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The saga continues…..
Sorry I haven’t been around the last few days, I’ve been busy.
After getting the messages from snippy b***h I decided to do some more research on my own. I managed to find the Minnesota tenants rights booklet, read through it and then I put in a call to legal aid to get some advice. The lawyer I spoke to told me they think I have it right and said that the lease seems ambiguous. He advised me to stick to my guns and tell management firmly but politely that I will not be paying any more rent. He said to tell them I have spoken to a lawyer and that I would rather not take it to court but I will if I have too. (he also told me that the referees usually side with the tenants in the case of an ambiguous lease and to give them a call back if management decides to press the matter)
I tried yesterday and today to get reach john at the management company but he didn’t call me back until the end of the business day today and then he wasn’t in the office at the time. I told him what I was calling about and he said he’d find out what was up with snippy in the morning and then call me to get my side of it. I also got a letter in the mail today from snippy telling me in writing that our notice was not good enough for her and she sent back the letters of notice that we sent them. So I wrote them this letter:

12/13/2007

John-
I have received a few phone calls from Pam at Durand & Associates regarding the amount of notice that we (Mike XXXXX, Amber XXXXX and myself) gave to vacate our apartments.
She is insistent that we have given insufficient notice to leave and will be liable for January rent – we disagree for the following reasons:
Our leases are expired. On the back of the lease it states that ‘if the resident stays in the apartment after the date this lease ends, with the approval of the management, and resident and management have not renewed this lease or entered into a new lease, this lease shall be extended under its original terms except a) the duration shall be changed to month to month, and b) the management may raise the rent.’

From the The Tenants Rights in Minnesota booklet:
If the landlord accepts rent after the lease ends
but you do not sign a new lease, you are automatically on a periodic month-to month
lease. (page 11)
It goes on to say:
PERIODIC LEASE
This is a lease that does not have a specific or set ending date. It goes from one
rental period to another until the landlord or the tenant ends the lease. The
month-to-month lease is the most common kind of periodic lease. To end a
periodic lease, the landlord or tenant must give written notice at least one
full rental period in advance. This means that if you want to end the lease,
you must give your landlord your written notice the day before the final
month's rent payment is due. If your landlord wants to end the lease he or she
must give you written notice in the same manner. (page 12)

To be considered "proper notice", your letter to the landlord only needs to state the date
you will move out.
and:
Renewal clauses are only legal if the landlord
sends a letter of renewal to the tenant. (page 36)
(we have never received a letter of automatic renewal from Durand)

I also found the following online:
I want to move and I don't have a lease or my lease has expired. How much notice do I have to give my landlord?
If you want to move and you don't have a lease or your lease has expired you are what is called a "tenant-at-will." That is, a tenant who is there with no contractual obligation to remain. Minnesota Statue 504.06 deals with the amount of notice a tenant-at-will needs to give before moving.
As a tenant-at-will you have to give as much notice as the time between lease payments. Therefore, if you pay monthly, you have to give at least one month's notice. Additionally, this notice must be given on or before the day it is due. So, if you want to leave at the end of February you must tell your landlord (preferably, in writing via certified mail) on or before the last day of January. Regardless of how often you pay rent a tenant-at-will never has to give more than three months notice.

I gave this information to Pam and referred her to the statute listed above. She called back about 10 minutes later and referred to the statement at the top of the front page on the lease that says the lease complies with the plain language act and that the back of the lease says it continues under the original terms, she again stated that we have not given adequate notice and are required to pay for January.
I called a lawyer and spoke to them about it. They agreed with the tenants’ rights booklet that on a month-to-month periodic lease we are considered ‘tenants-at-will’ and 31 days is sufficient notice.

That being said - we have given our notice to leave and we will vacate the property by the first of January 2008. After that I will no longer be paying rent at XXXXXXXX..
I would rather not have to go to court over this but I will if need be.
You may send our deposits to the following address:

XXXXXXXXXXX
St. Paul, MN XXXXX

Sincerely,
(Me)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope they simply cave but I feel better having heard a lawyer say they think I have a case…..

Other than that I have another head cold and I’ve been busy getting ready to move, oh and all the legal crap above….that too. I’ll let you know what happens…