Q: I'm primary tenant in a holdover case against an undertenant. The lease has my name, but has expired. Can I win?
The lease was signed with my name 10 years ago. The lease was for one year. After the lease expired I kept paying rent and have never missed a payment. The undertenant pays me and is overdue for four months now prompting my holdover case to evict him. The judge said I have to demonstrate my right to the place. Although the lease with the landlord under my name has expired I have continued to make monthly payments. Do I have the rights to the place and will the lease hold up in court?
A: Without knowing any more details than what you've written, once your lease expired (the primary lease) it became a month to month tenancy in your name and you are still therefore the primary lessee. Your subtenant has a lease with you and that lease cannot exceed the scope of the primary lease. So, it sounds like you're in decent footing on this case, but there may be details that you've left out that would change my analysis. Feel free to reach out if you would like to discuss this further.
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