Am I obligated to pay past expiration of lease when I did not give notice I was vacating apartment?
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Am I obligated to pay past expiration of lease when I did not give notice I was vacating apartment?
5 months ago I agreed to a 6 month lease on an apartment. I told my landlord I would be leaving after the months was up.He walked in while I was moving an told me I didn’t him the required 60 day written notice. There’s nothing in my lease that states I have to give him a 60 day notice that I was leaving after the lease is up. He says I owe him rent for the next two months because I never gave notice. He also never had me sign a new lease.I do have a witness to the phone call in which we agreed to the 6 months and the increased rent and also me stating I would be leaving after the 6 months. Am I obligated to pay rent after the agreed upon 6-month term?
Asked on August 28, 2017 under Real Estate Law, Minnesota
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
If you had a written lease and there was no notice requirement in the lease, then you did not owe him notice: and therefore, if you left before or by the lease's expiration date, you would not owe him any additional money. Written leases are contracts: landlords are entitled to what is in the lease, and no more than that.
If you did not have a written lease, only an oral one (often incorrectly called a "verbal" lease) it was a month-to-month lease no matter what you and he discussed: oral leases are always month to month. You would owe him a month's notice, as the term implies; and if you gave him at least a month's notice, would not owe anything more or in addition.
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