QUESTION
Does a text message stating intent to give written notice to vacate a rental count as legal written notice?
Asked on Sep 16th, 2015 on Landlord and Tenant Law - Arizona
More details to this question:
We have a renter whose lease is up 10/31/15. He sent us a text message saying that he was going to put his notice in and needed our address. As of today he still hasn't sent the letter. In the lease it states that he must give us 30 days written notice or he is responsible for the next month's rent. Can we legally bill him for October's rent, or does the text message count?
4 ANSWERS
He has not given you any type of notice that he will vacate. A notice that he might vacate is not a notice that he will. If you tried to evict him he could legally defend by saying he never said definitely he would leave. He may have changed his mind. Contact him and find out his intentions. If he gives you a written notice you receive 9/20, he can move out without having to pay more rent after 10/19; the notice does not require the move out date to be the same part of the month as when the lease began.
Answered on Sep 18th, 2015 at 4:54 AM
Appellate Attorney serving Grosse Pointe Farms, MI
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Musilli Brennan Associates, PLLC
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I would have to read the terms of the lease in order to be able to give you counsel as to whether or not additional rent would be due. Generally rents are paid at the beginning of the month in advance.
Answered on Sep 16th, 2015 at 12:52 PM
You said his "lease is up 10/31/15," which suggests to me that he has a fixed-term lease that ends on October 31, 2015, in which case he is not entitled to send a 30-Day Notice of Termination at all, so it doesn't matter how he sends the notice. The only exception would be if there is a provision your lease that says the tenant may terminate the fixed-term lease at any time by giving a 30-Day Notice. Such a provision would be rare, but if you have that provision in your lease, then the tenant may terminate tenancy via written notice. In any event, most judges will not regard a text message as a formal written notice. Also, if you have such a provision in your lease, you should remove it before you rent to another tenant.
Answered on Sep 16th, 2015 at 12:51 PM
Litigation Attorney serving Bakersfield, CA
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Dessy & Dessy
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Provided that the tenant and the tenant's property is actually out of the rental property by October 31, 2015, and he/she has either returned the keys or sent you a note about having vacated the property, I would recommend against billing the tenant for another month.
Answered on Sep 16th, 2015 at 12:51 PM