Q: Are landlords able to charge tenants with tresspassing if the tenants have been living in a residence while paying rent?
There was no rental contract made and there was no written notice given to us. We were given a certain amount of time to move out through a text message. The landlord is saying that if we don’t leave by that date then they will be charging us with tresspassing.
A: Your landlord is either bluffing in an attempt to intimidate you or simply does not know what he is talking about at all. First, if you have ever paid rent to the landlord for that dwelling, they can ONLY legally get rid of you through a court order. Once you have established a residency, you are not trespassers and the police are unlikely to remove you as such. Next, an email notice to terminate your tenancy is not a legal notice and is essentially the same as never sending you any notice at all. A written rental agreement is not required (no matter how good of an idea it is!). If you have been there less than a year, your tenancy can be terminated without cause with at least 30 days advanced written notice, containing the required information, and lawfully served - either personally handed to a tenant or mailed regular 1st class mail - not Certified, etc. If mailed, it must add an extra 4 days to the time, including the day mailed. Any question - be sure to keep the envelope with the postmark on it. All told, if the landlord tries to remove you other than in accordance with the above, you should review everything with a local landlord-tenant attorney. If the landlord files to evict you in court, without complying with all the rules, most attorneys will take your case on a contingency where you do have to pay them for their fees (at least not beyond the initial case evaluation interview) but rather they will collect them directly from the landlord. Good luck.
A: That should read "...where you do NOT have to pay them for their fees...".
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