Q: I got a notice that my lease was being terminated at the mobile home park where I have lived for 10 years. What can I do
The current property manager clearly has a problem with me as she continually writes me up for ridiculous violations, but doesn't write up other homeowners for the same violations.
The Notice was dated 11/2 and says my lease will expire 11/30, and I have 60 days to leave the premises, but the manager is a dingbat and dated my departure for 1/31/21. Is filing a lawsuit against them appropriate or do I wait for them to initiate an eviction and drag this out another 6 months til I can sell the home?
A:
Unless you have a current written lease with a specified term, you are a month-to-month tenant. You indicate that you have lived there for ten (10) years, which suggests that you likely don't have a current written lease agreement. To clarify, I am not talking about a written lease that you signed some years back, which the parties are following even though the original lease period has expired. You are a month-to-month tenant unless you have a written lease agreement with a specific lease term that ends some time in the future. As a month-to-month tenant, either you or the landlord can terminate the tenancy at any time upon providing at least thirty (30) days' notice before the start of the next calendar month. It doesn't matter if you have paid your rent on time, etc. Month-to-month tenants are subject to their lease being terminated for any reason or even no reason.
If the notice was dated 11/2/21, the soonest the lease can be terminated is 12/31/21. Since you are legally only entitled to thirty (30) days' notice, that requires that you vacate no later than 1/31/22. I suspect that is the date that the landlord intended to list on the notice. The incorrect statement of giving you sixty (60) days is not legally enforceable, so you will need to be prepared to vacate by 1/31/22.
If you fail to vacate by 1/31/22, the landlord will file an Unlawful Detainer suit against you in the local county circuit court. The landlord will be entitled to recover double (2x) rent for the period you remain on the premises after 1/31/22. It will take about a month for a court date, at which time possession will likely be granted to the landlord. It may be possible to get it bumped to another date for a trial on the matter, but it won't be delayed long as these cases are designed to get done on an expedited basis. Once the court orders possession to the landlord, you will have ten (10) days to file an appeal. If you do not, the judgment will become final, and the sheriff will be asked to physically remove you from the premises. If you pursue an appeal, you must post a bond, and the double rent will continue to accrue.
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