Crechale & Polles, Inc. v. Smith

Smith (defendant) remained on Crechale's (plaintiff) property briefly after his five-year lease expired, claiming an oral month-to-month extension agreement, and paid one additional month's rent that Crechale accepted; when Smith tried to pay a second month marked "final payment" and vacate, Crechale refused that payment and instead sent a letter denying any extension agreement and demanding Smith vacate. After Smith left, Crechale later tried to instead treat the holdover as creating a new one-year lease and sued for a full year's rent; the trial court found Smith liable only for the one month's back rent already accepted.