Lease Is Up, Tenant Still There What Now?

The Record, Bergen County, NJ › August 12, 2008

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Summary

Q. My commercial lease ended, but I am continuing to pay rent and occupy the space I had leased. What are my rights and obligations?

When your lease expired but you continued to remain in the premises, you became a hold-over tenant. Your continued payment of rent increases your rights as a holdover tenant, assuming that your landlord has been cashing your rent checks. Under New Jersey law, a tenancy-at-will has been created. If the term of your original lease was longer than one month, you are deemed to a month-to-month tenancy. In other words, you have a lease term of one month at a time under terms identical to your original lease. Your lease will continue to renew automatically every month, unless you or your landlord takes steps to terminate the month-to-month tenancy.