Part 3 – Notice to Terminate the Lease
Last week we kicked off our Learn Your Lease series introducing and talking about the concept of notice and the important part it plays in enforcing your tenant rights while you are renting. In today’s Learn Your Lease post, we’ll take on a specific kind of notice that is important when your lease is approaching its scheduled end or your find that you need to end your lease early.
LEASE TERM
Every written lease agreement should include the date on which the lease starts and the date on which the lease ends.
The period of time between these two dates is called the lease term. In addition to being the amount of time for which you are contractually obligated to pay the landlord monthly rent, the initial lease term is also the amount of time that you and the landlord have agreed you have the right to live in the property as long as you live up to your obligations as a tenant.
AUTOMATIC RENEWAL
Note that we used the phrase “initial lease term”. This is because most residential leases contain language that “auto-renews” the lease and your tenancy unless you or the landlord gives the other party advanced written notice of an intention to end the lease on the scheduled date. For this reason, it is crucial that you know the amount of notice required by your lease (in most cases it is 30, 45, or 60 days) and that you get the written notice to the landlord in time to meet the required number of days. As you can see below, it can be quite costly to not meet the written notice requirement:
WRITTEN NOTICE TO TERMINATE/VACATE
If you call your landlord to inquire about how to give notice, they may send you a form that they have prepared. Heck, sometimes they send this form after a tenant has already given written notice. One of the reasons they send you their form is data collection. Whenever a landlord sends a form they created, it almost always asks why the tenant is moving. This is information that you are not required to give to the landlord but has the potential to be valuable to them.
If you choose to use the landlord’s form that’s perfectly fine. You can just not answer any unnecessary questions. If you decide to just give your own written notice, it’s very easy. In fact, your written notice can be as simple as sending the following to your property manager:
To Whom It May Concern:
Please accept this letter as the lease-required written notice of at least 30 days that I will not be renewing my lease with American Homes 4 Rent. In accordance with the terms of the lease, I will return possession of the property to you on ______________ (insert date). It is my understanding that I am required to remove all of my personal property from the house and to return the property to you reasonably close to the same condition in which it was received, normal wear and tear excepted. For purposes of accounting for and refunding my security deposit, my forwarding address will be ______________ .(insert address) If there will be a move out inspection, I would like to have the option of attending. If this is something that your company permits, please let me know the date and time. Thank you.
It is important to make sure that you send your written notice to end the lease in a manner that complies with the notice requirements found in the lease agreement. If you missed our post explaining the importance of proper notice in protecting your tenant rights and what you need to do to give proper notice, you can read it here https://protenantagency.fairness4tenants.com/uncategorized/learn-your-lease-part-2-written-notice/?et_fb=1&PageSpeed=off.
CONFIRMATION FROM LANDLORD
The final step involved with giving notice to end your lease is to make sure you receive acknowledgement from your landlord that your notice has been received and accepted. If you don’t receive an email or other form of written communication from your landlord within seven days after you sent the notice, we recommend that you follow up with another email in which you specifically request that your landlord provide you with written confirmation that it received your notice that you are terminating the lease.