Holdover Tenancy
A holdover tenancy, also called a tenancy at sufferance, is what you get when a tenant simply stays put after the agreed lease term has run out.
7. Holdover Tenancy
Holdover tenancy, also referred to as tenancy at sufferance, arises when a tenant remains in possession after the termination of the agreed lease term.
- The landlord holds the power to create a holdover tenancy by not taking actions to evict the holdover tenant.
- The landlord’s acceptance of the holdover tenant’s rent results in a new periodic tenancy.
- The duration of the period for such a new periodic tenancy can vary according to state law and the agreement of the parties. Generally, if the landlord accepts payment for a month’s rent from the holdover tenant, the new periodic tenancy created is a month-to-month one. For the Nevada FLE, test-takers should assume that the landlord’s acceptance of rent from a holdover tenant results in a month-to-month periodic tenancy, [which can be terminated on 30 days notice by either party.]
- The terms of the holdover tenancy, apart from its periodic nature, will be identical to the terms of the expired lease unless the landlord has provided written notice of new terms.
- The term of a holdover tenancy will not exceed one year unless the landlord gives written notice of a longer term.
- Alternatively, the landlord has the option to treat a holdover tenant as a trespasser and evict the holdover tenant.
- The landlord may exercise this option only if the landlord has not accepted rent or given the tenant permission to remain on the premises after the expiration of the prior lease term.
- Once the landlord has accepted rent for the holdover period, the general rule is that the landlord may not treat the holdover tenant as a trespasser. Instead, the landlord must follow the rules governing termination of leases and eviction to end the tenancy. There are some exceptions to this rule (including when the lease provides otherwise) but the Nevada FLE does not test those exceptions.
A holdover tenancy, or tenancy at sufferance, arises when a tenant stays past the lease term. The landlord chooses what happens next: accept rent and create a new month-to-month periodic tenancy, or treat the tenant as a trespasser and evict, but only if no rent was accepted.
A holdover tenancy, also called a tenancy at sufferance, is what you get when a tenant simply stays put after the agreed lease term has run out. The lease is over, but the tenant is still in possession. What makes this topic distinctive is that the power sits almost entirely with the landlord, who gets to choose what happens next. The landlord can create a holdover tenancy just by doing nothing, by not moving to evict the tenant who has stayed, or the landlord can pick one of two paths.
- 1Accept the holdover rent. The moment that happens, a new periodic tenancy springs into existence. For the Nevada FLE, you assume that periodic tenancy is month-to-month, terminable on 30 days notice by either side. Its terms are identical to the terms of the expired lease, with the one exception of its now-periodic nature, unless the landlord gave written notice of new terms; and the term will not exceed one year unless the landlord gives written notice of a longer term.
- 2Treat the holdover tenant as a trespasser and evict. This path has a hard precondition: the landlord may go this route only if the landlord has not accepted rent and has not given the tenant permission to remain.
This is the switch that decides most of these questions. Once the landlord has accepted rent for the holdover period, the general rule is that the landlord may no longer treat the tenant as a trespasser; instead the landlord must follow the ordinary lease-termination and eviction rules to end the tenancy.
There are exceptions to that rule, but the Nevada FLE does not test them, so do not import them.
"Take the rent, lose the trespasser card."
The landlord's whole choice turns on one fact: did the landlord accept the holdover rent?
If no rent accepted (and no permission to stay), the landlord may treat the holdover tenant as a trespasser and evict.
If rent is accepted, that option is off the table; a new month-to-month periodic tenancy arises, terminable on 30 days notice by either party, on terms identical to the expired lease unless the landlord gave written notice of new terms, and capped at one year unless the landlord gave written notice of a longer term.
tenant stays past the term; the landlord either evicts as a trespasser (only if no rent, no permission) or, by taking rent, locks in a month-to-month tenancy.
