Can my lanlord keep my last month rent?

When i moved into to my previous house i paid my first month rent, last month rent and a security deposit. my lease ended on dec 1st of 08. when it was time to renew i was offered a chance to buy a house, so i told my landlord about it and i told him i'd call him in a few days and let him know what was going on and he said ok thats fine. so i looked at the house and decided not to get it so i called my landlord back and said i wasnt taking it and wanted to renew my lease. so he says that he was going to move back in the house and that we could do month to month until i found a place. so i was fine with that and told him i might stay until the end of feb but might leave at end of jan, depends on what i find. he was good with that and so i ended up moving on jan 31st and he moved back in the night i left, but i had paid jan's rent already. so then i get a call on like feb 3rd saying the house was good and we'd get our deposit back, that he would call back and figure out how to get it to us. so a week goes by with no contact from him so i finally contact him . he tells me he is giving me my deposit back but not my last month rent. he said i broke an "agreement" to stay until the end of feb, which i didnt have. hes saying feb is my free month, but if thats the case he shouldnt of moved back in on jan 31st. i was wondering if he can legally keep my last month rent especially since he moved in jan 31st. i never did give any kind of written statement saying i was moving out, so i was just wondering if anyone could help me out.|||He could have kept your rent for feb if he hadn't moved in Jan 31st. Since he moved in he is considered to not have any loses, if you moved out without giving him 30 days notice and he was unable to re-rent in that period he would get to keep your money. But since his plan all along was to move in anyway he is not out anything. You can only keep money for rent with a tenant gone if they break the terms of the lease AND you are out something. Your landlord is not out anything so for him to keep your money is illegal because it puts him in a better situation than he would be in if your lease had been followed. In this situation he gets to move in (which he wanted) and he gets extra money, so he is in the wrong. If you take him to small claims as long as you can prove he moved in Jan 31 you will win.|||You blew it, hes being a real jerk about it, you could win this though as he cannot claim the property was unrentable as he moved back in immediatly so he lost nothing.


The rule of thumb was, giving a months notice and you did not do it the normal way You could tell him that you will be taking him to court as you took possesson before your free month was up, and has proved by moving in the next day that there was no loss of rent by you leaving, that he actually gained monies that way. Landlords are about as honest as lawyers unfortunatly. As a business owner though he is entitled to know what the status was, and didnt have to warn you about this, you had contract for reference and his phone number to discuss how things will be effected. Hes just a normal scum landlord sorry. Let me ask you this, did you sign a new month to month? If not you had nothing on paper and you would win if you take him to court, he took his time about getting back to you, he was seeking advice on how to keep your money. Most landlords know the tennant will not spend the 300.. to file and the 75 to have the summons and complaint served to them. It depends on your state really in fairness you are owed the money, the laws though might not support that. Go down to the city or counting housing athority and ask them, if no new contract was signed, does its basic contentes default as the new rules.|||You failed to give proper notice. You never gave him a firm date, just said maybe January or February. So I'd say he has the right to another month of rent.