Also known as: periodic estates · periodic tenancy · periodic tenancies · estate from period to period
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An estate which continues for successive periods of a year or a fraction of a year unless terminated. The periods repeat automatically until one party gives proper notice effective at the end of a period.
Phoebe Park leased warehouse space to Pierre Poulin under a six-month written lease that expired. Poulin remained in possession and paid monthly rent, which Park accepted for seven months without objection. When Park later attempted immediate termination to accommodate a new tenant, the continued possession and rent acceptance established successive monthly periods that continue unless proper notice is given at period end.
Penelope Price signed an oral agreement with Pablo Perez to occupy commercial space for eighteen months. Because the agreement violated the statute of frauds, Perez took possession and paid monthly rent that Price accepted. The possession combined with rent payment and acceptance created a month-to-month periodic estate governed by the lease terms except duration.
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When a tenant remains in possession after a fixed term ends and the landlord accepts periodic rent without objection, the arrangement converts to a periodic estate measured by the rent interval. The estate then continues from period to period until proper notice terminates it at the end of a period.
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Notice must be given in advance of the end of the current period and is typically equal in length to the period itself. For a month-to-month periodic estate, one month's notice is ordinarily required.
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Yes. When a lease is unenforceable under the statute of frauds, possession taken together with payment and acceptance of rent as provided in the lease creates a periodic tenancy with all lease terms except duration.
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A periodic estate continues automatically for successive fixed periods until terminated by notice at period end. A tenancy at will has no designated period and may be terminated at any time by either party.
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