Lease Termination Notices

It can be one of the least enjoyable aspects of renting, from the perspective of either the landlord or the tenant: lease termination notices.  It’s also one of the most important to get right, as there are legal requirements that must be met to ensure a smooth and mutually agreeable end to the lease.  In this episode of Whiteboard Wednesdays, we’ll offer our interpretation of the regulations surrounding lease terminations, and how we handle this issue in our own rentals and with our own tenants.

When preparing to terminate a lease, one of the most important things to determine is how much notice must be given, as either a tenant or landlord, to terminate or simply not renew a lease.  In order to make this determination, it’s important to look at the three main types of leases:

• Year lease:  In a year-long lease, at least one month’s notice is required prior to the end of the current year of tenancy.  This means that, if a year-long lease ends on the 31st of December, notice of termination can be given no later than the 30th of November.  It’s always better to err on the side of caution and give notice a few days earlier, however, to prevent any miscommunications or potential issues moving forward.  If renewal or termination isn’t discussed prior to the end of the current lease, in general, the tenant will roll over into a month-to-month lease once the year-long lease expires.
  
• Month-to-month lease:  For leases that are renewed on a month-to-month basis, at least seven days’ notice is required before the termination of the lease, by either the landlord or tenant.  This applies whether the lease was initially established as a month-to-month or it was originally a year-long lease that lapsed and rolled over into a month-to-month.

• Week lease:  Week-to-week leases are generally not recommended, as the afford few protections to either the landlord or the tenant.  However, in certain short-term situations, they may be beneficial or necessary. Only two days’ notice is required for termination of a week-to-week lease, making it somewhat unstable.

 

Whatever terms your lease is based upon, it’s important to understand the legal requirements for terminating your lease.  The above information is based upon § 42-14 of North Carolina law but is intended only to be taken as our interpretation of the law, and not as legal advice – for specific legal information on terminating a lease, reach out to an attorney well-versed in real estate law.

To learn more about tenant-landlord relationships, feel free to reach out to Asheville Cash Buyers on the web at AshevilleCashBuyers.com, or by phone at 828-222-6443!