Week's Notice to Vacate With No Lease in West Virginia

Attorney Answer

A week is not enough notice, and a stranger at your door is not notice at all. West Virginia requires written notice covering one full rental period, running to the end of a period.

W. Va. Code § 37-6-5 governs notice to terminate a tenancy. For a periodic tenancy of less than one year — which includes month to month — either party may terminate only by written notice given for one full period before the end of any period. That is stricter than the "thirty days" people usually assume. Notice handed to you in the middle of a month does not end the tenancy thirty days later; it ends it at the close of the following full period. Being told the week before Christmas to be out by the 1st does not meet that requirement.

Two carve-outs are written into the section itself: it does not apply where the parties agreed to a different notice period, or where the tenancy has a fixed end date. You say there is no lease at all, written or verbal, so neither carve-out is in play and the default rule applies cleanly.

Now the part that is less welcome. A landlord ending a month-to-month tenancy generally does not need a reason, so arguing about your visitors is not the strong ground here — the notice is. And ending a tenancy is not the same thing as removing you. A notice, even a proper one, does not entitle anyone to change the locks, shut off utilities, or set your belongings outside. Possession has to be obtained through the court.

What you can do

1. Ask the landlord in writing for the notice in writing, with a date and a signature. Text or email is fine and creates your record. 2. Keep paying rent on time and keep proof — receipts, money-order stubs, bank records. 3. Count the period the way W. Va. Code § 37-6-5 counts it: one full rental period's written notice, ending at the end of a period. 4. Send one calm letter saying you will vacate at the end of the period the statute requires, and ask them to confirm the date. 5. Do not move out on the 1st because of a verbal message from someone you have never spoken to. But do start looking, because a landlord who follows the statute can end this tenancy without giving a reason. 6. Photograph the unit's condition now, in case there is a dispute later. 7. If the locks change, utilities are cut, or your things are moved, call the police and a legal aid office the same day.

⏱ Time limits apply. The notice period under W. Va. Code § 37-6-5 depends on when your rental period begins and ends and on the day written notice was actually given, so the earliest lawful move-out date turns on your specific facts. Get the notice in writing with a date before you count anything.