tenancy agreement?

Question

My boyfriend & I have been living in rented accomodation since july 2007 and we have received no tenancy agreement. Although we should stay til July 2008 - we don't want to. We want to move away in June 2008.
Are we allowed to do so as we have no tenancy agreement? Or do we have to wait? We've signed no contracts or anything.

Excellent! We are planning to let him know in the New Year so thats 6 months notice and we'll conjure up some sort of agreement. No verbal agreement either. thanks

Answer 1

I can't believe all of the above posters answered your question with absolutely no idea of what the laws are. Without a lease/tenancy agreement..you still need to follow state laws that cover a "tenant at will" or "month to month tenant". This means you not obligated to stay for the entire year, but you are still required to give proper notice to vacate. This notice can run anywhere from 15 to 60 days, so you need to check your local landlord/tenant laws to see what required notice time applies to you. These laws were created not only to protect the landlord, but to protect tenants from being thrown out of rentals without any notice.

Answer 2

No contract means you are not tied to the property or the landlord so you can leave when you wish. I would consider whether or not you gave a deposit though. If you leave before you said you would then the landlord is unlikely to give you any deposit back. The other thing to think about is goodwill, you may want a reference from this landlord sometime so it would be good to keep your relationship pleasant.
*Edit* Reenzz - I'm not sure anyone sugested leaving without giving notice, I certainly didn't, the question was about being held to a 1 year contract. Also as I am in UK State laws don't apply although the law is basicaly the same.

Answer 3

Without knowing further details (therefore not knowing the exact law in relation to tenancy where you live), generally If you havent signed anything then you are under no obligation.
'A verbal agreement is worth as much as the paper it's written on.'
However it would be a good idea to give your landlord plenty of notice before leaving.

Answer 4

Was there a verbal agreement? If not then you should be fine to move, Me and my boyfriend were living in a flat for only 4 months, we had no contracts or anything and the landlady was fine with it, as long as you pay up to date their should be no problems!

Answer 5

Since no contract was signed by either party....only a proper 30 day written and verbal notice is necessary. No judge is going to hold you to a year lease, when no lease was ever signed. Verbal might be fine in some instances, but unless it is in writing....it isn't worth much.

Answer 6

Absent a written lease, you default to a 'statutory lease', the terms of which are governed by law. Most such laws indicate that you need to give a full month's notice (starting from a rent due date) to the landlord that you intend to leave.

Check the laws and be guided accordingly.

Answer 7

Without a contract there is nothing to stop you leaving. In fact I would recommend it as legally you don't have a leg to stand on if your 'Landlord' decides to mess you around. Also if you paid them a deposit I would worry about whether you will ever see that money again, it is highly unlikely they put it into a tenancy deposit scheme, instead its probably been spent.

Answer 8

It used to be that without a contract, your notice period was the same as your rent, so if you pay rent monthly you need to give one month's notice.

Answer 9

if you have not sign any contract,,you can leave anytime,,but to be polite you can give your landlord 2 weeks notice prior to moving out

Answer 10

if you haven't signed any legal contract then you have the right to go when you want