Also known as: lessees · tenant · leaseholder
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person who has a possessory interest in real or personal property under a lease.
Lucia Lopez signed a three-year lease for retail space from Lakeshore Industries. The lease specified a definite end date with no renewal option. When the term expired, Lucia vacated without further notice. Lakeshore treated the arrangement as concluded under the fixed duration.
Lorenzo Lugo, a joint tenant, leased his share of the property to Lumen Capital for two years. The lease did not sever the joint tenancy. When Lorenzo died before the term ended, Lumen Capital lost its rights against the surviving joint tenant. The surviving owner took the property free of the lease.
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Lucas Lee received a life estate in farmland under a conveyance that also created a remainder in his issue. Lucas then leased the land to Lotus Pharmaceuticals for five years. The lease bound only Lucas's possessory interest during his lifetime. Upon his death the remainder holders took free of the lease.
Lars Lindstrom held property in joint tenancy with his spouse. Upon Lars's death the probate court valued the surviving spouse's interest immediately before death. The lessee's rights under an existing lease were considered in that valuation. The calculation affected the elective share determination.
Lucy Liu leased an apartment from Legacy Motors on a month-to-month basis. Legacy gave Lucy one month's written notice to terminate at the end of the next period. Lucy remained in possession after the notice period expired. The court held the tenancy ended and ordered her to vacate.
Latoya Lane entered a lease with Lakeshore Industries that either party could end at any time. Lakeshore gave Latoya the required statutory notice. Latoya refused to leave after the notice period. The court enforced the termination and awarded possession to Lakeshore.
A lessee receives a possessory interest that excludes others, including the landlord, from the leased space for the lease term. A licensee receives only a privilege to use the property without exclusive possession. The distinction turns on whether the landlord transfers the right to possession.
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Yes. A landlord-tenant relationship may be created to endure only so long as both parties desire, with statutes commonly requiring notice to terminate. The parties may expressly agree to terminability at will or the agreement may appear from the circumstances.
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No. A landlord-tenant relationship may be created to endure for any fixed or computable period of time. At the end of that period the tenancy terminates automatically without further notice.
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In jurisdictions following the modern approach, the lease does not necessarily sever the joint tenancy. The lessee acquires only the rights of occupancy the leasing joint tenant held and is treated as a cotenant for the lease term. If the leasing joint tenant dies before the lease ends, the lease is extinguished against the surviving joint tenants.
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A landlord-tenant relationship may be created to endure until one of the parties gives the required notice to terminate at the end of a period. One month's notice is generally sufficient for all but farm or grazing land.
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…in Kuhn v. Fairmont Coal Co. , 215 U.S. 349, 370, and in the Taxicab case, 276 U.S. at 532. [^maj-2]: In Hawkins v. Barney's Lessee , 5 Pet. 457, 464, it was stated that § 34 "has been uniformly held to be no more than a declaration of what the law would have been without it: to wit, that the lex loci must be the…