My husband and I rented a home for 5 years. At the end of the contract in the early summer (2008) we agreed to part ways. He was going to sell and we were going to move. He was unable to sell and we did not find anything new. We agreed we would stay and he would continue to rent from us. We had every intenion of signing a new lease. I asked for it and he would not provide it. We never signed a new lease. We have since found a new home and moved. He feels we are legally bond by the lease that expired because we had a verbal agreement. Is this true? I feel he was holding out on giving us a new lease because if he had the chance to sell he would have... we just found something first.

Please help.

Where do you live? In some states and in Canada a lease automatically renews unless you tell the landlord in writing that you do not wish to renew at the end of the current lease year.

I am totally confused. You say you were renting but then talk about selling. Then you talk about someone renting from you. So what is it?

If you had a lease and it expired, you need to read the lease and see if it had an automatic renewal clause. Unless it did, then the lease probably converted to a periodic (month to month) lease.

How much notice did you give before moving? Has the landlord found a new tenant? Has he tried to find one?

Hello c:

Most leases revert to a month to month tenancy when they expire. Some, however, renew for the complete term.

So, you're going to have to read your lease. If it's month to month, give your landlord a written 30 day notice and move. If he doesn't return your deposit, sue him. If he doesn't return it ALL, sue him.

excon

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Originally Posted by Lowtax4eva

where do you live? in some states and in Canada a lease automatically renews unless you tell the landlord in writing that you do not wish to renew at the end of the current lease year.

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We live in Illinois. The lease does not have an automatic renewal. We extended the lease each year in writing with a lease extension. We did not this time because he would not provide it to us. We asked for the lease extension but it was not provided.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

I am totally confused. You say you were renting but then talk about selling. Then you talk about someone renting from you. So what is it?

If you had a lease and it expired, you need to read the lease and see if it had an automatic renewal clause. Unless it did, then the lease probably converted to a periodic (month to month) lease.

How much notice did you give before moving? Has the landlord found a new tenant? Has he tried to find one?

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I apoligize. I wrote the post late and on my way out the door from work.

We rented a townhome for 5 years. We signed a lease extension each year. This year we asked for the extension but it was not provided. So we were living without a signed lease. We found a new home gave him 45 days notice and moved out. He says that I am on the hook for the remaining of the lease until he finds a new leasee.

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Originally Posted by coxkri

He says that I am on the hook for the remaining of the lease until he finds a new leasee.

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Hello again, c:

SAYING you're on the hook, is waaaaaay different than SUING you for it. Who cares what HE thinks you owe him?

What I'd care about, is what he owes YOU. If he owes you the return of your security deposit, then, like I said above, SUE HIM.

Sure, he'll probably counter sue for the rent he thinks you owe him... I'm sure the judge will decide. My money is on YOU.

excon

I agree with excon. In the absence of a automatic renewal, the tenancy became periodic (month to month). In a periodic lease, each party can terminate the lease with one rental period's notice. You fulfilled that requirement.

It sounds like he said nothing to you about fulfilling the lease when you first informed him of moving. Which makes it even worse.

The only thing he said that is legally correct is that he can't charge you beyond when he re rents. But that's a moot point since you gave proper notice.

Has he returned your deposit? How long ago did you move?

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

I agree with excon. In the absence of a automatic renewal, the tenancy became periodic (month to month). In a periodic lease, each party can terminate the lease with one rental period's notice. You fulfilled that requirement.

It sounds like he said nothing to you about fulfilling the lease when you first informed him of moving. Whihc makes it even worse.

The only thing he said that is legally correct is that he can't charge you beyond when he re rents. But that's a moot point since you gave proper notice.

Has he returned your deposit? How long ago did you move?

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We moved at the beginning of Feb and gave notice at the end of December. I tried to give him notice for several weeks, but he was not returning my calls or emails. He called today to say that we had a verbal agreement for us to continue to pay rent until he rented the unit. I don't recall saying that - as I have been very vague when we talked as I was not sure of my rights.

Well, in the absence of proof of such an agreement, it sounds like you fulfilled your obligation by giving one rental period's notice. So I would tell him that you never agreed to such a stipulation, that you were only obligated to give him one month's notice.