What Happens When a Fixed-Term Lease Expires?

When a fixed-term lease expires, the tenancy ends on the end date, renews under the lease's own renewal clause, or turns into a month-to-month tenancy. Which one happens depends on the lease, your state's default rule, and whether you accept rent after the end date. Where no just-cause law (a rule allowing you to end a tenancy only for listed reasons) applies, you can usually decline to renew, though some states require advance written notice; New York requires 30, 60, or 90 days, based on how long the tenant has lived there or the lease term, whichever is longer. In covered units in California, Oregon after the first year, Washington, New Jersey, and New York's Good Cause areas, the end date by itself is not a legal reason to make the tenant leave.

Does the lease end, renew, or go month-to-month?

Start with the lease. If it has an automatic renewal clause, it renews unless someone gives notice by the deadline it sets. New Jersey's guide notes that many yearly leases there require the tenant to give 60 to 90 days' notice to end them. In New York, a landlord who wants to rely on an automatic renewal clause must remind the tenant that the clause exists 15 to 30 days before the tenant's deadline to give notice.

If the lease says nothing, state law fills the gap:

Whatever the default, taking rent for a period after the end date changes the result. In California, accepting rent after the term makes the tenant a holdover tenant on a month-to-month basis, and every other term of the old lease stays in effect. New York treats a tenant who stays after the lease as month-to-month once you accept a rent payment. Ending that new month-to-month tenancy then takes a proper notice; see how to end a month-to-month rental agreement.

When and how should you send a renewal offer or non-renewal notice?

Decide at least 90 days before the end date. That covers the longest common deadlines: New York's 90 days for occupancy over 2 years or a lease term of at least 2 years, Oregon's 90 days for a qualifying-reason termination, and the 90 days California requires before not renewing a Section 8 tenant's lease. Washington requires 60 days before the end date for the no-cause expiration it allows.

Florida ties your notice to the tenant's. A Florida lease may require the tenant to give notice before moving out at the end of the term only if it also requires you to give the same notice if you will not renew, and the period must be 30 to 60 days. To charge the tenant the lease's fee for skipping that notice, you must send a written reminder of the requirement within the 15 days before the notice period starts.

A non-renewal notice should state the tenant names, the unit address, the lease end date, that you will not renew, and the reason if your state requires one. Serve it by a method your state allows and keep proof of delivery.

A renewal offer is also a notice. In New York, a renewal with a rent increase of 5% or more needs the same 30, 60, or 90 days' written notice as a non-renewal. In New Jersey, changing terms at renewal requires a written notice ending the current lease and offering a new one that spells out each change. Rent-capped units add limits; see the California rent control guide for landlords.

Where do just-cause laws limit refusing to renew?

In these places, letting the lease run out is not a legal ground to remove the tenant:

• California. Once a tenant has lived in a unit covered by the Tenant Protection Act for 12 months, the tenancy continues month-to-month after the lease ends. A tenant who refuses to sign a new lease on terms similar to the expiring one gives you an at-fault just cause. Many California cities have stricter local ordinances.
• New Jersey. The Anti-Eviction Act does not list lease expiration as a ground. You need a statutory ground, such as nonpayment, qualifying owner occupancy, or a tenant's refusal of reasonable lease changes after written notice. Rent increases must comply with applicable laws and cannot be unconscionable (grossly unreasonable). The New Jersey eviction process for landlords covers the notices.
• New York Good Cause areas. In New York City and opt-in cities such as Albany, Rochester, and Ithaca, refusing to renew a covered unit requires a good cause. New York City exempts qualifying small landlords with 10 or fewer units statewide, counting each individual owner's direct and indirect ownership interests, including through companies. Opt-in cities may use different small-landlord thresholds. A tenant's refusal of a reasonable renewal offer counts if you made it 30, 60, or 90 days before expiration and it did not carry an unreasonable rent increase or new restrictions such as a sudden pet or sublet ban.
• Oregon. After the first year, a fixed term becomes month-to-month unless you have a qualifying landlord reason, such as moving in yourself, or the tenant had 3 or more lease violations in 12 months, each with a written warning. The violation route requires 90 days' notice. For a qualifying landlord reason, generally give at least 90 days' written notice. Pay one month's rent when delivering that notice unless you own an interest in four or fewer residential units covered by the law. For a sale to a buyer intending to use the unit as a primary residence, you may instead give at least 60 days' notice with written evidence of the accepted purchase offer and pay an additional month's rent when delivering notice, even if exempt from the usual payment. These terminations cannot take effect before the fixed term ends.
• Washington. A fixed-term tenancy becomes month-to-month at its end unless the no-cause exception above applies. A tenant's refusal of a reasonable new lease offered at least 30 days before expiration is a listed cause.

What if the tenant holds over?

A tenant who stays past the end date without a new agreement is a holdover tenant. Accepting rent can continue the tenancy; refusing it does not end a tenancy that continues by law. To file an eviction case, the tenancy must have ended lawfully, with any required notices and notice periods completed and any applicable just-cause requirements met. In California, for a unit not covered by a just-cause law, you can file an eviction lawsuit without first serving a notice if the tenant stays after the term and you refuse rent. In New York, the case is a holdover proceeding.

The costs to the tenant vary. Florida lets you recover double rent for each day a tenant stays without your permission after the lease ends. If a Florida tenant stays with your permission but leaves without giving the 30-day month-to-month notice, the tenant owes one more month's rent. A California court can award rent for the days the tenant stayed until judgment, plus up to $600 if the tenant held over maliciously.

Do not change the locks or move the tenant's things out. The legal grounds for evicting a tenant explains when you can file. For what a lease should say about renewal and notice, see what a lease agreement is, and for every other way a tenancy can end, see general ways to end a tenancy agreement.