If your lease is coming to an end, it's time to consider what to do next. In most cases, you'll either opt to renew the lease or you'll move out and find another place to live. But, what if it's not up to you and your property manager chooses not to renew your contract?
In most situations, landlords are not required to offer lease renewals and it may leave you scratching your head, wondering why they wouldn't want to do the easy thing and re-sign a lease with the same tenant. Here are a few reasons for the non-renewal of a lease from the landlord's perspective.
Unless there's a provision in the lease that specifies otherwise, a landlord is typically within their rights to end the lease at the termination date spelled out in the rental agreement. They aren't required to give you a reason why so here are a few scenarios that may cause them to not renew the lease agreement.
Some landlords have owned rental income properties for years and don't want to maintain them anymore. Others might have purchased a property to rent it out, then quickly found it's not what they want to do. In these cases, landlords may sell their property and won't have control over renting, thus, they can't allow a tenant to live there.
Some landlords decide that a property will no longer be a rental. This is for various reasons — they might want to move in themselves and use it as a primary residence or maybe they want to use it as a vacation home for their family.
Over time, it's completely normal for a property to become outdated and show signs of wear and tear. Good landlords will recognize when their property needs an upgrade so that it will be a habitable and desirable place to live.
If they plan to do extensive work, such as a full renovation, they obviously can't have someone living there among the construction mess. Projects like that typically take months and it wouldn't be reasonable to displace a tenant for such a long period, so they decide not to have renters during the renovation period.
In some cases, landlords will have new tenants already lined up months before they terminate the property's lease. This is especially common in a highly competitive rental market when landlords want to guarantee that they'll have a renter at all times.
On top of those reasons, the landlord may suspect illegal activity or behavior in general that they don't approve of. If there's suspicious activity, but no proof of anything illegal happening, a landlord might decide to play it safe and not renew a tenant's lease agreement. After all, they don't want to get a call from the cops concerning the property and then need to take legal action.
When landlords don't renew a tenant's lease, both parties will need to take steps to ensure things go smoothly. Here's what you can expect if your lease is non-renewing.
Some state laws require landlords to give formal written notice of non-renewal. This is often referred to as a lease non-renewal letter or a lease termination letter. It's a written statement that's used to give the tenant proper notice that the lease term is ending and there's no lease renewal option.
Typically, such written notice is given via certified mail during the lease renewal period (between 30 and 60 days before the tenant's lease ends). This gives the tenant enough time to find a new rental once the current lease expires.
If you receive official notice that you can't renew your rental agreement, you're probably feeling a little panicked at the thought of finding a new rental and packing up to move out quickly. Before you start worrying about the latter, focus on finding a new place to live.
Since it can take a couple of weeks to find a place and sign a lease letter, start searching for an apartment or other rental as soon as you find out you need to move. Looking around online is a great way to get started and will give you an idea of what properties are available and how much they cost so you can start budgeting and estimating how much you'll need for upfront costs at a new place (security deposit, last month's rent, etc.).
When it comes time to actually move out, respect the property, termination date and other terms you agreed upon. Being a good tenant between now and the end of your time at the rental will help to ensure you get your security deposit back and overall, makes the lease termination process go much better for all parties involved, including a new tenant if there's one taking over your spot.
There are a few additional things to keep in mind if you don't get to renew your lease agreement. These can help you further understand your rights, your landlord's rights and any other party involved.
Just as a tenant doesn't have to tell the property owner why they aren't going to renew a lease, a landlord doesn't need a reason for not wanting to renew a lease agreement. So, if either of the parties decides not to renew, there's nothing anyone can do. In fact, a landlord can end the lease "just because" and legally, no one could argue against it.
There are a variety of reasons a landlord doesn't allow a lease renewal and it's likely not personal or anything against the tenants. Unless you're a bad tenant, you've got nothing to worry about in the lease termination process.
If you're really curious as to why the manager of a rental property won't let you renew a lease, you can always ask! That doesn't mean they'll give you an answer, but there's also a good chance that they'll tell you the reason for non-renewal.
Don't be afraid to ask, especially if you haven't done any property damage and you've adhered to the lease agreement the entire time. If you've been a good tenant, a good property manager will notice and they'll probably tell you why you can't rent from them anymore.
No matter why your landlord didn't renew your lease, it's best to leave things on good terms, especially if they gave you proper notice. In many cases, the lease non-renewal isn't anything personal against the tenant, so unless your landlord tells you specifically why they're not renewing your lease, assume that it's nothing against you.
There's no good reason for rudeness or unreasonable behavior when ending a lease and moving out of a rental property. Plus, one day it could come back to haunt you if you leave on bad terms. You may want to rent from the landlord later or need a reference when renting a new place and if you burn a bridge with them, future opportunities could be affected. So, stay calm, be respectful and find your next dream property to live in!
