We had a call from a tenant recently, who believed that because her signed lease had lapsed (she was still residing in the unit), that none of the lease terms applied to her.  Alas for her, this isn't true.  In fact, this is something that many clients come in and find confusing - a housing counselor will ask the tenant if they have a lease, and the tenant will say no, even if he/she has a lease that was signed years ago and that everyone is still following.

So, in the interest of de-confusifying the masses, here's how lapsed leases work: