Landlord Question and Answer Forum

The tenant is on a month-to-month lease begining on the 1st of every month. On the lease landlord and tenant have the right to terminate lease lease at any time with 30 days notice begining of the last month of the lease. Any advice. Thanks

No problem. He still has ~6 weeks to go. What is the issue?

Posted by Eric D, MN on Saturday, July 24, 2010

the issue is that they paid for july month giving me the 30 day notice on the 15 teen day of july the other 15teen days fall into august. the rent is due on the 1st of the month for that month paid they don't think they should pay for the 15teen that fall onto august month. They like the whole deposit back. ANYONE WITH IDEA ON HOW TO GO ABOUT THIS PLEASE GIVE ANY SUGGESTION. THANKS

Posted by Steven R, NY on Thursday, July 29, 2010

Deduct the 15 days of August as "unpaid rent" from the security deposit. You may also want to look into your agreement about late fees if the rent for August is not paid. You are running a business not subsidized housing.

Posted by ARNON G, CA on Friday, July 30, 2010

Eric may be correct, you may have 6 weeks to deal with this. You will have to check state or country rental laws, as some 30 day notices are not legally in effect until the next 1st day of a month. In other words, a notice handed in on the 15th does not go into effect until the next 1st of month - which would be August 1st; thus giving 6 weeks, and making the tenant responsible for the entire month of August. You would have two weeks prior to their move out to do an inspection and deal with security deposit. The results of the inspection is the determination of how much deposit they get back (if any). If the tenant refuses to pay, you may have to deduct unpaid rent from the security deposit. Did they pay a last month's rent upfront? If not, they owe for during the 30 days in any case. Again, you'd have to check for your state's law regarding 30 day notices handed in by tenants - as some notices do go into effect the day after they are handed in.

Posted by Lynn S, GA on Sunday, August 1, 2010

I might be too late joining this thread but I almost had this happen to me. I filed a Notice to Pay or Quit the first day of the month my tenant was late, even knowing she intended to leave early. She was breaking her contract as yours is trying to do. As a LL we all try to be reasonable because collecting after-the-fact just isn't worth it sometimes, but serving notice let her know I was serious. I referenced the lease and said little else, without accepting the short notice when she threatened to leave with two weeks notice on an unpaid month. I also pointed out that, in addition to the lease, she would lose her deposit and I would tack on late and court fees. So she could choose to pay rent or it would be a lot more expensive later. We came to an agreement, using some of the deposit, because I have a history with this tenant. But I also believe, this only works for a tenant who has and cares about their good credit. Don't know what kind of situation you're in.

Posted by Tammie H, PA on Friday, August 6, 2010

Thank you all for your advice. Question, Notice was given as i stated but they did leave by the 1 st of August and left the apt in clean and undamaged manner. I've decided to refund the full deposit minus rent owed and other fee which is required by lease like 25% of water bill and replacement of fire extingher which was use due to there neglect. I think that was fair. Thanks again all for the great advice/ info

Posted by Steven R, NY on Friday, August 6, 2010