A tenant occupying a premises without the landlord's consent is classified as which tenancy?

• A. Tenancy at Will
• B. Tenancy for Years
• C. Periodic Tenancy
• D. Tenancy at Sufferance

Answer: (D)

This question tests holdover occupancy—the situation where a tenant stays in a property after the lease term has ended without the landlord’s permission. That scenario is tenancy at sufferance. It describes possession that continues not by a new agreement, but simply because the former tenancy hasn’t been ended and the tenant remains on the premises without the landlord’s consent.

It isn’t a tenancy for years, which has a definite term defined in the original agreement, nor a tenancy at will, which exists with mutual, ongoing permission and can be ended at any time. It also isn’t automatically a periodic tenancy created by ongoing rent payments after the term ends, since there’s no consent to continue and no ongoing agreement forming a new term. The key distinction is the absence of consent to stay after the term, which makes this holdover situation tenancy at sufferance. The landlord may eject the holdover tenant or, if they accept rent, the situation might morph into a new periodic arrangement by implication.