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I started a small real estate rental business by renting out a property for residential tenants. At the end of a 4.5 month lease, then tenant and I came into a dispute about paying for a partial day on the final day of the lease.

The contract says the lease ends on Sunday, August 14th. The tenant wants to vacate the morning of Aug 14th but not pay for Aug 14th because he will not stay a full day on Aug 14th. I offered him a partial day, so that he would only pay half of the day if he leaves before noon. But he rejected my proposal. The tenant wants to stay the night Saturday night and depart Sunday morning without paying for Sunday. The tenant refuses to pay for even a partial day on Sunday, even though he will occupy the unit until departing Sunday morning.

Who is right, the tenant or me, the landlord?

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If the lease ends on 14 August then, unless there is a time in the lease, the tenant must be gone before 0:00:00 15 August. If they leave anytime on the 14th (or earlier) they are in compliance with the lease.

If there is no provision for pro-rata rent if they overstay and agreement cannot be reached, if the tenant overstays the landlord can sue for whatever damage (loss) that actually caused.

Specific legislation wherever you are may change this.

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  • The original lease ended July 30th. I extended the lease on a daily pro-rated basis to help the tenant find new accommodations. Today he paid me through Aug 13, but he wants to stay into the morning of the 14th. He doesn't want to pay for Aug 14th, because hotels charge this way. He points out he didn't take possession until the morning the lease started (which was 4.5 months ago). – steampowered Aug 9 '16 at 3:58
  • I can deduct the extra day from his deposit, I just want to be in the right if I chose to do this. – steampowered Aug 9 '16 at 3:59
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    @steampowered but he could have taken possession at midnight. – Dale M♦ Aug 11 '16 at 3:48
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It might vary in your jurisdiction, but in general if they want to stay a part day they need to pay for it - you are/were being kind offering them partial payment for a partial day. I'd tell them the offer is withdrawn and they need to pay for the full day - and then deduct a full day from there rent.

A home is not a hotel - and I would bet you are not charging hotel rates. For a start, hotels are driven by the need to get people to clean the room (but in a rental situation its the tenants responsibility).

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  • AirBnB is definitely muddling this issue, but I agree with you. The standard in long-term rental leases is midnight to midnight for the days rented. – steampowered Aug 11 '16 at 4:11

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