california landlord rent tenant human-rights
Landlord Gave Me 30 Days Notice to Move Out
<p>My landlord gave me 30 days notice to move out of my room that I am renting as she is selling the house. She told me a couple days in advance (2 days ago) when she gave me the notice. I have a month-to-month verbal lease with her and pay her the 1st of every month. I have found a new place to move into quickly and am moving the 1st of the month. Do I still need to pay my old landlord rent for the room even if she told me that I have 30 days to move out?</p>

<p>I live in California and have been renting for less than a year.</p>

<p>The relevant law in California is <a href="http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&amp;division=3.&amp;title=5.&amp;part=4.&amp;chapter=2.&amp;article=" rel="noreferrer">here</a>. In your situation, it is presumed (as you both agree) that you have a month to month agreement. §1946 states that</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>A hiring of real property, for a term not specified by the parties, is
  deemed to be renewed as stated in Section 1945, at the end of the term
  implied by law unless one of the parties gives written notice to the
  other of that party’s intention to terminate the same, at least as
  long before the expiration thereof as the term of the hiring itself,
  not exceeding 30 days;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In other words, the landlord has to give you 30 days advance notice to terminate the lease, and you have to give 30 days advance notice to terminate the lease (and it must be written notice). The section continues:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>provided, however, that as to tenancies from month to month either of
  the parties may terminate the same by giving at least 30 days’ written
  notice thereof at any time and the rent shall be due and payable to
  and including the date of termination.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>which effectively says the same thing, specifically appliedd to month to month leases. There is some leeway on terminating a lease:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>It shall be competent for the parties to provide by an agreement at
  the time the tenancy is created that a notice of the intention to
  terminate the same may be given at any time not less than seven days
  before the expiration of the term thereof. The notice herein required
  shall be given in the manner prescribed in Section 1162 of the Code of
  Civil Procedure or by sending a copy by certified or registered mail
  addressed to the other party.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>But you would have to establish that there was such an agreement (I assume there was not).</p>

<p>§1946.1 asserts that</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>a hiring of residential real property for a term not specified by the
  parties, is deemed to be renewed as stated in Section 1945, at the end
  of the term implied by law unless one of the parties gives written
  notice to the other of his or her intention to terminate the tenancy,
  as provided in this section.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>That is, a lease is automatically renewed in your situation unless notice has been given. Moreover,</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>A tenant giving notice pursuant to this section shall give notice for
  a period at least as long as the term of the periodic tenancy prior to
  the proposed date of termination.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>What you are proposing contravenes this provision of the law – from your description of the facts, you did not give notice 30 days before now. So your obligation to the landlord exists to the end of May. Bear in mind that the law imposes obligations on both landlord and tenant: just as the landlord cannot throw you out without proper notification, you cannot walk away from your obligation without proper notification.</p>

<p>§1951.2 addresses breach of lease and abandonment by lessee (you)</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>if a lessee of real property breaches the lease and abandons the
  property before the end of the term or if his right to possession is
  terminated by the lessor because of a breach of the lease, the lease
  terminates. Upon such termination, the lessor may recover from the
  lessee:</p>
  
  <p>(1) The worth at the time of award of the unpaid rent which had been
  earned at the time of termination;</p>
  
  <p>(2) The worth at the time of award of the amount by which the unpaid
  rent which would have been earned after termination until the time of
  award exceeds the amount of such rental loss that the lessee proves
  could have been reasonably avoided;</p>
  
  <p>(3) Subject to subdivision (c), the worth at the time of award of the
  amount by which the unpaid rent for the balance of the term after the
  time of award exceeds the amount of such rental loss that the lessee
  proves could be reasonably avoided; and</p>
  
  <p>(4) Any other amount necessary to compensate the lessor for all the
  detriment proximately caused by the lessee’s failure to perform his
  obligations under the lease or which in the ordinary course of things
  would be likely to result therefrom.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>There are, also, no special exceptions about landlords selling their property that allow instant termination. </p>

<p>That is, you still owe the month's rent, even though the lease is ending at the end of the month. You could of course ask the landlord to forgive you that last month's obligation. I am assuming that the lease was terminated properly by the landlord. If it was not, the landlord has not legally terminated the lease and it will continue until someone does properly terminate the lease. That might provide incentive for the other party to just forget the last month's rent, but it also might not.</p>

<p>Either party may end a month-to-month tenancy on 30 days written notice. The tenancy ends 30 days after the notice is given, or on whatever later date is specified in the notice. That is, a party may choose to give more than 30 days notice, but is not required to.</p>

<p>So if notice was given on 29 April, the tenancy would end on 30 May, or more likely 31 may, if the notice was given for the end of the month, as is common (but not required). </p>

<p>If the tenant is moving out prior to the date specified in the notice, s/he will owe rent through the end of the tenancy. That basically means the rent for May. No further rent would be owned in that case.</p>

<p>If the tenant is not able to move prior to the date  specified in the notice, but holds over into the following month, the tenant owes rent for the subsequent month. That is, for the month of June. However, if the move out date is early in June, and there is no other tenant moving in, it would seem reasonable of the landlord to pro-rate the rent and charge only for days actually used. However, the landlord is not <strong>required</strong> to do this.</p>

<p>Note that the notice must be in writing, and must explicitly specify the date when the tenancy will end. If the landlord gave only a verbal notice, the tenant could either ask for a written notice, or give notice to the landlord, specifying a date when the tenancy will end. If the notice was not in writing, and the tenant has already secured another residence s/he would be wide to do one or the other, so that there is no grounds for arguing that the tenancy was automatically renewed into June, and further rent is due.  </p>

<p>That the landlord has sold the house explains the landlord's actions, but is not legally relevant in this case. The rights of the parties would be no different if the landlord simply decided to stop renting. </p>

<p>If the notice specified, say, the 29th of May, but the tenant cannot occupy the new residence until, say, 1 or 2 June, and the landlord refuses to prorate for those days, perhaps the tenant can arrange to stay elsewhere, with a friend or even in a motel. That might well be less expensive than paying an additional month of rent for only a day or two. </p>

<p>But the tennant's first move should be, I would think, to let the landlord know of the exact planned move-out date, and see if the landlord expects any rent for any part of June, and if so how much. No one would really benefit by a court case over this.</p>
