60 day notice clause on Month to Month Lease?

[DHski]

Our previous landlord is threatening to us sue because she stated that we did not adhere to her contract. Her contract stated that tennants must give a 60 day notice of moving out of her apartment. On March 29th, we gave her notice that we would be moving out at the end of April. She expected rent for May plus the payment of all utilities for May (Even though we would not be living on the premises.)

After much deliberation, we decided to not pay her May's rent because we were under a month-to-month lease. Therefore, we determined that her clause for a 60 day notice was irrelevant & contradictory to the concept of a month-to-month lease.

Can anyone tell me if our logic is correct & the landlords lease is contradictory?

On top of this, the landlord sent us a renewal lease (for month to month) because our month to month lease renewal was coming due for a new signature at the end of April. We did not re-sign this contract.

Does the landlord have any grounds to stand on for a lawsuit?

 

[Cvillecpm]

Month to Monty - Periodic Tenancy

Sorry, you are incorrect and she will win. Month-to-month means a "periodic tenancy" and you are holding in 60 day increments and paying by the month. You should have paid the May rent or she should have re-rented and charged you the difference. The lease document you quote is clear that you needed to provide the 60 day notice.

 

[JETX]

Another inaccurate response by 'Cvillecpm'. (You must get rid of this 'landlord is always right attitude'.)

Though your post says you had a month-to-month lease, it also appears that you had a written lease in effect (since your landlord sent you a 'a renewal lease'). This is not uncommon, to just have a 'rolling lease'.

You need to read the written lease that was in effect, even though it was month-to-month. If it shows a requirement for 60 day advance notice, you blew it by only giving 30 days and would be liable for the unpaid rent.

If the lease doesn't require a 60 day advance notice AND you were in COMPLETE compliance with any other terms, then you are probably okay.

Also, one more thing to consider... that is whether your state has a 'landlord-tenant statute'. If so, you might want to look at it to see what statutory requirements might apply. (Since you couldn't follow the instructions on the top of the screen - see the red text?? - I can't direct you to your states online statutes.)

 

[DHski]

I apologize

I apologize for not indicating my state in my original posting. I put it in my profile and thought that it would show up when I posted.

I'm in Pennsylvania.

Thank you for the advice. I'll research the 'landlord-tenant statute' you mentioned.

 

[JETX]

Here are some links to Pennsylvania Landlord-Tenant sites:
http://members.aol.com/StatutesPA/68.Cp.8.html
http://www.rental-housing.com/manage/LTLaw/pennsylvania.htm
http://www.tenant.net/Other_Areas/Penn/harris/pa-toc.html

Take a look and see if any of them help you.