Holdover Tenants

A common issue tested within landlord/tenant law on the MBE will present a situation in which the tenant continues to remain in possession of property after the rightful termination of the tenant's right to possess.  It's then a matter of determining the rights of the landlord.

The landlord has two choices, the first of which is to treat the tenant as a holdover tenant and evict the tenant under an unlawful detainer statute.  But often in the questions, the landlord will choose not to do so and instead will attempt to bind the holdover tenant to a new tenancy.  This is allowable as well.

The new tenancy will be a periodic tenancy and generally the terms and conditions of the expired tenancy may govern the new tenancy.  But the determination of the terms of the new tenancy will depend on the nature of the property; if commercial property, then the tenant may be held to a new year-to-year tenancy provided the original tenancy was for more than a year.  If the property is residential, the hold-over tenant will generally be held to a new month-to-month tenancy regardless of the terms of that tenant's expired tenancy.  It's allowable for the landlord to raise the rent on both the residential and commercial tenant for the new tenancy but only if the landlord notifies the tenant prior to the expiration of the original tenancy that if the tenant chooses to remain, the new tenancy will be at an increased rate.

The landlord may choose at any time to terminate the new periodic tenancy and to do so will require that the landlord provide notice at least equal to the length of the time period of the tenancy.  For example, if the periodic tenancy is month-to-month then a month notice is required. One exception to note, though, is that a year-to-year tenancy does not require that the landlord provide notice a year before termination; six months will suffice.