Leasing your property with a free month-to-month lease agreement offers a more flexible way for a landlord to rent to a tenant. Create your own monthly rental agreement now with step-by-step guidance.
Last Update January 12th, 2023

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- What Is a Month-to-Month Lease
- How Does a Month-to-Month Lease Agreement Work
- How to Write a Lease Agreement
- State Laws on Month-to-Month Leases: Notice Required to Change or Terminate
- Terms That Invalidate a Month-to-Month Rental Agreement
- Month-to-Month Rental Agreement Sample
- Month-to-Month Lease Agreement FAQs
Download our professional examples
What Is a Month-to-Month Lease
A month-to-month lease is a legally binding residential rental agreement that (usually) has no fixed end date and renews on a monthly basis. This allows a landlord to rent to a tenant flexibly rather than tying them into a long-term contract.
This differs significantly from residential lease agreements which usually last for a fixed duration, during which time the terms cannot be changed. Month-to-month agreements, on the other hand, allow tenants to leave or landlords to make alterations to the contractual terms at shorter notice.
How Does a Month-to-Month Lease Agreement Work
Due to their flexible nature, month-to-month lease agreements are mainly used for properties that are used for shorter-term residencies. In most cases, you would use a monthly contract such as this for the following types of property:
Duplex
Townhouse
Room
Mobile Home
Vacation Home Rental
Whilst the residency isn’t as long term as you would get with a house or apartment, a written contract between landlord and tenant is still necessary to ensure the real estate is used properly and the resident is properly protected. As a rental agreement is more flexible than other types of contract, the terms are easier to manage if things change for either party.
How to Write a Lease Agreement
Writing your own lease agreement from scratch can be done using a online legal documents, which is printed off and signed. Using our contract maker you’ll be guided carefully through all the information needed in your state.
To complete your lease agreement properly you’ll broadly need to follow these 3 steps:
Identify all the key parties (i.e. the landlord and the tenant).
Describe the property
Explain the lease terms
Obviously, these steps are a lot more detailed in practice as you’ll need to specify key data and terms of the contract such as penalty fees, dates, policies and security deposits. However, using our online designer helps you address these points as you progress through the process.
Alternatively, you can also ask a lawyer or real estate agency to draw up the contract for you. This, however, comes with costly fees and could prove more time consuming.
State Laws on Month-to-Month Leases: Notice Required to Change or Terminate
Each state sets its own rules on the minimum amount of time needed to terminate a lease. Your contract must stick to this duration or it won’t be enforceable and you could be sued by the tenant.
The specific rules for each state are as follows:
State | Minimum Duration | Statute |
---|---|---|
Alabama |
30 days |
|
Alaska |
30 days |
|
Arizona |
30 days |
|
Arkansas |
30 days |
|
California |
Tenancies under 1 year: 30 days Tenancies over 1 year: 60 days |
|
Colorado |
21 days |
|
Connecticut |
3 days |
|
Delaware |
60 days |
|
Florida |
15 days |
|
Georgia |
30 days |
|
Hawaii |
Landlords: 45 days Tenants: 28 days |
|
Idaho |
30 days |
|
Illinois |
30 days |
|
Indiana |
30 days |
|
Iowa |
30 days |
|
Kansas |
30 days |
|
Kentucky |
30 days |
|
Louisiana |
10 days |
|
Maine |
30 days |
|
Maryland |
30 days |
|
Massachusetts |
30 days |
|
Michigan |
30 days |
|
Minnesota |
30 days |
|
Mississippi |
30 days |
|
Missouri |
30 days |
|
Montana |
30 days |
|
Nebraska |
30 days |
|
Nevada |
30 days |
|
New Hampshire |
30 days |
|
New Jersey |
30 days |
|
New Mexico |
30 days |
|
New York |
30 days |
|
North Carolina |
7 days |
|
North Dakota |
30 days |
|
Ohio |
30 days |
|
Oklahoma |
30 days |
|
Oregon |
30 days |
|
Pennsylvania |
Tenancies under 1 year: 15 days Tenancies over 1 year: 30 days |
|
Rhode Island |
30 days |
|
South Carolina |
30 days |
|
South Dakota |
Landlords: 30 days Tenants: 15 days |
|
Tennessee |
30 days |
|
Texas |
30 days |
|
Utah |
15 days |
|
Vermont |
Tenancies under 2 years: 60 days Tenancies over 2 years: 90 days |
|
Virginia |
30 days |
|
Washington |
20 days |
|
Washington D.C. |
30 days |
|
West Virginia |
30 days |
|
Wisconsin |
28 days |
|
Wyoming |
No minimum |
No statute |
Terms That Invalidate a Month-to-Month Rental Agreement
As it is a legal contract, you must make sure all the details in your final month-to-month agreement conform to the laws of your state. You cannot insert conditions that would contravene property legislation in your local area or at a federal level.
Some key terms that would invalidate your lease agreement include the following:
A Non-Refundable Security Deposit
Security deposits can only be collected as a guarantee against any damages or non-payment of rent. You must return the sum at the end of the tenancy unless you’ve deducted costs.
Charging Penalties Instead of Fees
Technically speaking you may not legally charge tenants penalties. However, you may charge fees that recoup any losses. Any fees you impose for contraventions such as late payment or damages must be stated clearly up front in the lease agreement.
Forcing the Tenant to Manage Property Maintenance
It is the solely the landlord’s responsibility to perform property maintenance or hire contractors for repair work. This cost and responsibility cannot be passed onto the tenant and any contractual terms that explicitly state this requirement can’t be enforced.
Terms That Opt Out of Health Code Requirements
You cannot get the tenant to sign a contract that waives their rights to live in a property that is safe and habitable. Each state sets heath codes that must be met by law before a residential unit can be occupied no matter what is stated in the agreement.
Month-to-Month Rental Agreement Sample
It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with how a lease agreement template looks and reads before getting started on your own. Use our month-to-month lease sample below to get to grips with what this legal document contains.
Month-to-Month Lease Agreement FAQs
There are many important questions to ask when putting together a month-to-month lease agreement. Find out the crucial answers to many of these now in our FAQs.
Month-to-Month rental agreement vs. fixed lease
A month-to-month agreement is quite different from a fixed lease. Firstly month-to-month rental contracts allow landlords and tenants to maintain a flexible but binding arrangement that can be modified or ended at shorter notice.
Lease agreements on the other hand usually last for at least 1 year and have fixed terms until the contract expires. They are most often used for rentals of family homes and apartments.
Is a security deposit necessary for a month-to-month lease?
Yes, like any home or property rental it is important to collect a security deposit in a month-to-month lease agreement. This is because it provides a guarantee for the landlord in case any damage is caused to the premises or the tenant is delinquent in paying the rent.
How to terminate a month-to-month tenancy?
If you want to terminate a month-to-month tenancy the terminating party needs to provide written notice. You must make sure that your termination date adheres to local property laws on the minimum amount of notice you must give and follows the rules for contract termination set out in the lease.
Can eviction occur with a month-to-month lease?
Yes, you can evict a delinquent tenant under a month-to-month lease. This follows the same process as evicting a tenant from a longer-term leasehold property. To do so, You must make sure that you follow the eviction laws in your state and that you correctly match the terms of the contract.