Leasing a property guarantees a tenant the right to occupy the premises for a specific amount of monthly rent and for a specific amount of time, which is usually a 12-month period. While a lease agreement grants specific rights to the tenant regarding the property, there are also specific responsibilities that go along with leasing property.
One of these responsibilities is giving due notice, as stated in the lease agreement, to the landlord when the tenant plans to vacate the property. In order to meet the specific legal requirements of notice set forth in the lease agreement, tenants can utilize letters of intent to terminate their lease agreement depending upon their specific situation.
A letter of intent is a formal written document that is used by tenants to notify the landlord that they intend to vacate the property within a certain period of time. There are situations that can arise at the end of the lease where either the tenant or the landlord is unclear of what the other party intends to do regarding the property. It is also fairly common for some tenants to be unsure of whether they want to continue to occupy the premises or move to another location. This is where the letter of intent can be utilized to inform the landlord of the tenant’s intentions.
If a lease has expired and the tenant has continued to occupy the property beyond the original terms of the lease agreement, the lease is considered a month-to-month lease at that point. In order to terminate the lease properly, a termination letter for a holdover tenant is used to notify the landlord at least 30 days prior to vacating the premises.
A similar situation occurs when a month-to-month tenant decides to end their lease. A termination letter for a month-to-month tenant is used to give a landlord 30 days' notice that the tenant intends to terminate their lease on a specific date.
For a long-term lease agreement of 12 months or longer duration, a termination letter for lease expiration is used by the tenant within 30 to 60 days of the end of the lease agreement to notify the landlord of the tenant’s intent to vacate the property. Each of these letters of intent satisfies the notification requirements set forth in the lease agreement and serves notice to the landlord of a tenant’s intention to vacate a rental property either prior to or after the lease agreement has expired.
Notify your landlord that you plan to terminate your lease by using our customizable notice of intent letter.