Is Month-to-Month is default lease after initial lease expires (tenant, eviction, rental property)
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Hello,
I have a single-family house in Montgomery County, Maryland. I had a lease with tenants and after the initial lease expired, we agreed to let them live there. Is it consider month-to-month lease? They agreed to pay additional $50/month. I have been very forgiving to tenant on pet issues and maintaining of the property. They have a 200lb dog but I only agreed to a small 50lb dog. They have been touching the wiring for heating and cooling systems but I did not make them pay for fixing it. Now they have filed complain to county that heat is not working but county inspector visited the property everything was working. I don't want to put deal with them anymore.
Can I give them 30 day notice to vacate the property? Does the notice has to be delievered by the 1st of the month or can it go anytime as long as I give them 30-days to vacate? I don't want to do this put they have put me in a bad spot by causing problems for me and damaging the property.
The terms of your original lease remain in effect even though it's gone to month-to-month so if their rent day has been the first of the month you give them the required notice by the first in writing. No need to give a reason. Check MD landlord tenant laws which you'll probably find linked in the first "sticky" on this page.
Now that you've experienced the sorts of problems which can arise, it would probably be a good idea if you stuck to the terms of your lease and state laws. If you let even little things slide they can, as you've discovered, cause bigger problems down the line. Being a landlord is a business and has to be conducted as such. Good luck!
Month-to-Month Tenancies: If a tenant is on a month-to-month lease, and is not federally subsidized, the tenancy may be terminated by either the landlord or the tenant after one month's written notice (two months in Montgomery County and Baltimore City). It is illegal for a landlord or tenant to terminate a lease for a retaliatory reason (for example the landlord terminates a lease because the tenant complains about the conditions of the leased property). However, it is not necessary for either the tenant or the landlord to give a reason for the notice under normal circumstances. Where the tenant is federally subsidized, the landlord may terminate the tenancy only if the landlord has a valid reason for terminating the tenancy.
I wondered if it could be construed that you are giving them notice because they complained about the heating, in other words, a retaliatory eviction. Looks like that could be an issue in MD. In CA, you can't give a tenant notice for 6 months after they have exercised their rights, etc. You can still evict them, but not for 6 months after a complaint, etc.
So, I advise you to not give them a reason for termination. If they pursue a retaliatory eviction claim, and you end up in court, you can honestly say that you have had problems with this tenant not following rules regarding your pet policy, and you don't want to have to give them a 3 day notice to comply to get rid of the big dog, that it is easier to just terminate the agreement than have to keep checking to see if they are in compliance, etc. That you're concerned about damage by such a large dog, or possible liability issues if it were to attack someone, etc.
Anyway, I also couldn't tell if you have to give notice on the first, or if you can give it now. Why not wait until the 1st anyway? Would be kind of a nasty thing to do for Christmas.
Thanks for the info. I found this on the Montgomery County website. According to this link since I have a single family house, I only need to give 30-days notice.
A tenant who remains in a rental property after the initial lease expires is considered to be a month-to-month tenant. All of the provisions of the lease still apply, except that the rental agreement is automatically renewed on a monthly basis. Tenants are bound by the terms of the original lease and should refer to that lease to determine the length of notice they must give in order to terminate the tenancy. Landlords of multi-family properties are required to give month-to-month tenants two months’ notice to vacate. Landlords of single-family rental properties are required to give month-to-month tenants a one-month notice to vacate. Under these circumstances, it is not necessary for the tenant or the landlord to give a reason for termination. In lieu of being a month-to-month tenant, to ensure a stable housing situation, tenants are encouraged to request annual extensions of the lease agreement . If your lease is not clear or different from the notice period described above, please call Landlord-Tenant Affairs.
Your tenant complained to legitimate government entity about a potential health/safety issue which is a protected act under the law.
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You’re now thinking of terminating their month to month tenancy.
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Retalitory Eviction Claim fully within the law!
You are aware that under Maryland law, when a tenant complains over health/safety you have to walk carefully on evictions afterwards because if you do so within a certain time period as specified under the law, it’s a presumption that you did it to retaliate. Basically, the tenant claims you terminated their month to month because of that complain and You have to prove the complaint to the government had nothing to do with it and it was all because of something else.
Make sure you have exceeded that period and make sure your speaking with a qualified attorney in rental eviction law to avoid a possible messy situation.
Hello,
I have a single-family house in Montgomery County, Maryland. I had a lease with tenants and after the initial lease expired, we agreed to let them live there. Is it consider month-to-month lease? They agreed to pay additional $50/month. I have been very forgiving to tenant on pet issues and maintaining of the property. They have a 200lb dog but I only agreed to a small 50lb dog. They have been touching the wiring for heating and cooling systems but I did not make them pay for fixing it. Now they have filed complain to county that heat is not working but county inspector visited the property everything was working. I don't want to put deal with them anymore.
Can I give them 30 day notice to vacate the property? Does the notice has to be delievered by the 1st of the month or can it go anytime as long as I give them 30-days to vacate? I don't want to do this put they have put me in a bad spot by causing problems for me and damaging the property.
Thanks,
Do not talk to them about your reasons for ending the rental, if anything say you need the property back, just give them the 30 day notice. Typically that means they have to leave at the end of the next full rental month, so if given notice now, Dec. 22, they would have to leave by the end of January.
If you have a deposit you are entitled to withhold any repair costs needed to wiring they messed with as well as any damage that goes beyond normal wear and tear. Take lots of photos of damage in case they contest it later. Check your state laws on withholding damage from a deposit, many states require a written accounting of any damages to be withheld be provided within 30 days of move out or you loose any right to any of the deposit. Promptly refund any remaining balance.
Problem is that my tenants tampered with the heating system by either removed wires themself or hire contractors who messed with wires to the heat pump. They in the past have removed wires from the circuit breaker and called me to claim there is no electricity in the house. I went to the property immediately and after spending an hour I found the circuit breaker wire was removed. I took a picture and showed them problem.
On another occassion they left the basement door open during freezing temperatures outside. This resulted in water line bursting. They claimed they did nothing wrong. I took picture of the basement door that showed frozen hinges and door frames indicating door was never closed probably for days. I fixed the problem but I did not made a big deal about it.
I really don't want to evict them. It's not something that I am interested in doing. I hope I can get them to start following rules so they don't take advantage of me.
STT Resident, you are right. They got me in a bad spot. I am not sure why they are doing this but it may be they are just looking for free ride or their personal servant who keep fixing things they break. I have not figured out yet which one it is, may be both. Live for free and screw me at the same time.
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