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We have been renting a house for almost two years. We signed a year lease, and when that ran out, we converted to a month-to-month lease. Our lease runs from the 22nd of every month. We recently provided a written thirty day notice to vacate on April the 10th. I paid my landlord the pro-rated amount for the time remaining of our 30 day notice (another 19 days of rent). He said that we have to provide the 30 day notice at the end of the month, and not mid-month (he said that is what he had to do with the place he was renting). So now he wants us to pay him the whole month's rent and our last day will then be the 21st of May instead of May 10th.
If that is what I owe according to the lease and the law then of course I will pay him the remaining funds, but the problem I have is that the timing of notice to vacate does not appear to be stipulated in the lease, nor could I find anything concerning timing in the South Carolina Code of Laws (Title 27, S.C. Code of laws - www.scstatehouse.net - LPITS (http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/titl27.htm - broken link))
Our lease is one of those generic forms one can purchase from many office supply stores. It states:
12) "If the Tenant remains as a tenant after the expiration of this Lease without signing a new lease, a month-to-month tenancy will be created with the same terms and conditions as this Lease, except that such new tenancy may be terminated by thirty (30) days written notice from either the Tenant or the Landlord."
15) This Lease may only be terminated by 30 days written notice from either party.
So, my question is: Is the only proper time to provide notice to vacate at the end of the month? Do I owe our Landlord another whole month of rent, even though I provided written notice on April 10th?
His argument was that he had to give notice to the place he is renting at the end of the month (I don't know what his lease states, though). He also mentioned that he never raised the rent during the whole time. I thanked him for that, but that doesn't have any bearing on the Lease terms as far as I can see. We have been very good renters, and he has been a very good landlord. I want to do what is right, but don't want to pay more than my share, either.
Does anyone know if there are state offices that can help provide clarification for this type of thing?
Thanks in advance for any advice you have to offer.
I would say since your lease started on the 22nd of the month you would need to provide a 30 day notice based on that. If there is no particular wording to the effect that it needs to be provided at the end of the month than I agree with WyoNewk and your landlord is wrong.
He is right. He can expect a 30 day notice, and can expect you to pay up til the 22nd of May! Since you only gave him a 19 day notice, he can hold out for the full 30 days.
Sorry, the law is on his side this time. (Unless he lets you out of it, your stuck).
The Landlord's protection IS the 30 days notice... just as it's also the tenants protection.
It makes no difference when it is tendered because the clock starts when proper notice is given... in this case 30 days.
If 30 days happens to start in the middle of the month it does not change or make the 30 day notice invalid...
Here is what my State has to say...
You can give the landlord notice any time during the rental period, but you must pay full rent during the period covered by the notice. For example, say you have a month-to-month rental agreement, and pay rent on the first day of each month.
You could give notice any time during the month (for example, on the tenth). Then, you could leave 30 days later (on the tenth of the following month, or earlier if you chose to). But you would have to pay rent for the first 10 days of the next month whether you stay for those 10 days or move earlier. (Exception: You would not have to pay rent for the entire 10 days if you left earlier, and the landlord rented the unit to another tenant during the 10 days, and the new tenant paid rent for all or part of the 10 days
California Tenants - California Department of Consumer Affairs (http://www.consumer.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/moving-out.shtml - broken link)
He is right. He can expect a 30 day notice, and can expect you to pay up til the 22nd of May! Since you only gave him a 19 day notice, he can hold out for the full 30 days.
Sorry, the law is on his side this time. (Unless he lets you out of it, your stuck).
May the LORD Bless each of you.
I wish you well...
Jesse
If you will go back and reread the OP's post he never said he gave them a 19 day notice he said they had 19 days left on the 30 day notice. As long as he has given a 30 day notice and paid any prorated rent the landlord doesn't have a legal right.
I really appreciate everyone's thoughts on this issue.
I wish our state law provided some clarification. The CA code provided from Ultrarunner was very specific. I could not find any similar language in the SC code.
I called the local Housing and Urban Development center for guidance. Unfortunately, the person to whom I spoke (not a lawyer) first agreed that we did provide adequate 30 day notice to vacate and should not have to pay until the 22nd of May. Later in the conversation he changed his tune and said that the landlord is entitled to more rent because notice to vacate has to be provided at the end of the rental period. He could not, however, cite the Title where this requirement is outlined.
We decided that it's not worth our time and money to potentially have to go to court over the non-specific lease notice to vacate terms. We're just going to grit my teeth and pay him the rest of rent. I guess we'll just take our time moving out. If we ever have to rent again, I will be sure our lease contains specific terms concerning a 30-day notice to vacate.
AS A landlord in florida, this tenant has always been on a month to month, how much of a notice do i have to give the tenant?
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