How long does a contract last after you sign it on a rented house?

Question

i signed a contract for a 1 year lease on a rented apartment 2 years ago, when i moved out of the house the landlord refused to give me back my deposit citing a section of the contract to do with an unpaid electricity bill (that i still owe)

Answer 1

Why not just pay the electricity bill and then recover your deposit. Do you have a problem with the electricity bill, that you did not pay it when it fell due? If so that is a matter you should take up with the supplier and resolve it. The landlord is probably liable to pay any unpaid electricity bills of the tenants and that is why the clause is in the contract.

Answer 2

Per NYS RPL (Real Property Law) at least, the lease goes month-to-month until one party gives notice. All other terms and conditions apply, and the tenant automatically renews just by staying into the next month. As investment property owners. we have stated this in our lease so there are no misunderstandings. Also, the landlord has 30-days to evaluate damages prior to issuing a security deposit refund.  

Answer 3

You have a one year contract. The contract stipulates that you pay for utilities ? So pay the utility bill and get back the deposit.What do you expect the landlord to do ? By not paying the utility you are in violation of the terms of the contract and the contract is valid until the obligation is settled.What you are implying is the year is over so the contract is null and void and you have no obligation for utilities. WRONG!!

Answer 4

Whatever the lease term you signed 1, 2 years or more once the lease has finished then it is no longer binding.

Normally within the lease the landlord has to give 2 months notice if he/she wants you to leave or you as a tenant can give one month if you wish to leave within the lease period.

When you sign the lease you normally pay one month deposit and one month in advance.

When the lease is up and you leave the landlord will pay back your one month deposit.  However, if there is damage (not fair wear and tear)  in the property which requires money spending then the landlord will deduct this from the advance either partially or wholly.  

If you were responsible for the electricity/ water/telephone then you need to pay for these before leaving the accommodation, if you can not then you need to supply the supplier with your forwarding address details to come to some arrangements.

If your landlord was responsible for these utilities then he can keep all or part of the deposit to repay the debt, but in this case he would have been paying for them throughout your tenancy and they would have been included in your monthly rent.

In other words if you have been paying the water/electricity directly then the landlord can not keep the deposit to pay for these.  However, you may have a fight on your hands if the deposit is with him and not held separately by say managing agents.

If you can show you have come to some arrangement with the supplier and that you will be paying the debt, then he should give you your deposit back.

Answer 5

If you pass the natural end of the agreement with resigning it moves in to a month by month rolling agreement. The terms of the agreement are still valid and you are still liable for the utilities. If you have unpaid bills these will have to be cleared before the landlord will release the deposit.

Answer 6

The landlord still has to pay you the balance of your deposit after paying the electricity bill. Demand back the balance.

Answer 7

most rentals are for 6 months but this has got nothing to do with how long you rent a place if you owe money then the landlord is within his rights to hold your deposit untill you pay the bill.so just pay up then get your deposit back

Answer 8

A lease automatically goes to a month-to-month at the end of the lease period. In other words, it lasts forever until one of the parties terminates it by giving notice to the other.

Sounds like the landlord is withing his rights to do this as long as he's not withholding more than the amount of your unpaid electric bill.

I'm a little puzzled, however. Why risk a bad reference and possibly collections when you're going to end up paying that electric bill or losing the same amount via your deposit anyway? Why not just pay the bill? What is normally done is the day you move out you call the electric company and they come out and read the meter that very day. That way you know immediately what you owe. Maybe the landlord doesn't know the amount of the unpaid bill and is trying to protect himself in case it's bigger than expected.

Answer 9

As far as I know Its supposed to be 12 months.

Answer 10

for the first year after you sign it then it goes into a month to month unless renued yearly