Landlord Question and Answer Forum

Our lease is written to automatically renew. They were supposed to notify at 90 days before term. They spoke with us at 62 days remaining of non-renewal.Can they legally stay in the rental unit if they have trouble with the closing on their purchase without written termination notice ? We would like to find new tennants to occupy as soon as the lease is up on June 1 st

If the lease states that tenant is to give XXX amount of days of intent to vacate and the tenant does not follow that rule, than technically - that Tenant will be responsible for an entire term if the Lease, in fact has an automatic renewal clause. There are states, Maryland is one, where the landlord MUST let the tenant know and the tenant must acknowledge this by either signing something that states it or initialing the renewal clause in the lease. REMEMBER that in PA and most states, the Landlord is required to mitigate damages, which means that - the landlord must do his best to find a suitable replacement Tenant to lessen the amount of money the Tenant would be liable for. Ultimately, the decision is up to the judge (although you could appeal, but this tends to be costly).

Posted by Donna , NC on Wednesday, March 30, 2011