Also known as: periodic estate · periodic tenancy · periodic tenancies · tenancy from period to period · estate from period to period
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An estate which continues for successive periods of a year or a fraction of a year unless terminated by proper notice. The estate renews automatically at the end of each period absent timely termination.
After a six-month warehouse lease expired, Piper Patel remained in possession and paid monthly rent to landlord Pearl Porter for seven months. Porter accepted each payment without objection or reservation. The continued occupancy and rent acceptance created successive monthly periods that continue unless terminated by proper notice.
Philip Powell and Pacific Bank exchanged emails for a ten-year warehouse lease but never signed a writing. Powell took possession, installed permanent equipment, and paid monthly rent that the bank accepted for two years. The possession and rent payments created a periodic month-to-month tenancy with all lease terms except duration.
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Continued possession combined with the landlord's acceptance of rent on a monthly basis for multiple periods establishes successive monthly intervals that renew automatically unless terminated by notice. The conduct demonstrates mutual assent to ongoing periodic renewal rather than a tenancy at will.
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One month's notice given before the end of a rental period is generally sufficient to end the tenancy at the conclusion of that period. Shorter notice fails to satisfy the requirement that termination occur only at the end of a full period.
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When the tenant takes possession and the landlord accepts periodic rent payments under an oral lease invalid under the statute of frauds, a periodic tenancy arises with all lease terms except duration. Substantial performance clearly referable to the lease may instead enforce the full term.
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