PROPERTY: Tenancy at Will

[Dean Prosser]

Perhaps some of you great legal minds out there can help unravel this...

"A tenancy at will must be terminable by the landlord or by the tenant and not by one of them alone."  discuss

[lipper]

i haven't covered this in class but i'll take a shot.

either one can terminate it. a contract provision that would say ONLY the landlord or ONLY the tenant can terminate the tenancy would be void.

just a guess.

[Dean Prosser]

Lipper, that appears correct, thanks!

[camelbx]

Incorrect. There is a case in the Dukenminer casebook that says the opposite, a contract provision that allows termination by only one party at will IS enforceable. And that makes sense, termination clauses in contracts (leases) do not make a contract unenforceable, as an illusory promise. A contract provision can say pretty much whatever the hell you'd like it to and is 99.999% enforceable, although the common law tenancy at will does comport with what y'all are describing.

[Dean Prosser]

I remember that case (Garner v. Gerrish), but isn't that a jurisdictional policy?  When one party can terminate, some jurisdictions hold that the tenant has a Life Estate Determinable...