Are you renting the place where you live? Is the end of the term agreed in your lease approaching? Then this blog is for you. The explanations that we are going to be giving in this blog constitute the current law of the state of Florida, for more information if you reside in another state contact a lawyer in your area.
On many occasions when the end of the lease is near, and we wish to stay in the property, we do not contact our landlord or tenant to communicate that we wish to extend the lease or contract. We simply continue to live in the property and making the corresponding payments.
It is true that many people do not renew their contract due to lack of notification, because they do not have time, or simply because they think that the amount of rent that is going to be paid is going to increase. But the truth is that, by not renewing the lease, the stability of the place where you live is being endangered.
When a lease is not renewed, the previous contract that has expired continues to govern the new legal situation. All the clauses agreed in the signed contract regarding the payment of the rent, the place where it is paid, the date, the penalties in case of delay, the responsibilities of the property owner towards the tenant, among others, must be followed. The main difference is that the lease will become month by month.
What does it mean that the lease becomes month by month? Generally, when a lease contract is signed, it lasts for one year (sometimes more or less, depending on what the parties who sign the contract decide). Which means that both parties to the contract, the lessor, and the tenant, will not be able to terminate the contract during that period. This creates stability for both: the property owner ensures a tenant for a specified period, and the tenant secures a place to live for the agreed time.
Now, when the lease is not renewed, it goes to month-to-month mode, which means that the contract will be renewed every month with the payment of rent. This is a legal fiction, as the parties do not sign a new contract every month, but the law must create some stability and has created a fiction to maintain it.
The danger of having a month-to-month contract is that, if the landlord wants to terminate the contract, he only must notify the tenant fifteen (15) days in advance and tenant must abandon the property. As the contract is month to month, the parties only have the obligation to notify the end of the contract with half the time of the contract's validity, which will be fifteen (15) days. In the same way, if the tenant wishes to move, they may do so without having to pay any penalty, if they inform the landlord fifteen (15) days in advance.
My advice is to renew your lease and keep it stable. Otherwise you may risk having to move out in fifteen (15) days! If you need help, call Y. Morejon Attorney, P.A. We can help you with your process. The first consultation is free. Here, your problem is our problem.
Legal Disclaimer Any information made available by the lawyer or law firm is for educational purposes only, as well as to give you general information and general understanding of the law, NOT to provide specific advice. This does NOT create a relationship attorney-client between you and Y. Morejon Attorney, P.A. This information should NOT be use as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.