If I fail to notify the landlord 60 days before the end date of my lease and there are no stated consequences, am I obligated to pay rent after it ends?

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If I fail to notify the landlord 60 days before the end date of my lease and there are no stated consequences, am I obligated to pay rent after it ends?

Asked on July 31, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Michigan

Answers:

S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

If you don't give notice and your lease ends, the landlord can either evict you or treat you as a holdover tenant subject to a month to month lease.  If the landlord accepts a rent payment from you, the landlord is then treating you as a month to month tenant.  A month to month tenancy requires thirty days written notice to terminate.

Another possibility is if you move out without giving your current required sixty days notice, you will remain liable for the rent until the place is re-rented.  When the place is re-rented, your obligation to pay rent ends.  The landlord cannot allow the place to remain vacant without making reasonable efforts to find another tenant.  If the landlord allows the place to remain vacant without making reasonable efforts to find another tenant, the landlord will have failed to mitigate (minimize) damages (the amount the landlord is claiming you owe) and the landlord's damages will be reduced accordingly.  Reasonable efforts by the landlord to find another tenant will be determined by what other landlords in the area are doing to attract tenants; for example, posting a sign on the premises advertising the vacancy, advertising the vacancy in the newspaper, online, in a local rental guide, etc.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.

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