MA Landlord and Tenant Law Questions and Answers
Hi! I appreciate the assistance.
Our lease is up May 17th. We are vacating that day. Rent is due the first of the month.
When we moved in, we paid first, last, and security. Our landlord says we have to pay full rent for April, even though April 17-May 17 is our last 30 days in the apartment, which has been prepaid, and that after we move, the balance of the last month’s rent will be mailed to us.
This doesn’t seem fair. It’s not a security deposit… it’s prepaid last month’s rent. Looking at the law in MA, it says nothing about this specific scenario. Is my landlord correct, and I must pay the full month of April, rather than paying through April 17th? Thanks for your time!
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Use of Advanced Last Month’s Rent
Attorney Vaughn-Martel
I think more information is needed to give you a definite answer.
Do you have a lease? When is your rent payment due? If your rent for April is due on the April 1st, then you most likely have to pay for the whole month of April. If your rent is due April 17, then it appears your last-month’s rent should be applied toward that last month period of April 17-May 17. If your rent is due on the 1st of each month, then your last month is probably the month of May. I think more information is needed.
Last Month’s Rent When Lease Ends Mid Month
Attorney Adam Phipps
I think the first thing is to understand that most landlords do not understand the concepts of landlord/tenant law. That said, you will likely get no where arguing with the landlord.
A tenant under a lease is entitled to the statutory protections of the law and the lease, but is also governed by the clauses in the lease (so long as they do not violate statutory protections already in place.
The lease should spell out exactly how much you were charged for the year and break that into 12 monthly payments (the first and last to be covered by the first and last month’s rent). Leaving 10 payments made by the tenant. If however, you find that you have paid more or less, then the excess should be immediately returned by, or paid to, the landlord. Look back and see how the first month was treated, did you pay the single monthly payment from the 17th to the 16th of the next month?
It sounds like the landlord is trying to keep an extra 2 weeks rent, s/he is not entitled to.
I frequently handle these kinds of cases and would be happy to discuss it with you.
We paid the first and last
Submitted by parsnippity on Fri, 03/18/2016 – 01:17
We paid the first and last month’s rent when we moved in. Our lease specifies a specific monthly rate, payable the first of each month. It does not discuss a yearly rate broken down monthly. Our rent is due on the 1st, and our least began on the 1st of June. It ends on May 17th… I have no idea why, but I assume it’s because it’s a large complex and they like to have a week or two between tenants to get everything in order in each apartment.
So we’ve paid rent on the 1st throughout our tenancy, and because we’ve already paid for a full last month, I’m of the mindset that I don’t need to pay anything past the 17th of April. My landlord says we pay all of April, they’ll apply the last month’s rent to May and mail us the balance after we move out.