Also known as: tenancies at will · at-will tenancy
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A nonfreehold estate in land that endures only so long as both the landlord and the tenant desire its continuation. The estate arises by express agreement, by implication when a party takes possession under a lease invalid under the Statute of Frauds, or when the parties create a lease of no stated duration with no periodic rent reserved or paid. Either party may terminate the estate by notice, and the tenancy ends by operation of law upon the death of either party or an attempted assignment by either party.
Tori Taylor and Twin Rivers Bank signed a written lease for a warehouse that failed to satisfy the Statute of Frauds because it omitted the rent amount. Tori took possession of the premises the next day. The invalid lease created a tenancy at will between Tori and the bank, terminable by either party upon notice.
A squatter occupied a city-owned building without permission. The city permitted the squatter to stay without any rent arrangement. The occupancy ripened into a tenancy at will. The city could terminate the tenancy by notice because the arrangement remained subordinate to the city's title.
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Either party may terminate the tenancy by giving notice to the other party. The tenancy ends on the day the notice is received unless the notice specifies a later date. Rent is apportioned to the termination date, and the tenant receives a reasonable time after notice to remove goods.
Supporting sources
The death of either the landlord or the tenant ends the tenancy on the date the survivor learns of the death. The mutual will of the parties to continue the tenancy no longer exists after death.
Supporting sources
An attempt by either the landlord or the tenant to assign the interest terminates the tenancy on the date the other party learns of the attempted assignment. A new tenancy at will may be created only if the assignee and the remaining party agree.
A lease invalid under the Statute of Frauds creates a tenancy at will when the tenant takes possession. If the tenant also pays rent that the landlord accepts, a periodic tenancy arises instead.
Supporting sources
…the agreement at a date of his choice creates a determinable life tenancy on behalf of the tenant or merely establishes a tenancy at will. The courts below held that the lease created a tenancy at will permitting the current landlord to evict the tenant. We granted the tenant’s motion for leave to appeal and now reverse the…