Can landlord change lease term from annual to month2month?
Investor · Pittsburgh · Member since 2022 · 11 posts · 4 votes
Can landlord change lease term from annual to month2month?
Most Popular Reply
Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 17k+ votes
2yQuote from @Qiu Jennifer:
Hi all,
I have a tenant that signed a 18 months lease and kept delaying on their rent payment in the first 6 months. We have a clause in the original contract saying that if they cannot get caught up on payment by the end of the 6th month, the lease agreement will be terminated. Now walking towards the end of the 6th month and they haven't paid in full, can I terminate the contract by giving them 30 or 60 days to move out by the end of the month？If they do not leave by the move out deadline, can I start eviction process? Or as plan B, can I change the current lease to a month to month lease? They are still paying but very late each month, so I'm afraid of them becoming no-pay tenants down the road. Any comments would be greatly appreciated!
Whatever your lease & the law says, you should begin the eviction process as soon as they have not paid by the due date. As soon as they realize you are serious about evicting them, you'll either get them evicted through the courts or they'll get serious about paying on time.
On a side note: I would not give anyone a lease longer than 12 months. Now you see why. In my state you can post "pay or quit" on the 3rd day and post a late fee on the 5th day. I warn all tenants who give me whatever story on why rent is late or going to be late, that they will be getting a POQ notice on the 3rd day and a late fee on the 5th, I don't care if it's because their employer burned down or thieves stole all their money or their grandma needed an emergency appendectomy. Amazingly, they suddenly figure out that they happened to leave some spare rent money under the mattress or their rich uncle left them a bond they can cash out. But my state is a pretty quick evict state, our rents are somewhat below market, and we have extremely high demand. If I have to boot someone I'll have it re-rented for more money in a week and the person getting booted will probably be living under the bridge as they won't find anything as cheap as me.
Skyline Properties
10 Replies
- Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 17k+ votes2y
Quote from @Qiu Jennifer:
Hi all,
I have a tenant that signed a 18 months lease and kept delaying on their rent payment in the first 6 months. We have a clause in the original contract saying that if they cannot get caught up on payment by the end of the 6th month, the lease agreement will be terminated. Now walking towards the end of the 6th month and they haven't paid in full, can I terminate the contract by giving them 30 or 60 days to move out by the end of the month？If they do not leave by the move out deadline, can I start eviction process? Or as plan B, can I change the current lease to a month to month lease? They are still paying but very late each month, so I'm afraid of them becoming no-pay tenants down the road. Any comments would be greatly appreciated!
Whatever your lease & the law says, you should begin the eviction process as soon as they have not paid by the due date. As soon as they realize you are serious about evicting them, you'll either get them evicted through the courts or they'll get serious about paying on time.
On a side note: I would not give anyone a lease longer than 12 months. Now you see why. In my state you can post "pay or quit" on the 3rd day and post a late fee on the 5th day. I warn all tenants who give me whatever story on why rent is late or going to be late, that they will be getting a POQ notice on the 3rd day and a late fee on the 5th, I don't care if it's because their employer burned down or thieves stole all their money or their grandma needed an emergency appendectomy. Amazingly, they suddenly figure out that they happened to leave some spare rent money under the mattress or their rich uncle left them a bond they can cash out. But my state is a pretty quick evict state, our rents are somewhat below market, and we have extremely high demand. If I have to boot someone I'll have it re-rented for more money in a week and the person getting booted will probably be living under the bridge as they won't find anything as cheap as me.
Skyline Properties - Attorney · Pensacola, FL · Member since 2023 · 178 posts · 106 votes2y
Your state probably has a similar statutory provision for giving notice to pay when the tenant is in default of payment. To me, that would be a cleaner way to terminate the tenancy. I don't know what your state's statutory or case law states about the lease provision you mentioned, but assuming it's a valid lease provision, you could give notice of lease termination based on that provision, but be careful, because if you deliver a notice to pay in conjunction with a notice to terminate, a court your jurisdiction could rule that the 2 notices are "confusing" and could constitute a defense for the tenant. I would recommend you talk to a landlord-tenant attorney to get the best way to terminate the lease. Best wishes.
