Are verbal rental agreements binding?

Your tenant is automatically a month to month tenant and is entitled to a full month's notice of termination of their tenancy. That would make it end no earlier than March 1st if you serve then before the end of his month. I suggest you hire a landlord tenant attorney. The law is both tricky and strict.

If the tenant moves in and you accept the rent then you have a binding month to month tenancy. You must give the tenant at least 30 days written notice to terminate the tenancy. If the tenant has been there longer than one year, other rules may apply and you should consult a real estate attorney about how to terminate the tenancy.

Verbal rental agreements can be binding, as there are times that they are and times that they aren't, and it depends on numerous other facts that you don't specify. But generally speaking, it's a good rule of thumb to assume that they are binding. 30 days notice is the required time frame for most no cause evictions, so you should provide them proper notice and be as amenable as possible, with the hopes that they move by the deadline without issue. Of course, there's no guarantee that they will move by that time, and securing an eviction and forcing them to move could only come after the expiration of the notice period and then a successful court process, which is usually somewhat timely, on the order of at least a week or two, typically, and also carries with it some court costs, etc. (If it comes to that, it's especially important that your notices, etc., were sufficient, so you may want to contact an attorney to assist you with this.) In trying to convince tenants to move in an expedited fashion, the best method, especially if they're reticent to move at first, is to typically offer an incentive of some kind, such as a refund of one month's rent, or payment of moving costs, or first month's rent at a new place, or some other agreeable number.