Leaving a Brazilian lease early: the pro-rata penalty.
Nearly every Brazilian lease sets a penalty of three months' rent for handing the property back before the end of the term. What many tenants do not know is that the statute orders it reduced in proportion to the time already served — and waives it entirely in defined situations. Enter your lease details and see the pro-rata amount and the rule that applies.
Months served: count the whole months between the start of the lease and the handover of the keys. Notice: a statutory condition of the waiver for an employer transfer and of terminating an indefinite-term lease — which is why the tool always asks.
Charged more than
the statute allows?
The gap between the full and the pro-rata penalty is usually significant, and the discussion almost always begins before any court filing. Send your simulation on WhatsApp for an initial review. To see the penalty within the wider set of leasing rules, see our guide to Brazilian tenancy law.
The formula, the article and the review date.
agreed penalty = rent × number of months. Then the proportion: penalty due = agreed penalty × (months remaining ÷ total term), with months remaining = total term − months served.Art. 54-A purpose-built lease.
penalty due = lower of the agreed penalty and (rent × months remaining).
The general rule comes from art. 4 of Law 8,245/91, as worded by Law 12,744/2012: "Durante o prazo estipulado para a duração do contrato, não poderá o locador reaver o imóvel alugado. Com exceção ao que estipula o § 2º do art. 54-A, o locatário, todavia, poderá devolvê-lo, pagando a multa pactuada, proporcional ao período de cumprimento do contrato, ou, na sua falta, a que for judicialmente estipulada." Two points: the statute orders a reduction without defining its formula — the criterion used here is the one in common use, and a lease may adopt another provided it respects the statutory command of proportionality — and it already carves out an express exception for § 2 of art. 54-A.
The statutory waivers
The sole paragraph of art. 4 contains the best-known waiver: "O locatário ficará dispensado da multa se a devolução do imóvel decorrer de transferência, pelo seu empregador, privado ou público, para prestar serviços em localidades diversas daquela do início do contrato, e se notificar, por escrito, o locador com prazo de, no mínimo, trinta dias de antecedência." Two requirements are joined by "and": the employer transfer and the written notice thirty days in advance. Without the notice, the tool reverts to the pro-rata calculation.
Then there is the lease that has expired and simply continued. Article 6 provides that the tenant may terminate an indefinite-term lease by written notice given at least thirty days in advance, and the sole paragraph adds that, absent such notice, the landlord may demand an amount corresponding to one month's rent and charges as in force at termination. This is not the art. 4 penalty: it is the consequence of failing to give notice — one month's rent with charges, not three.
Why a purpose-built lease has its own rule
Article 54-A, added by Law 12,744/2012, governs the urban non-residential lease in which the landlord acquires, builds or substantially refurbishes the property specified by the prospective tenant, to lease it to that tenant for a fixed term. There the landlord ties up capital in reliance on the term, and the legislature treated it differently: under § 2, on early termination by the tenant, the tenant undertakes to pay the agreed penalty, which shall not, however, exceed the sum of the rents receivable up to the end of the lease. The statute fixes a cap, not the pro-rata reduction of the general rule. That is why the calculator compares the agreed penalty with the cap and returns the lower of the two.
Common questions on the early-exit penalty.
How is the penalty for leaving a Brazilian rental early calculated?
Article 4 of Law 8,245/91 provides that the tenant may hand the property back by paying the agreed penalty, in proportion to the period already performed, or, failing an agreed penalty, the amount fixed by a court. The statute orders the reduction but sets no formula. The criterion in common use, and the one this calculator applies, multiplies the agreed penalty by the fraction of the term still outstanding: penalty due = agreed penalty × months remaining ÷ total term.
When does the statute waive the penalty altogether?
The sole paragraph of art. 4 waives the penalty where the property is handed back because the tenant has been transferred by their employer, private or public, to work in a location other than the one where the lease began — provided the landlord is notified in writing at least thirty days in advance. The written notice is a condition of the waiver, not a formality. Once a lease has rolled into an indefinite term, art. 6 lets the tenant terminate on thirty days' written notice, with no penalty.
Does the same rule apply to commercial leases?
Not in every case. For the non-residential lease of art. 54-A, added by Law 12,744/2012 — where the landlord acquires, builds or substantially refurbishes the property specified by the prospective tenant, the build-to-suit arrangement — paragraph 2 provides that, on early termination by the tenant, the tenant undertakes to pay the agreed penalty, which shall not exceed the sum of the rents receivable up to the end of the lease. The statute sets a cap, not a pro-rata reduction.
I moved out in the final month. Is a penalty still due?
On the pro-rata criterion, yes, but a very small one: if one month of a thirty-month lease was outstanding, the penalty due is one thirtieth of the agreed penalty. Where the full term has been served there is no early hand-back and the art. 4 penalty does not apply. The calculator displays the months remaining that it used, so the fraction is visible.
How much does it cost to challenge a penalty I consider excessive?
It depends on the route. Many cases are settled by written notice and agreement, without proceedings, and the cost is limited to legal fees. If the matter goes to court, filing fees on the value assigned to the claim are added. Fees are set case by case according to complexity and the amounts involved, and presented in writing after the lease has been read.
Do you assist clients outside São Paulo?
Law 8,245/91 is federal and applies throughout Brazil, so the calculation on this page works for leases in any state. The firm is based on Avenida Paulista and works with clients elsewhere remotely, by video call and with digital documents; in distant jurisdictions the work may involve a local correspondent lawyer. Initial screening and the fee proposal follow the same format.
