Also known as: at will tenancy · tenancy at will · at-will tenancies
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A leasehold estate that continues only so long as both the landlord and the tenant desire it to continue. The estate arises by implication when parties enter a lease of no stated duration with no periodic rent reserved or paid. Either party may terminate the tenancy upon receipt of notice by the other, with rent apportioned to the termination date.
Alfred Ashford and Atlas Ventures exchanged an oral agreement for a two-year warehouse lease that failed the Statute of Frauds. Atlas took possession of the premises the next week. When Atlas Ventures later refused to vacate on demand, the court treated the occupancy as an at-will tenancy terminable upon notice because possession alone had been taken under the invalid lease.
Anthony Arnold leased a residence to Alice Atkins under a writing that allowed Atkins to end the arrangement at any time of her choosing but gave Arnold no comparable right. After Arnold attempted to evict Atkins without her consent, the court held that the arrangement did not create an at-will tenancy because the termination power rested solely with one party.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Notice of termination received by the other party ends the tenancy on the day of receipt unless a later date is specified. Rent is apportioned to the termination date, and the tenant receives a reasonable time after notice to remove goods.
Supporting sources
An attempted assignment by either party terminates the tenancy on the date the other party learns of it unless the assignee and the other party agree otherwise. Approval by both creates a new tenancy at will.
Supporting sources
Yes. The death of either the landlord or the tenant ends the tenancy on the date the survivor learns of the death unless the decedent's successor and the other party agree to continue the arrangement.
Supporting sources
…the agreement at a date of his choice creates a determinable life tenancy on behalf of the tenant or merely establishes a tenancy at will. The courts below held that the lease created a tenancy at will permitting the current landlord to evict the tenant. We granted the tenant’s motion for leave to appeal and now reverse the…