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Month to Month lease - Return of rent.

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GreenHazel

Junior Member
Colorado
We have a tenant who was on a month to month lease. When they moved in they paid their last months rent. They gave 30 days notice on April 10th. They moved out half way through May and are now requesting the remainder of their rent back for May. We are in disagreement of this. Are they entitled to the remainder portion of May's rent, even though they informed us they were moving out May 15th? Under the month to month are they not paid up until the end of that following month? They just moved out and said you owe me $x and my deposit. Unfortunately the tenant has been nothing but belligerent so we are trying to get this resolved as soon as possible.
 
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cosine

Senior Member
What date did their notice say they would be moving out on? How many days ahead of that date did they give such notice?

Whether or not they are obligated for the remainder of the month, I don't know. If I were in your situation, I would support my position that each month is a full leased month because I would have little or no opportunity to re-rent the place for a fraction of a month (this situation may be different in certain locations where school breaks happen in the middle of the month ... I used to live in one and paid rent for "lease months" that ran from the 15th to the 15th ... but you would know about this if it affected you).

You have the money. Pay back their deposit within the required time, minus any obvious damages. My guess is they will likely go away by that time.
 

JETX

Senior Member
They gave 30 days notice on April 10th.
Was their 30 day notice in WRITING??

They moved out half way through May and are now requesting the remainder of their rent back for May.
Did they pay their rent in FULL for April??
If so, that would cover for April 1 through April 30. Their 'last month' would have paid for the full month of May. The key here is what, if anything, was said when you accepted their middle of the month notice.

Unfortunately the tenant has been nothing but belligerent so we are trying to get this resolved as soon as possible.
Then go ahead and give them a refund of the remaining 1/2 months rent.... and follow your state laws as to any security deposit refund.
 

atomizer

Senior Member
Yes, by all means, reward his belligerence. Many tenants feel entitled to prorated rent when they take off in the middle of the month. This is often reinforced when we as landlords return cash not due in order to get rid of pita tenants.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
well, it appears they only had to provide 10 days notice, unless your lease stated something differently.

and yes, as JETX asks, it must be in writing.


13-40-107. Notice to quit.
(1) A tenancy may be terminated by notice in writing, served not less than the respective
period fixed before the end of the applicable tenancy, as follows:
(c) A tenancy of one month or longer but less than six months, ten days;
(2) Such notice shall describe the property and the particular time when the tenancy will terminate and shall be signed by the landlord or tenant, the party giving such notice or his agent or attorney.


been doing some reading. I think you are allowed to consider it a full month to month. Some states allow times such as a 30 day notice to simply be 30 days irrespective of the rental month. Some additional reading seems to support this:

before the end of the applicable tenancy
the applicable tenancy would be any given month since it was a month to month.

to mean they only have to give 10 days notice before the new rental period would begin, which would be the next month. They could have actually given you the notice when they did and moved on at the end of April if they said they were moving at the end of April but since they stated they would be leaving sometime in May, I thing they do owe for the full month.



I'm still trying to find something more definitive though. Everything I have found so far has been a bit ambiguous.

dang, very next site I had looked at: http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3767&Itemid=1406#Month-to-Month

To terminate a month-to-month lease, State law requires that written notice of intent to terminate must be given at least ten days before the last day of the rental month which has already been paid, that is, eleven days prior to the next rental payment due date. In a written lease, for example, start from the day when the rent is due then count back ten days. To terminate a month-to-month tenancy the tenant or the landlord (whoever is initiating the termination) needs to provide written notice of intent to terminate by mailing or hand-delivering a copy of the notice to the other party.
 
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atomizer

Senior Member
13-40-107. Notice to quit.
(1) A tenancy may be terminated by notice in writing, served not less than the respective period fixed before the end of the applicable tenancy, as follows:
(a) A tenancy for one year or longer, three months;
(b) A tenancy of six months or longer but less than a year, one month;
(c) A tenancy of one month or longer but less than six months, ten days;
(d) A tenancy of one week or longer but less than one month, or a tenancy at will, three days;
(e) A tenancy for less than one week, one day.
(2) Such notice shall describe the property and the particular time when the tenancy will terminate and shall be signed by the landlord or tenant, the party giving such notice or his agent or attorney.
(3) Any person in possession of real property with the assent of the owner is presumed to be a tenant at will until the contrary is shown.
(4) No notice to quit shall be necessary from or to a tenant whose term is, by agreement, to end at a time certain.
(5) Except as otherwise provided in section 38-33-112, C.R.S., the provisions of subsections (1) and (4) of this section shall not apply to the termination of a residential tenancy during the ninety-day period provided for in said section.


If they are renting month to month and decide to leave early, the landlord does not have to prorate the rent.
 
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GreenHazel

Junior Member
The tenant did send 30 days notice via email and by mail as well. The full month of April was paid. May was covered by their last months rent which was paid when they moved in. In the 30 days notice they stated they would be vacating by May 15th. That's when they indicated they wanted half of their months rent back. He keeps changing his story and at one point stated he moved out May 5th, but the written notice indicates May 15th is the move out date. We are still sticking behind the month to month tenancy. As it was mentioned, there is really no way for us to get someone in the unit right away, especially because we had repairs to make. I appreciate everyone's help I checked around and had a hard time finding the information needed to answer this question. He has mentioned a few time of taking us to court over the remainder of the rent, but I really think he is just badgering us to get us to pay out the money.
 

LearnedHand

Junior Member
Risk of Not Putting It in writing

I assume you have no written agreement, and further that notices were not in writing.

I think you are entitled to 30 days rent from their last notice, since they violated their April 10 notice, and overstayed, absolutely preventing you from

securing another tenant. If they are belligerent, call 911, and go to Court and get a Protective Order !

Or, pay them a little bit, only after they and all their stuff is gone.

Belligerent threatening people may well be committing Extortion which is a Felony !
 

sandyclaus

Senior Member
Don't necropost. The original poster's issues were very likely address and handled 2-1/2 years ago when this thread was last answered.
 

tranquility

Senior Member
Not merely a necroposter, but a serial necroposter. I've had to read a number of dead threads because of Mr. RahRah and it's getting a little old.

However, I must admit, some of the rahrah is appropriate:

"Life is made up of constant calls to action, and we seldom have time for more than hastily contrived answers."
 

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