Free Month-to-Month
Lease Agreement Template
A rental agreement that renews every month until the landlord or tenant gives notice. Pick your state and the lease carries its notice, deposit and disclosure rules.
How it works
From answers to a signed lease — in under 5 minutes
- 01
Answer a few questions
Plain-English questions about your property, parties, rent, and term. The wizard auto-applies the state disclosures and notice rules.
- 02
Preview your lease
See the complete document assemble in real time. Edit any answer and watch the lease update — no clauses to track manually.
- 03
E-sign & download
Send to your tenant for legally-valid e-signature under ESIGN/UETA. Download the signed PDF and a clean audit trail.
Last updated October 1, 2026
Written by LawLease Editorial
Want a set end date instead? Use a fixed-term residential lease.
Raising the rent on a month-to-month tenant? Send a rent increase notice.
By type
Not every lease does the same job
Some cover a property type, others handle a specific arrangement — a room, a sublet, a renewal. Filter to the one that fits.
Month-to-month leases by state
How much notice ends a month-to-month tenancy, and how much notice a rent increase needs, is set state by state. Pick yours and the lease is built against that state's landlord-tenant code.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
What is a month-to-month lease?
A month-to-month lease is a residential rental agreement with no fixed end date. The tenancy runs one month at a time and renews automatically each period until the landlord or the tenant gives written notice to end it.
Everything else works like a fixed-term lease: rent, deposit, house rules, repairs and disclosures are all written down. What changes is flexibility. Either side can end the arrangement with notice instead of waiting out a term, and the landlord can usually change terms such as rent with advance notice rather than at renewal. It's also called:
- Month-to-month rental agreement
- Periodic tenancy agreement
- Monthly rental agreement
- Tenancy at will
Need the notice period for your state? See month-to-month notice periods by state with the statute behind each one.
Legal considerations
Notice is the core term. Each state sets the minimum written notice needed to end a month-to-month tenancy, and some require more notice from a landlord than from a tenant or more for a long tenancy. The lease uses your state's minimum unless you choose a longer period.
Rent increases and other changes generally need advance written notice too, and a few states and cities limit why or how often a landlord can end or change a periodic tenancy. The deposit, entry and disclosure rules are the same ones that apply to a fixed-term lease in that state.
50 states
covered, each with its own clause set
1 month
the period that renews until someone gives notice
In writing
how notice to end the tenancy should be given
- Notice to end the tenancy
- The minimum days of notice, and when in the rental period it must be given, come from state law. Some states set different periods for landlords and tenants.
- Rent increases
- Most states require written advance notice before a new rent applies to a periodic tenancy; a handful of states and cities also cap the increase.
- Security deposit
- Deposit limits and return deadlines are the same as for a fixed-term lease in your state.
- Required disclosures
- Federal lead-based paint rules and any state disclosures apply whether the tenancy is fixed-term or month to month.
How to write a month-to-month lease
The same groundwork as any residential lease, with the term and the notice rules written for a tenancy that renews monthly.
Identify everyone bound by the agreement and exactly what is being rented.
- Landlord or manager, with an address for notices
- Every adult tenant who will live in the unit
- Full address, unit number, parking and storage
Give a start date and state that the tenancy renews monthly with no end date.
- Start date and the day each rental period begins
- That the tenancy continues until either party gives notice
Say how much written notice ends the tenancy and how it must be delivered.
- Your state's minimum notice period, or a longer one you choose
- How notice is delivered and when it takes effect
- Advance notice for a rent increase or other change
Leave no room to argue about money.
- Monthly rent, due date and how it's paid
- Late fees within your state's limits
- Security deposit amount and how it's returned
Finish with the house rules, the disclosures your state requires, and signatures from every adult tenant.
- Pets, smoking, guests, maintenance and entry
- Lead-based paint and state-required disclosures
- Signatures from the landlord and every adult tenant
Free sample lease agreement
Here's the format before you start. Read it through, then build your own version through the guided form and download it as a PDF or Word file.
Residential Lease Agreement
THIS LEASE AGREEMENT (the “Agreement”) is made and entered into on , by and between (the “Landlord”) and (the “Tenant”).
1. PREMISES. The Landlord agrees to rent to the Tenant the residential property located at (the “Premises”), together with the fixtures, appliances, and furnishings listed in Exhibit A.
2. TERM. The term of this Agreement begins on and ends on , unless terminated earlier under Section 12.
3. RENT. The Tenant shall pay the Landlord rent of $ per month, due on the day of each month. Rent received more than days after the due date is subject to a late fee of $, to the extent permitted by state law.
4. SECURITY DEPOSIT. Upon signing, the Tenant shall deposit $ with the Landlord as security for the performance of the Tenant's obligations. The deposit shall be returned within days of the end of the term, less any lawful deductions itemized in writing.
5. USE OF PREMISES. The Premises shall be used as a private residence only, and occupied solely by the persons named in Section 1. The Tenant shall not sublet or assign any part of the Premises without the Landlord's prior written consent.
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