A one-year lease on a house has expired, but the tenant continues sending monthly rent checks to the owner, and the owner accepts them. What kind of leasehold estate exists?

A one-year lease on a house has expired, but the tenant continues sending monthly rent checks to the owner, and the owner accepts them. What kind of leasehold estate exists?

• A. Estate for years
• B. Estate from period to period
• C. Estate at will
• D. Estate at sufferance

Answer: (B)

The situation demonstrates a periodic tenancy. When a term lease ends but the tenant stays and continues to pay rent, and the landlord accepts those payments, the tenancy automatically continues on a periodic basis—typically the period of the rent, here monthly. So the occupancy becomes a month-to-month arrangement, renewing each month until proper notice is given to terminate. This isn’t an estate for years, since there’s no fixed end date driving the arrangement after the initial term has expired. It isn’t an estate at will, which lacks a defined renewal period and is more freely terminable by either party; the ongoing, regularly paid and accepted rent creates a clear period-to-period pattern. It isn’t an estate at sufferance, which involves the tenant remaining without the landlord’s permission; in this case the landlord’s acceptance of rent signals permission to stay.

The situation demonstrates a periodic tenancy. When a term lease ends but the tenant stays and continues to pay rent, and the landlord accepts those payments, the tenancy automatically continues on a periodic basis—typically the period of the rent, here monthly. So the occupancy becomes a month-to-month arrangement, renewing each month until proper notice is given to terminate.

This isn’t an estate for years, since there’s no fixed end date driving the arrangement after the initial term has expired. It isn’t an estate at will, which lacks a defined renewal period and is more freely terminable by either party; the ongoing, regularly paid and accepted rent creates a clear period-to-period pattern. It isn’t an estate at sufferance, which involves the tenant remaining without the landlord’s permission; in this case the landlord’s acceptance of rent signals permission to stay.