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Renters' Rights: Renewing a lease agreement

Rental property managers concerned about surge of evictions

Posted at 2:26 PM, Jan 13, 2021

and last updated 2021-01-13 19:45:50-05

TULSA, Okla. — A Tulsa family is frustrated after they realized their lease wasn’t renewed.

The problem is fairly common and can be prevented if you know how the process works.

"They've paid the rent on time, they've been great tenants,” Kim Widick said.

Widick’s mom and sister didn’t approach their landlord about renewing their lease and ended up in a bit of pickle. Widick said they thought they could automatically renew without notifying the landlord.

"I believe that most people think that if they're good tenants, they pay their rent on time, they take care of things, that if they're not getting complaints or anything like that they they're going to be able to choose whether to renew their lease or not," said Widick.

Unfortunately, that’s typically not the case. Both the landlord and the tenant must agree to renew. If they don’t come to an agreement, landlords usually make other plans.

“At the time that their lease is over then their contract ends and they would be required to move out," said Keri Cooper, executive director of the Tulsa Apartment Association.

“It's important to have that communication back and forth with your property manager to let them know if you're planning to renew your lease are you not planning to renew because once the contact is up and you haven't signed a new lease, they're left with, well, they must be planning to leave," Cooper said.

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