What JD stated... 100%
You start the eviction process NOW..... they either get booted or follow the original lease and make payments on time from now on or the don't get renewed. I'm not changing the lease in order to try and work around them
Until you can evict them make sure you’re getting your late fees. And late fees are paid before rent. So if they “forget” to pay the late fee then the next rent payment is short and you can start eviction for lack of full payment. Otherwise appreciate the “increased rent” the late fees provide.
- 2yTheresa HarrisPro MemberMember since 2019 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
As soon as rent was late the first time, I would have given them notice and started the eviction. I'm not sure why your lease would state they have 6 months to catch up (unless that is due to local laws), that's asking for trouble.
- Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes2y
I agree with the others. Don't negotiate anything new and dig yourself deeper into a hole. Get rid of the tenants now. If they manage to pay everything and get caught up, then you can give them a 30-day notice of termination based on the multiple late payments.
The DIY Landlord Book4.7243 Reviews - Investor · Pittsburgh · Member since 2022 · 11 posts · 4 votes2y
Thank you all so much for your input! I'm going to write up a contract termination letter to the tenants. Truly appreciate it.
- Investor · Pittsburgh · Member since 2022 · 11 posts · 4 votes2y
Quote from @Bill B.:
Until you can evict them make sure you’re getting your late fees. And late fees are paid before rent. So if they “forget” to pay the late fee then the next rent payment is short and you can start eviction for lack of full payment. Otherwise appreciate the “increased rent” the late fees provide.
Great tip! Thank you Bill!
- Investor · Pittsburgh · Member since 2022 · 11 posts · 4 votes2y
Quote from @JD Martin:
Quote from @Qiu Jennifer:
Hi all,
I have a tenant that signed a 18 months lease and kept delaying on their rent payment in the first 6 months. We have a clause in the original contract saying that if they cannot get caught up on payment by the end of the 6th month, the lease agreement will be terminated. Now walking towards the end of the 6th month and they haven't paid in full, can I terminate the contract by giving them 30 or 60 days to move out by the end of the month？If they do not leave by the move out deadline, can I start eviction process? Or as plan B, can I change the current lease to a month to month lease? They are still paying but very late each month, so I'm afraid of them becoming no-pay tenants down the road. Any comments would be greatly appreciated!
Whatever your lease & the law says, you should begin the eviction process as soon as they have not paid by the due date. As soon as they realize you are serious about evicting them, you'll either get them evicted through the courts or they'll get serious about paying on time.
On a side note: I would not give anyone a lease longer than 12 months. Now you see why. In my state you can post "pay or quit" on the 3rd day and post a late fee on the 5th day. I warn all tenants who give me whatever story on why rent is late or going to be late, that they will be getting a POQ notice on the 3rd day and a late fee on the 5th, I don't care if it's because their employer burned down or thieves stole all their money or their grandma needed an emergency appendectomy. Amazingly, they suddenly figure out that they happened to leave some spare rent money under the mattress or their rich uncle left them a bond they can cash out. But my state is a pretty quick evict state, our rents are somewhat below market, and we have extremely high demand. If I have to boot someone I'll have it re-rented for more money in a week and the person getting booted will probably be living under the bridge as they won't find anything as cheap as me.
Appreciate it JD. This is definitely a lesson learned :(
- Investor · Pittsburgh · Member since 2022 · 11 posts · 4 votes2y
Quote from @Tim Baldwin:
Your state probably has a similar statutory provision for giving notice to pay when the tenant is in default of payment. To me, that would be a cleaner way to terminate the tenancy. I don't know what your state's statutory or case law states about the lease provision you mentioned, but assuming it's a valid lease provision, you could give notice of lease termination based on that provision, but be careful, because if you deliver a notice to pay in conjunction with a notice to terminate, a court your jurisdiction could rule that the 2 notices are "confusing" and could constitute a defense for the tenant. I would recommend you talk to a landlord-tenant attorney to get the best way to terminate the lease. Best wishes.
This is really helpful. Time to reach out to an attorney. I feel the tenants know the leasing laws pretty well and they are pretty hard to deal with. Great suggestions. Thank you so much Tim
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.