Q: I’m on a month to month lease with a roommate. If I give my landlord notice, does that end the lease?
My roommate is destructive and exhibits some scary behavior. I’d like him to move out as I’ve lived her for much longer than him. The landlord agrees but is scared of paying relocation fees. If I give notice and end the month to month tenancy with her, will I be penalized? Does she have to offer him a new lease or just give him proper move out notice?
A: IF both of you are on the same rental agreement, and either one of you provides proper written notice of termination of the lease, it terminates the tenancy of both of you. Your landlord does not have to give a new lease to the roommate nor any notice at all - you are the ones providing the notice to him. If you vacate and roommate does not, landlord can go to court and evict roommate. Relocation assistance payments only come into play when the landlord is giving a no cause termination of tenancy notice (or a rent increase notice of more than 5%), and it is a payment to all the tenants collectively - not to each tenant. It is up to the tenants to work out how they share the payment. All this said, if you don't move out and a Judge is convinced that your termination of tenancy notice is all just a scam to defraud your roommate from some relocation assistance funds, you could have some problems. Outside of the relocation assistance payment issue though, there is nothing that says you can't terminate your existing lease and enter into a new one with the landlord, one that does not include your roommate. Depending upon the roommate's behavior, it might be possible to terminate his tenancy for cause with a 30 day for cause termination notice if he is breaking the rules or truly is threatening.
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