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INTERNAL PROTOTYPE — NOT LEGAL ADVICE — DO NOT SEND

Auger v. Tasea Investment Co., 676 A.2d 18 (1996)

Citation
Auger v. Tasea Investment Co., 676 A.2d 18 (1996)
Parent Document
Auger v. Tasea Investment Co., 676 A.2d 18 (1996)
Jurisdiction
DC (municipal)
Effective Date
1996-05-16

Other Sections in This Document (120)

Full Text

1,262 chars
The proper procedure for altering the terms of a tenancy is reflected in Wilson v. John R. Pinkett Inc., 265 A.2d 778, 779 (D.C. 1970). In Wilson, the landlord asked the tenants at sufferance to agree to a written lease, including a provision expressly waiving their right to receive a notice to quit. When the tenants failed to agree, the landlord served them with a notice to quit. The tenants *25 argued on appeal that the landlord unilaterally was attempting, unlawfully, to change the terms of the tenancy. We rejected this contention, concluding that the "landlord's request that the tenants agree to a written lease was an attempt not to change the terms of the tenancy but to terminate it and substitute a different one for it." Id. We therefore upheld the landlord's course of action, ruling that it was proper for the landlord, after serving a valid notice to quit, to evict tenants who refused to enter into a new lease agreement on the landlord's terms. Although we did not directly address whether service of a valid notice to quit was a prerequisite to forcing a change in the terms of the tenancy, including the rent level, it is clear from the context that we considered such statutory notice essential, absent a bargained amendment of the lease.