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New York law specifies a few situations when a residential tenant can break their lease without having to pay the rent due on the remaining months:

• Victims of domestic violence (Real Property Law, section 227-c): If you or someone in your household is a victim of domestic violence and you're afraid for your safety if you stay in the home, you can break the lease. The tenant must give the landlord written notice of their intent to move out in writing, and must follow up with documentation that shows the tenant or member of their household is a victim of domestic violence. Examples of documentation include a final or temporary order of protection, a police report describing the incident, or records of medical treatment related to domestic violence.
• Senior citizens with serious medical needs (Real Property Law, section 227-a): If you, your spouse, or your dependent is 62 or older and can't live independently any more for medical reasons, you can break the lease. You must be moving in with a family member, or to a senior care facility or assisted living facility. The tenant must give the landlord written notice of their intent to move out in writing, and must follow up with documentation from a doctor certifying the individual's medical condition or disability. The tenant must also provide documentation that they are moving in with a family member via a sworn statement, or a letter of admission from a nursing facility.
• Active duty military (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act): If you begin active duty military service after signing a lease, you can break the lease. This is a federal law that protects members of the military from certain civil penalties because they are on active duty. The tenant must give the landlord written notice of their intent to move out because they are being deployed and give the landlord a copy of their orders.

You may also be able to break your lease without paying the remaining rent if your landlord is neglecting the property:

• Uninhabitable living space (Real Property Law, section 235-b): New York law requires that rental properties be "fit for human habitation." If a landlord has neglected a rental property to the point where it is hazardous or unsafe to live there, it is likely, but not guaranteed, that a court will find you have been "constructively evicted" if you break the lease and move out. If you break a lease because you feel your rental property is uninhabitable, the landlord can sue you for the remaining rent, and you would have to prove in court that the property was unsafe or unsanitary. There is more information about tenants' rights to a safe living space in this pamphlet from the Attorney General's office. If you want to do more in depth legal research about the requirements you need to meet to prove your case based on an uninhabitable living space, please visit your local public access law library to read Semans Family Ltd. Partnership v. Kennedy, 675 N.Y.S.2d 489 (N.Y. City Civ. Ct., 1998) and Jangla Realty Co. v. Gravagna 447 N.Y.S.2d 338 (Civ. Ct., Queens County, 1981).

If you break your lease because you want to find somewhere else to live, your landlord is obligated to make a good faith effort to find a new tenant to rent the property (Real Property Law, section 227-e). This is called the landlord's duty to mitigate damages. However, you must continue to pay the rent on the lease until the landlord finds someone to take it over. If you stop paying the rent on your original lease after you move out, the landlord can sue you for the remaining rent on the lease. This is called a broken lease case.