Also known as: tenancy for years · tenancy for a term of years · estate for years · term of years · lease for years
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A leasehold estate whose duration is fixed in units of a year or multiples or divisions thereof. The termination date is certain from the outset because the parties have selected a definite calendar period rather than an uncertain or renewable interval.
Trailblazer Airlines signed a written lease granting it exclusive use of a hangar for exactly five years beginning January 1 at a set monthly rent. When the five-year mark arrived the airline vacated without notice. The landlord accepted the departure as ending the tenancy because the fixed calendar term had expired by its own terms.
Tabitha Taylor subleased her apartment to Tanya Tang for a precise three-year term ending on a stated date. When the term concluded Tanya moved out and Tabitha reclaimed possession. The sublease ended automatically on the calendar date without any further notice requirement.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Thomas Thompson orally agreed to lease an equipment room to Tamara Tan for ten years and accepted quarterly payments while she installed cabling. The conduct of both parties confirmed a fixed ten-year term. The arrangement therefore qualified as a tenancy for years despite the lack of a signed writing.
Tracy Torres leased retail space to Talon Security for six months at a fixed rent. The lease stated an exact end date. When that date arrived the tenancy terminated without any need for additional notice or court action.
Taliah Tang leased a warehouse to Torchlight Media for one calendar year beginning March 1. The lease contained no renewal clause and specified the exact termination date. At the end of the year the tenancy ended by expiration of the fixed term.
Twin Rivers Bank subleased office space to Trailblazer Airlines for two years with a definite end date. When the two-year period expired the subtenant vacated. The fixed calendar term caused the tenancy to terminate automatically.
A tenancy for years ends automatically on a fixed calendar date chosen by the parties. A periodic tenancy continues for successive intervals until one party gives proper notice of termination.
Supporting sources
The Restatement definition focuses solely on whether the duration is fixed in units of a year or fractions thereof. A writing is often required by the statute of frauds for terms longer than one year, but the estate classification itself turns on the fixed duration rather than the form of creation.
Supporting sources
The core term remains fixed in years even if the parties add a condition that may shorten the tenancy. Courts treat the base period as establishing a tenancy for years while the condition operates as a possible defeasance.
…as a whole.' Both dimensions of a real property interest—the metes and bounds describing its geographic dimensions and the term of years describing its temporal aspect—must be considered when viewing the interest in its entirety. A permanent deprivation of all use is a taking of the parcel as a whole, but a temporary…