Re: Purpose of Month to Month? - Landlord Forum thread 355486

Re: Purpose of Month to Month? by Garry (Iowa) on December 31, 2017 @12:11

You are correct, that if you go to evict someone for non-payment of rent, it will take about the same amount of time (assuming you win), whether they are on a M2M or 1 year lease. But there are many other ways to break a lease, that a judge may be very reluctant grant you an eviction for. If a T brings in extra people or pets, has a junky-looking yard, has done some damage to your property, has wild parties that neighbors don't like, has several police calls to the property, etc. , then you may want to end a lease ASAP. Whereas YOU may want them "evicted", a judge may say no, and may or may not grant you some monetary damages, but not a eviction. So you may have to sit back and watch as the T continues breaking your lease, until the end of it.

I have 20 SFHs, and have been a LL for 37 years. About 12 years ago, I started making all my leases M2M, starting from day 1, and even at the start of winter. A M2M lease at least gives you the possibility of giving a T a 30 day notice to move, at any time you decide enough is enough. It gives you more control over a T that looked good after checking their paper trail backgrounds, but maybe not being able to check on how they were actually living. True, you still may have to go to court to evict them, but as long as you have given the proper notices, and some reasons why you are terminating their M2M lease, a judge usually will grant you an eviction, usually based on the T being a holdover T.

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Re: Purpose of Month to Month? by mike (NY) on December 31, 2017 @16:41	[ Reply ]

Thanks for the info but still here in NY T's usually get up to 6 months on average no matter which lease that is why I say I see no difference except that you can serve a 30 day notice with M2M.

Re: Purpose of Month to Month? by P-Bone (NY and OH) on January 2, 2018 @07:26	[ Reply ]

I was in NY, although it was Western New York, Buffalo suburbs, I had no problem getting month-to-month tenants out. One case I just decided to give 30 days notice. Tenant decided not to pay the following month. By the 31st of that month I had my court date completed, payment for rent for the month, late fees, and a judgment for legal fees, as well as the tenant out. If you do the process correctly, properly serve the notices, you should have no problem. I suggest hiring a lawyer if you need them out in a hurry. There is no defense on a month-to-month tenancy if the landlord abides by the terms of that agreement with proper notices in order to get it vacant. The only thing you would run into is a holdover tenant who won't leave at the stated date and there is also no defense for that. If you are still failing with judges in your area, maybe something isn't being followed correctly.