My year lease was up on 12/02/2011 at 12:01 AM and my landlord and I never came to an agreement nor did we sign a new lease as to terms for ...

Question

My year lease was up on 12/02/2011 at 12:01 AM and my landlord and I never came to an agreement nor did we sign a new lease as to terms for staying at the apartment. I told her back in October of 2011 I was looking into relocating for my job very soon and that I would not be staying in the apartment for very much longer and she said that it was fine that whenever I found out my transfer got accepted to let her know and that she would start preparing the apartment to look for another tenant to move in. Well I recently had to move in with my grandmother due to unforsceen circumstances and I told my landlord that I would no longer be staying there and she is threating me that I have to stay throughout April and pay Aprils rent and give her a 30 day notice or she will garnish my wages. Can she do this, especially since we have no agreement and since my lease has been up since December 2, 2011?

Answer

Based on the information you've provided, it appears that since 12/2 (odd day?) of this year, you have been on a "month-to-month" tenancy. In that situation, you have an obligation to give the landlord "30 days notice" and that means that if you owe rent on the 1st of the month, the 30 days has to be a MINIMUM of 30 days before the next rent payment, so that means if you had to move in with your grandmother this month (March) you wanted to give the landlord 30 days' notice, and if you did or you still do, AND since it is LESS than 30 days before April rent is due, you are obligated through April. Unless you have a written document signed by the landlord allowing you to move on any less notice, you're talking about having to prove that she agreed to less time in court based solely on your word against hers. That is a risk you may not want to take. This answer could change if the facts are in any way different.