Also known as: landlord-tenant · landlord tenant · landlord and tenant · tenancy law · lease law
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal relationship in which one party transfers the right to exclusive possession of real property to another for a fixed or computable period or until proper notice terminates the arrangement. The relationship requires legal capacity in both parties and a space with a fixed location. It may begin or end upon a specified event and exists only when the landlord conveys possession rather than a mere license.
Lola Langley leased warehouse space to Levi Lowe for exactly five years at a set monthly rent. Lowe took exclusive possession and installed permanent shelving suited only to a long-term operation. When Langley later sought to end the arrangement after three years, the fixed term prevented termination without Lowe's consent.
Lucy Liu rented an apartment to Logan Lane with rent due on the first of each month and no fixed end date. Lane paid rent for eight months before giving thirty days' written notice of departure. The arrangement continued as a periodic tenancy until the notice period expired.
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Lakeshore Industries allowed Lance Lee to occupy a storage unit under an oral understanding that either party could end the arrangement at any time. Lee paid monthly and used the space for equipment. When Lakeshore gave notice and demanded immediate vacation, the at-will nature permitted termination without further cause.
Lighthouse Shipping leased dock space to Lorenzo Lugo with a clause stating the tenancy would end if the port authority sold the facility. Lugo took possession and paid rent for two years. When the authority sold the dock, the sale triggered termination even though the stated term had not yet expired.
Lumen Capital agreed that Lone Peak Energy could occupy newly constructed office space once a certificate of occupancy issued. The parties signed the lease before construction finished. When the certificate was granted six months later, the landlord-tenant relationship began automatically without further action.
Logan Lane leased a designated section of a building roof to Levi Lowe for antenna installation. The lease described the precise square footage and location. Because the space had a fixed location for the lease duration, the arrangement created a landlord-tenant relationship rather than a mere license.
The landlord must transfer the right to exclusive possession of a space with a fixed location. Both parties must possess legal capacity. The arrangement must contemplate a fixed or computable period or termination by notice.
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A periodic tenancy continues from period to period until one party gives the required notice to terminate. A tenancy at will ends whenever either party desires without needing a fixed notice interval unless a statute imposes one.
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Yes. The relationship may be structured to commence when a certificate of occupancy issues or to terminate automatically upon sale of the property or another specified occurrence.
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…before us in its legal aspects is very similar to that which we dealt with recently in Faber v. Creswick, supra . There, in a landlord and tenant relationship the lease contained a covenant to have the premises in good repair at the inception of the occupancy. The wife of the tenant was injured by reason of a breach of that…