Also known as: periodic tenants · periodic tenancy · month-to-month tenant · tenancy from period to period
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
A tenant holding a leasehold estate that continues from one rental period to the next until one party gives timely notice of termination at the end of a period.
Preston Pratt orally agreed with Premier Manufacturing to occupy a warehouse for one year but the agreement lacked a signed writing required by the Statute of Frauds. Preston took possession and paid monthly rent that Premier accepted without reservation. Because possession was taken and rent was paid and accepted under the invalid lease, a month-to-month periodic tenancy arose with all lease terms except duration.
Paula Pierce occupied an apartment under a month-to-month periodic tenancy. After she complained to housing authorities about code violations, the landlord served a notice to quit. Because the tenancy renewed automatically each month until proper notice, the landlord could not terminate without satisfying the statutory notice period tied to the rental interval.
In March 1965, Mrs. Yvonne Edwards rented housing property from Nathan Habib on a month-to-month basis. Shortly thereafter she complained to the Department of Licenses and Inspections of sanitary code violations which her landlord had failed to remedy. In the course of the ensuing inspection, more than 40 such violations were discovered which the Department ordered the landlord to correct. Habib then gave Mrs. Edwards a 30-day statutory notice to vacate and obtained a default judgment for possession of the premises. Mrs. Edwards promptly moved to reopen this judgment, alleging excusable neglect for the default and also alleging as a defense that the notice to quit was given in retaliation for her complaints to the housing authorities. Judge Greene, sitting on motions in the Court of General Sessions, set aside the default judgment and concluded that a retaliatory motive, if proved, would constitute a defense. At the trial itself, however, a different judge deemed evidence of retaliatory motive irrelevant and directed a verdict for the landlord. Mrs. Edwards then appealed to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, which affirmed the judgment of the trial court. We granted appellant leave to appeal that decision to this court. The case thus presented the question of whether retaliatory eviction could be barred as a defense.
View casePossession taken together with payment and acceptance of rent as provided under the lease creates a periodic tenancy with all terms of the lease except duration.
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One month's notice given in advance of the end of a rental period is required to terminate the tenancy at the close of that period.
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A periodic tenancy continues from period to period and requires advance notice timed to the end of a period, whereas a tenancy at will may be terminated by either party at any time without regard to rental periods.
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Yes. Continued possession with monthly rent payments accepted without objection for multiple months creates a month-to-month periodic tenancy requiring statutory notice before termination.
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…decisions holding that a private landlord was not required, under the District of Columbia Code, to give a reason for evicting a month-to-month tenant and was free to do so for any reason or for no reason at all. The court acknowledged that the landlord's right to terminate a tenancy is not absolute, but felt that any limitation…