Also known as: landlord-tenant relationship · landlord tenant relationship · landlord and tenant relationship · landlord and tenant · tenancy relationship
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal relationship arising when one party transfers the right to exclusive possession of real property to another for a fixed or computable period or until proper notice of termination. The relationship requires mutual legal capacity and a space with a fixed location for the lease duration.
Lola Langley leased warehouse space to Lexicon Media for a three-year term beginning January 1. The parties executed a written agreement specifying the exact end date. When the term expired, Lexicon Media vacated without further obligation because the computable period had concluded.
Lars Lindstrom agreed with Liberty Trust to rent an apartment on a month-to-month basis. After eight months of accepted rent payments, Liberty Trust sent a letter demanding vacation in four days. The arrangement continued because one month's notice was required to end the periodic tenancy at the close of a rental period.
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Leah Lamb permitted Luis Lopez to occupy a storage unit under an oral understanding that either party could end the arrangement at any time. When Leah Lamb later decided to sell the building, she gave Lopez thirty days' written notice. The relationship terminated only after the required notice because both parties retained the power to end it at will.
Liam Larson leased farmland to Levi Lowe until the completion of a pending highway project that would take the property. When the state acquired the land six months later, the relationship ended automatically. The occurrence of the specified event terminated the tenancy without additional notice.
Landmark Realty agreed that Loyal Insurance could occupy office space once construction of the building reached certificate of occupancy. The certificate issued on March 15, and Loyal Insurance took possession the following week. The landlord-tenant relationship began only upon that event.
Lola Langley attempted to lease a movable shipping container to Lexicon Media for use as temporary storage. Because the container lacked a fixed location for the lease duration, no landlord-tenant relationship formed. The parties instead created a license arrangement.
One month's notice given before the end of a rental period is generally required. The Restatement rule treats the tenancy as continuing from period to period until proper notice ends it at the close of a period. Shorter notice fails to terminate the relationship.
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Yes when the parties expressly agree to a month-to-month basis and then perform by paying and accepting rent over multiple periods. The conduct demonstrates mutual assent to successive periods that continue until proper notice. Absence of explicit termination language does not prevent formation of the periodic relationship.
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Yes. The relationship may commence when a specified event such as issuance of a certificate of occupancy occurs. It may also terminate automatically upon an event such as completion of a highway project that takes the property.
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The landlord must transfer the right to exclusive possession of real property with a fixed location. Both parties must possess legal capacity. The arrangement must contemplate a fixed or computable period, notice termination, or mutual will.
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…This Court has consistently affirmed that States have broad power to regulate housing conditions in general and the landlord-tenant relationship in particular without paying compensation for all economic injuries that such regulation entails. See, e. g. , Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States , 379 U. S. 241 (1964)…