not in good faith can cost the tenant up to one and one-half times your actual damages (AS 34.03.290(c); AS 09.45.090(a)(2)(F)).
When you recover possession for one of the good-faith reasons the Act lists, such as your own use, major remodeling or a sale, the tenant has the longer of 30 days or the lease's notice period after a notice to quit (AS 09.45.090(a)(2)(D); AS 34.03.310(c)).

In the Rentari Alaska lease

The Alaska lease states the 30-day month-to-month notice given before a rental due date and the 14-day week-to-week notice.

Deposit return

When you or the tenant gave a termination notice that complies with AS 34.03.290, mail the itemized written notice and any refund within 14 days after the tenancy ends and the tenant delivers possession, or within 30 days after the tenancy ends if you deduct for damage. When the tenant did not give such a notice, you have 30 days after the tenancy ends, possession is delivered, or you become aware the unit is abandoned. By its terms, AS 34.03.070, including these deadlines, the trust-account rule and the pet deposit limit, does not apply to a rental unit where the rent exceeds $2,000 a month (AS 34.03.070(a); AS 34.03.070(g)).

You may apply the deposit and prepaid rent only to accrued rent and to damage caused by the tenant's failure to meet the tenant's duties. Damage does not include normal wear and tear, or deterioration caused by your failure to prepare for expected conditions or to meet your own duties under the Act (AS 34.03.070(b); AS 34.03.070(i)).
Itemize the rent and damages in a written notice mailed to the tenant's last known address, with the amount due the tenant. If you do not know a mailing address but know how to reach the tenant, make a reasonable effort to deliver the notice and refund (AS 34.03.070(b); AS 34.03.070(g)).
If you wilfully fail to follow these rules, the tenant may recover up to twice the amount withheld (AS 34.03.070(d)).
Whoever holds the landlord's interest when the tenancy ends is bound by these rules. A landlord who sells stays liable for the deposit unless it is specifically assigned to and accepted by the buyer (AS 34.03.070(f); AS 34.03.110(a)).
A signed premises condition statement is presumptive evidence of the unit's condition at move-in in a later damage claim (AS 34.03.335).See Move-in condition on the Alaska page

In the Rentari Alaska lease

The Alaska lease states both deadlines, 14 days when proper notice was given and 30 days when damage is deducted or no such notice was given, mailing to the tenant's last known address, and the double-damages rule for a wilful failure.

Options short of breaking the lease

When a tenant asks to leave early without one of the reasons above, these are the usual ways to settle it. Put whatever you agree in writing, signed by every tenant on the lease.

Sublet or assignment. Check what the lease says about subletting first. In a sublet the original tenant usually stays responsible for rent and damage. In an assignment a new tenant takes over the lease; if you mean to release the original tenant, say so in writing.
Early termination clause. If the lease has one, follow it as written: the notice it asks for, the fee and the end date. Check the Alaska rules above for any limit on what the clause may require.
Agreed early end. Agree on a move-out date, the last rent owed, how the deposit will be handled and the condition the home should be left in. A tenant who keeps the home ready for showings helps you re-rent sooner.
Cash for keys. You pay the tenant to return possession by a set date. State the amount, the date, the expected condition and what happens to the deposit.

Steps for an early move-out

Read the lease
Find the early termination clause, the notice terms and the subletting rule.
Match the reason
If the tenant gives a legal reason, check it against the Alaska rule above and ask only for the documents that rule names.
Confirm in writing
Record the end date, the final rent and any fee, and keep proof of delivery.
Close out the tenancy
Inspect and photograph the home, try to re-rent where the rules above require it, and return or itemize the deposit by the deadline.

Legal help in Alaska

Alaska Court System: housing self-help. Court steps and forms for landlords and tenants in eviction and damages cases.
Alaska Department of Law: landlord and tenant handbook. The state's plain-language guide to the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.
Alaska Bar Association: Lawyer Referral Service. Names of up to three lawyers for your issue, by phone or online request.

Questions

How do I end a month-to-month tenancy?

Give written notice at least 30 days before the rental due date named in the notice. A week-to-week tenancy needs 14 days' written notice while rent is current (AS 34.03.290).

Can my tenant sublet?

Only with your consent, unless the lease says otherwise in writing. If the tenant presents a written offer, you have 14 days to reject it in a signed writing that gives a ground the Act lists, or consent is presumed (AS 34.03.060).

Does a tenant have a right to break the lease for domestic violence in Alaska?

AS 34.03 grants no such right. A court protective order can remove and exclude the abuser from the residence, and federal law gives servicemembers a termination right (AS 34.03.010 to 34.03.380; AS 18.66.100(c)(3); 50 U.S.C. 3955).

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