A tenant's one-year written lease on an apartment expires at the end of June, but the tenant does not move out and stays into July. The tenant mails the landlord a check for July's rent in the usual monthly amount, and the landlord deposits and keeps it. The lease said nothing about holdovers, and the landlord sent no written notice of any new terms. In August the landlord changes his mind, decides he wants the unit back, and tries to have the tenant removed as a trespasser, with no notice at all.
Suppose the landlord had refused every rent payment and never gave permission to stay. Then the trespasser/eviction option would still be open, because the precondition (no rent accepted, no permission) would be satisfied.
An answer that lets the landlord evict the holdover tenant as a trespasser even though the landlord already accepted rent for the holdover period, or that ends the new tenancy on the wrong number of days.
Once the landlord accepts rent, the general rule bars trespasser treatment and the landlord must follow lease-termination and eviction rules; the accept-rent tenancy is month-to-month, ended on 30 days notice by either party.An answer that misstates the terms of the new tenancy, saying the landlord may impose whatever terms he chooses or that the old terms drop away to a bare core.
The terms are identical to the expired lease apart from the periodic nature, unless the landlord gave written notice of new terms.An absolute "Yes" (a landlord may always evict any holdover as a trespasser) or absolute "No" (a holdover can never be a trespasser), or a claim that one day past the term locks in a full year.
The trespasser option is conditional (no rent accepted, no permission given); the term will not exceed one year unless the landlord gives written notice of a longer term.An answer that imports an outside rule, such as ownership entitling self-help removal, or treats a paid-up holdover like an ordinary land trespasser.
Holdover tenancy has its own rules; once rent is accepted the tenant is not a trespasser, and the landlord must use the lease-termination and eviction procedures.the stem hands you a tenant who stays in possession after the lease term ends, then turns on what the landlord did next.
Look first for the single decisive fact: did the landlord accept rent for the holdover period (or give permission to stay)?
If the landlord accepted rent, the trespasser/eviction-as-trespasser option is gone; a new month-to-month periodic tenancy arises, terminable on 30 days notice by either party, on the old terms unless the landlord gave written notice of new terms, capped at one year unless written notice of a longer term.
If the landlord accepted no rent and gave no permission, the landlord may still treat the tenant as a trespasser and evict.
The instant you see a holdover plus a rent check the landlord kept, run the switch: rent accepted means no trespasser treatment.
A tenant's written one-year lease on a house ended on the last day of May, but the tenant did not move out and remained in the house into June. The landlord had not yet decided what to do and simply took no steps to remove the tenant. The tenant continued living in the house while the landlord considered his options.
What is the effect of the landlord taking no action to remove the holdover tenant?
A tenant stayed in a leased apartment after her one-year lease expired at the end of the month. At the start of the next month she sent the landlord a check for that month's rent in the usual amount, and the landlord deposited and kept it. The lease said nothing about holdovers, and the landlord sent the tenant no written notice setting any new terms.
By accepting the rent, what tenancy has the landlord created on the Nevada FLE?
A tenant held over after his lease on a duplex expired and sent the landlord the next month's rent, which the landlord accepted. The expired lease had set the rent, allowed a single pet, and required the tenant to maintain the yard. The landlord never sent the tenant any written notice proposing different terms for the period after the lease ended.
On what terms does the new periodic tenancy operate?
A tenant remained in a rented storefront after the lease term ended. The landlord wanted the space back and refused to deal with the tenant: he never accepted any rent for the period after the lease ended and never told the tenant she could stay. The landlord then moved to treat the tenant as a trespasser and have her evicted.
May the landlord treat this holdover tenant as a trespasser and evict her?
A tenant held over in a leased office after the term expired. For two months the landlord accepted the tenant's monthly rent checks for the holdover period and deposited them. The landlord then decided he wanted the space for another use and, treating the tenant as a trespasser, sought to have her removed without following any lease-termination procedure.
Is the landlord entitled to treat this holdover tenant as a trespasser?