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Can a Victim of Domestic Abuse Get Out of a Lease?

BY Karen Meislik
October 28, 2010

In our day-to-day practice as family law practitioners, we help clients negotiate their way through the maze that is divorce. Besides the usual parenting and financial issues, some clients experience abuse at the hands of their spouse, a significant other or another household member. If this happens, the victim can obtain a Protective Order. However, as is too often seen in the newspapers, the Protective Order is merely a piece of paper and does not guarantee safety.

How Pervasive Is Domestic Violence?

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “an estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year.” The Coalition goes on to report that “there are 16,800 homicides and 2.2 million (medically treated) injuries due to intimate partner violence annually, which cost $37 billion.” Not only that, due to their injuries, these victims lose time from work and lose the pay they would have earned. Because most incidents of violence occur at or near the home, that home is no longer a safe place to live. Also, for financial reasons, many of the victims feel trapped and are forced to reside with an abuser, since the abuser may be the one who is “on the lease.”

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