Landlord-tenant hell: tenancy-at-will
A lease is a contract in which the landlord and tenant make promises to one another in writing. Be aware of what you are promising! Today I am writing about tenancy-at-will, sometimes called “month-to-month” lease. How do tenancy-at-will leases work? With tenancy-at-will leases, either party can cancel with notice. The required notice length will be written in the lease.
Our commenter, Grasshoppa, had his tenant move out in the middle of the winter. I blamed the tenant, but he ‘fessed up that he had a tenancy-at-will lease:
Me: Grasshoppa,
You had a problem with a tenant who left you in the middle of winter. Bad problem…Grasshoppa answered:
The tenant who left in the winter was at-will. I now have a lease. Pros and cons to both. Another topic?
Yes, it’s a great topic. What is your experience with tenancy-at-will? Did the flexibility work to your advantage or did you have an unpleasant outcome?
Tenancy-at-will, obviously, works better for the party that plans to quit the contract and generally is unpleasant for the person who has to make an unexpected change. Sometimes both parties are ready to part and all is well, but that’s just lucky. Landlords are hurt when tenants leave during non-peak rental times. Tenants are almost always hurt because moving has both up-front costs for security deposits plus the fuss and expense of moving.
As a renter and as a landlord, I preferred annual leases. I don’t like sudden changes. However, I also like permission to sublet. As a tenant, I sublet at least once (it was an September to August lease; I left mid-July and sublet to someone who stayed the next academic year.) That’s also how I run my rental unit; my tenants sublet and it has been no problem. What do you do as a tenant or as a landlord?
When you signed your lease, did you notice if it was fixed term, tenancy-at-will or fixed term self-renewing? What are the pros and cons of each, in your experience? Do you agree with my take on this?
