Ending a Tenancy After a Lease Term Expires Without Renewal
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Reviewed & verified by A. Jason Velez, Esq.*
Managing Attorney, 1LAW · Last reviewed January 22, 2026
Legal Inquiry
Consumer Legal Issue
I stopped staying at my house back in June 2025 physically but we still paying rent up until November when I got all my belongings that I was taking out of the house because I didn’t have no type of maintenance or support from my landlord. I was not using water or anything from June until now I….
I have text messages telling her that I wasn’t staying in the house, but I’m still paying her rent and I have a written lease with the year that I signed it which was 23 to 24.
Attorney Answer
Now that you've fully moved out, whether you still owe rent for the months you weren't living there depends on whether your texts counted as adequate notice ending the tenancy — and the landlord now owes you a deposit decision within a strict deadline.
Continuing to pay rent after your 2023-24 lease term ended, without a signed renewal, likely converted your tenancy to month-to-month. Your texts telling the landlord you weren't staying there support an argument that you gave proper notice, but informal texts alone don't automatically establish a legally sufficient termination. If treated as adequate notice, your rent obligation likely ended around when you sent them; if not, the landlord could argue rent kept accruing on the month-to-month tenancy until clearer notice was given, potentially through when you removed your belongings in November. Separately, Md. Code, Real Property § 8-203(e)(1) requires a landlord to return a security deposit — with required interest, less any damages rightfully withheld — within 45 days after the end of the tenancy, and § 8-203(g)(1) requires any written itemized list of damages to go out by first-class mail to your last known address within that same 45 days. A landlord who misses that deadline forfeits the right to withhold any part of the deposit for damages.
What you can do:
1. Send your forwarding address to the landlord in writing today so the deposit and any itemized list actually reach you. Don't treat that as the starting gun, though — under § 8-203(e)(1) the 45 days run from the end of the tenancy, not from the landlord's receipt of your address, so the clock may already be running or already have run out.
2. Save all texts showing when you told the landlord you'd moved out and stopped using utilities.
3. Have a local landlord-tenant attorney assess whether your texts qualify as sufficient notice, since that determines how much rent you may still owe.
4. If 45 days pass without a deposit return or itemized list, consult an attorney about your options.
⏱ Time limits apply. Under Md. Code, Real Property § 8-203(e)(1) the 45-day return-or-itemize deadline runs from the end of the tenancy, full stop — your forwarding address is not what starts it. Have a local attorney review your move-out date and notice promptly to confirm where that clock stands, because on your dates it may already have run.
Relevant Case Law
Hyder v. Montgomery County, 160 Md. App. 482 (2004) — Court of Special Appeals of Maryland
We hold that in the absence of any language in the lease providing for a different method of counting days, the method prescribed by the above rules and statute should be employed.
Explains how notice periods are counted when a lease is silent, which affects whether a notice to end a tenancy was given in time.
Read the full opinion (CourtListener)
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does texting a landlord that you've moved out count as legal notice to end a tenancy?
It may support an argument for proper notice, but informal messages alone don't automatically establish a legally sufficient termination in every state.
What happens to a lease after its term ends but rent keeps being paid?
Continuing to pay rent without a signed renewal generally converts the arrangement into a month-to-month tenancy in many states.
How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit after move-out?
Deadlines vary by state, but they usually run from the end of the tenancy rather than from a forwarding address. In Maryland, Md. Code, Real Property § 8-203(e)(1) gives the landlord 45 days after the end of the tenancy to return the deposit or send an itemized list of deductions, whether or not the tenant supplied a forwarding address.
