Q: If landlord sends new lease w/ rent increase within 30 days of lease end, do I still have to give 30 days vacate notice?
My lease expires on Nov. 1st. On Sep. 19, landlord sent me a new lease with a 5% rent increase, change in utility charges (we would now be paying), a fee for paying rent via credit card, and a permission to enter without legal notice.
We sent him a marked-up copy highlighting these things as issues and also notifying him that he never sent us a notice to quit as required, or notice of our security deposit and interest. We also expressed a problem with a requirement to repaint the apartment upon vacating that we somehow missed in the original lease.
He sent a new lease on Oct. 10th correcting the entry terms, removing the additional utilities, adding a clause about a $1 charge to pay rent online (lease lists as the way we MUST pay), no notice to quit, but still requiring the rent increase.
We decided to vacate, but now we're within the 30days before lease end and so can't give a 30day notice without going into the next month.
A:
Even though this has been answered on another site, I'm restating the answer given on that site for the benefit of other readers.
The landlord, if they wanted to give you a choice between accepting a new lease or leaving, was required to provide you with a "notice to quit' at the time they presented you with the new lease. Absent that notice to quit, you are not obligated to leave, nor are you obligated to accept the proposed lease. Rather, by responding with a marked up lease, you have provided a counter offer.
In the meantime, as of November 1, your lease will convert into a month to month tenancy. Starting then, you are required to provide your landlord with a full month's notice before you leave (perhaps longer if so stated in the lease, which terms continue into the month to month lease).
If the landlord decides not to accept your counteroffer, he must provide you with a valid notice to quit if he wishes to terminate the tenancy.
Also, don't forget that since the original lease terms still control, you must paint the apartment upon vacation.
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