Do I have to pay a portion of next month’s rent if asked to leave by the landlord?
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Do I have to pay a portion of next month’s rent if asked to leave by the landlord?
My landlord – who is also my roommate – asked me to move out. We’ve never had a lease. She said she would give me 30 days to find somewhere else to live. I have already paid this month’s rent and I can be out of the house at the end of the month, which is in 2 weeks. Am I legally obligated to pay half of next month’s rent (the rest of the 30 days she’s giving me), even if I’m gone and won’t be there those 2 weeks?
Asked on May 18, 2011 under Real Estate Law, Virginia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
If there is no written lease, then there is an oral or verbal lease. An oral lease creates a month to month tenancy. A month to month tenancy can be terminated by either party--landlord or tenant--on 30 days notice. Until the expiration of the notice period, the tenancy is still in force, which means the obligations, including rent obligations, are still in force. This means that when either side gives its 30 days notice, rent is owed for those 30 days, regardless of when those 30 days expire (e.g. if the end at the end of a month or in the middle of a month). In a case like this, the tenant would typically have to pay rent, therefore, for the whole 30 days.
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