A holdover tenant is what?
Holdover tenants stay in a property after the lease ends. If the landlord accepts rent, the stay-renter can lawfully occupy the property, and state and court rules define the holdover tenant’s new renting term. Trespassing occurs if the landlord does not accept rent payments, and eviction may be necessary if the renter does not leave.
Understanding Tenant Holdovers
To avoid holdout tenants, landlords should add language in the initial contract outlining what occurs after the lease to safeguard their property and interests. For instance, a year-long apartment contract may transition to a month-to-month lease upon expiration.
State and municipal rules affect landlords who rent to tenants. Accepting payment may reset the lease period. A new year-long lease begins when the landlord receives a rent payment after the prior lease expires. Sometimes, a lingering tenant’s payment starts a month-to-month contract.
A landlord must file a holdover process to evict a tenant without paying rent. Evictions or small claims courts handle this.
Landlords must regard holdout tenants as trespassers and not collect rent from them to evict them.
Holdover Tenant Rights
Tenant holdovers maintain their tenancy at sufferance. A tenancy at sufferance differs from a tenancy at will when a tenant occupies the property with the owner’s agreement but without a written contract or lease. “Sufferance” refers to the absence of opposition without proper approval. Tenancy at sufferance refers to renters not being evicted but no longer having the landlord’s consent to stay in the property.
As mentioned above, a landlord must provide you with a notice of termination to evict you as a holdover tenant, although this varies by state. The notification starts the holdover. New York State requires termination notices in the following situations:
Since your lease terminated, the landlord or owner has taken rent.
- You pay monthly rent without a contract.
- The landlord or owner wants to evict you despite the lease being unfinished.
- You have rent-controlled housing.
- You receive Section 8 funds.
- Your lease demands it.
The notification must include the cause for termination, the date you must move, and that the landlord will take legal action if you don’t. Reasons include lease expiration, bad tenant behavior (being too noisy or having an unapproved pet), being a subtenant without the landlord’s knowledge, being a settler, unreasonably refusing the landlord access to the property, and making unapproved physical changes to the premises.
If your lease expires but you haven’t paid rent, you won’t get a notice of termination. If so, a landlord can start a holdover without notice.
Conclusion
- Holdover tenants pay rent after the lease ends. The landlord must agree or evict.
- Holdover tenancy is between trespassing and full rental. Even a one-sentence agreement protects all parties and should be considered.
- Most leases have a month-to-month rental clause, which solves this problem.
