The end of a lease can pose a bunch of questions for tenants. Sometimes, the end of the lease can just sneak up on you without you or your roommates having given much thought about what to do at the end of it.
Do you renew it for another year? Do you stop it and find someplace else to stay? What if you haven’t made up your mind yet about what you want to do? Can you just keep paying? What are your options?
The termination date on your lease is the day that you must be out of your apartment. There is typically no grace period or days in which you can occupy the apartment past the final date on the lease.
The majority of the time, landlords are more worried about tenants that are breaking the lease to move out early, rather than those that stay PAST the term of their lease, but it does happen more frequently than you would think.
Many people either haven’t come to a good long-term solution to work and living to determine whether staying in their current apartment for another year is the right solution or whether potentially moving to someplace else is the way to go.
Technically, tenants have to be out of their apartment on the final day that is written out in the lease agreement. Say, for instance, you have a one year lease that started on the 1st of April, then a good rule of thumb would be that you would have to be completely out of the apartment the next April 30th unless you made other arrangements with your landlord.
The good news for tenants is that there are some easy and convenient options available for tenants that can help ease the decision-making process during this time.
How Long Can I Stay In My Apartment Once The Lease Expires?
Tenants must be out of their apartment by the final day as stated on the lease. However, if arrangements are made with the landlord, tenants can usually do a month-to-month lease for a period of time.
As I mentioned above, technically, you have to be out of your apartment on the last day of your rent. That is the final day that you have paid for, and the final day for which the landlord has accepted an agreement to rent the apartment to you.
If you want to stay for longer, either a whole other year, or maybe a shorter term, the easiest thing to do is to just call them up and talk to them about your options.
What If I Just Keep Paying My Monthly Rent?
Most times, if you just keep paying your monthly rent, your lease will automatically roll-over into a month-by-month lease.
This is a good feature for tenants because it takes a bit of the burden of pressure off making an important decision when maybe you don’t have enough to go on with work and family life to make a good decision at that time.
The way most leases are written, once the date of the lease is done, the tenancy is up, but if the tenant keeps on making the scheduled monthly payments, the lease will automatically roll-over to a month-to-month lease without either party having to do anything.
Now, best practices say that the landlord should be sending a letter out to the tenants at least 60 days in advance, but no less than 30 days ahead of when the lease is going to end.
This allows the landlord to communicate their intention with your apartment, as well as giving you notice as to when the lease is up, allowing you to make a decision for what you want to do.
In many cases, the landlord will let the tenant keep on paying the lease after their normal lease has expired if they are good tenants. These are tenants they perceive to be low-risk, dependable payers, and cause no trouble at the apartment complex.
Landlords are going to be way more casual with these types of tenants because they want them around longer, and allowing them a time period to keep on paying just like they were, allows the tenant to make a better decision, which ends up being good for both landlord and tenant.
If the tenant happens to be a poor tenant, the 30 or 60 day notice from the landlord is going to let them know that at the end of the term, the lease is up, and the apartment complex will not be renewing the lease with that individual. This fulfills the requirements for the 30-day notice to the tenant, while respectfully asking them to find a better fit for them elsewhere.
Communication with your landlord is going to clear up any questions you have about extending your lease. Even if you don’t want to make a decision at the moment, just calling them to ask if you can keep paying and do a month-to-month lease for a period of time is the best solution.
More than likely, they are going to be more than willing to accommodate you on your request because it means they keep a good tenant without having to flip an apartment unit.
What Is A “Holdover Tenant”?
A Holdover Tenant is a renter who keeps staying in the apartment after the lease agreement is up. If they continue to pay their normal rent, the lease agreement will usually roll over into a month-to-month type agreement until the landlord asks for them to sign a new lease or leave.
The term “Holdover” doesn’t necessarily mean a good or bad thing, it just means that the tenant is staying at the apartment outside the terms of the lease and is there kind of at the pleasure of the landlord.
Meaning, if the landlord ever wants the holdover tenant to leave, they can give them the request in writing and have them leave.
If the tenant is a holdover tenant and just aren’t moving OR paying rent after the term is up, then they can go to small claims court or eviction court to have them removed.
Some states allow the landlord to charge for DOUBLE the amount of the rent for damages if a tenant just decides they aren’t going to move and they aren’t going to pay.
But the majority of the times that a Holdover Tenant situation comes into play are regarding those tenants who just haven’t decided yet what to do long term, and so for the time being, a month-to-month rent is just fine with them, and as long as they keep paying, it is almost always fine with the landlord as well.
Do You Have To Pay Rent After Giving A 30 Day Notice?
Yes, you must pay your rent until the day you actually move out regardless of when you give the 30-day notice to your landlord.
There is a huge misconception out there in the rental world that once you give your landlord their 30-day notice, that they no longer have to pay rent.
This is not true.
A tenant must pay their rent for all the days that they are occupying the apartment, whether or not you are on a month-to-month lease, or a year long agreement.
Those are the terms of every lease, and simply because you decide you are going to move somewhere else, doesn’t then mean that you can just stop paying your current landlord the rent for use of the apartment.
Some tenants believe that if they just don’t pay the last month’s rent, the landlord will simply take their security deposit and use that for the last month’s rent.
Yes, the landlord WILL do that if you don’t pay, because the lease agreement allows for that, but that doesn’t mean that you will ALSO be charged for damage and repairs the apartment needs after you leave. This is what the security deposit is made for to begin with. NOT as a substitute for last month’s rent.
Make sure you understand the distinction here with what those two different sets of money are meant for. Assuming you don’t have to pay and the landlord will just take your security deposit is a good way to have an extra bill sent to you for repairs, and an unfavorable review of you as a renter when your next landlord calls to ask how your experience was at your previous apartment complex.
When you are moving out of your apartment, technically you have to be out of the apartment completely on the final day of the lease. If your landlord allows it, you can continue to stay in your apartment and pay as normal for a time, as your lease rolls over into a month-to-month lease.
This is called being a “Holdover Tenant” or a tenant with no long-term lease. If you are going to stay longer than your lease allows for, simply talk to your landlord about your situation, let them know of your intentions, and go from there.
If you are a good tenant, they are going to have no problem with it whatsoever.
