Last month's rent will be applied to whatever the last month of the lease is. Once 30 days notice is received, the "last month" is officially established. So if you get notice by Jan 29th that they are moving out Feb 28th, then Feb 28th is the last month's rent.

What if they don't move?

A tenant who doesn't move out by the day the lease ends go into hold over status and you get to decide to keep them (if they are paying) or evict them.

I'm not a legal expert, but they have paid the last month's rent, so they can't be considered "late" if they don't give you any money in February. So what would be the point in not applying it to February?

Dear tenant.

We received your 30 day notice that you will be out by Feb 28. Please leave the house clean so that we can return your deposit.

Your last month's rent, that you paid when you moved in, applies to February, so that you have already paid for February. Any days that you are not completely out with all of your stuff out after February 28 will be charged at holdover rent which is ( 3 times the regular daily rent) per day.

You are responsible for paying the utilities until Feb 28. Please leave the thermostat set at 60 degrees to prevent the plumbing from freezing.

Let us know when you are finished moving. You can leave the keys and garage door clicker on the kitchen counter.

Sincerely

You will need to contact all the utilities to verify what day the tenant has ordered them turned off. Let the utilities know that you will be assuming the utilities on March 1st.

You state “For 30 days notice to move out by the end of February 28, 2019”. This is kind of vague and I didn’t understand it.

So now you see maybe first, last, and security deposit isn’t the way to go. I like the idea of first and two months of security deposit. Your state may not allow this. Mine does.

Does your least / contract state and require a 30 day notice before moving out. In your case have they already given 30 day notice? If so then all is good and you use the last month dollars they paid when moving in. If they haven’t given any notice yet then you have to sit tight and wait until January 31st.

Come Feb 1 if you had not received the notice to move then they owe for Feb and last month is moved to March or later.

Do you want them to stay or do you want them to move. If you want them to move then give them a 30 day notice (one calendar month) that includes a full rent paying cycle. The month starts on the day of renting. You may have started the rent on the 12 th of the month then a month would be from the 12 of one month to the 11 of the next month.

Here, if we give notice for them to move and they don’t move we can charge double the normal monthly rent.

Another angle is that if you are not sure they will move by the end of Feb. AND you want them gone then YOU give them a 30 day notice letter (before Jan 31) stating that the tenancy is ending on Feb 28, 2019. This is kind of like beating them to the punch. You can give them the letter but later cancel your move out notice. Yes I realize Jan 31 to Feb 28 is not 30 days but it is onc full calander month. Maybe send your letter so they receive it by Jan 27.

The whole thing is kind of like a game of football. Remember, he who has the ball controls the game.

1.) Find out where the local landlord association meets and join that. Meeting other landlords in your state, who know your state’s laws is invaluable.

2.) Did they give you notice they are moving, or are you giving them notice? That wasn’t clear to me. ( I wish we had a preview post feature on this forum. So many typos/ unclear posts lately.)

3.) If they gave you notice they were moving, if it were me, I would ask them if there were things you could do to make them stay. Reason is, if you are new, I am assuming you don’t have lots of cash hanging around to ride out months of no rent. Sometimes, a few quick fixes to the property might entice them to stay. Or, maybe there isn’t anything you can do, for instance they are moving out of state.

Others may chime in that you do not want to do refresh, remodel with tenants in the property. In my view, it depends on the project. Electrical upgrades are a terrific project to do with a tenant in place. I hire a licensed electrician, he works efficiently. Sure, he costs a lot, but I know it’s done right. Some new led lighting, more electric outlets give a nice boost to a house, in just a day.

Oh, also see if your municipality/ community offers any landlord training classes. My city does, it was helpful to meet other new landlords as well. Sometimes just having a buddy in the business in your own ‘neck of the woods’ is very helpful, just for moral support.

PROA is the statewide Landlord Association. Go research to find the closest affiliate group near you so you can get trained up.