Holdover Clause
in Your Lease
How this page is sourced
Statutes verified against primary state sources
Every statute cited here was read in its published text before this page went live: on the state's own site where that site can be reached, otherwise on a republished copy of the code. Court decisions are quoted from the published opinion and linked to it, so you can read the original yourself.
Primary sourcesNot legal advice
Content verified against primary state statutes before publicationLast updated: October 2026
What it actually means, what Oklahoma law says, what's specific to Oklahoma City - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Willful holdover not in good faith: up to twice the average monthly rental, prorated daily (§ 111(D)).
- A lease with a definite term ends on its end date without notice (§ 111(C)).
- Stay without consent and the landlord can sue at once for possession and damages (§ 111(D)).
- With consent: month-to-month (§ 111(D)). Accepted rent: a presumed renewal, up to a year (§ 35).
- Our record of the Oklahoma City code finds no city holdover rate. The state figure is what reaches you.
Step by step
How it plays out
- Lease endsTerm ends without noticeA tenancy for a definite term expires on its ending date without notice, unless earlier terminated or otherwise agreed (§ 111(C)).
- No consentLandlord may sue at onceThe landlord may immediately bring an action for possession and damages (§ 111(D)), through forcible entry and detainer (tit. 12, § 1148.3).
- Willful holdoverUp to twice the rentIf willful and not in good faith, up to twice the average monthly rental, prorated daily, on top of possession and damages (§ 111(D)).
- With consentMonth-to-month or renewalConsent creates a month-to-month tenancy unless otherwise agreed (§ 111(D)). Accepted rent is presumed a renewal up to one year (§ 35).
Try your numbers
What holdover rent can add up to
Applies to a tenant whose holdover is willful and not in good faith; it is a ceiling a court may award on top of possession and damages, not more than twice the average monthly rental, computed and prorated on a daily basis, for each month or part of a month the tenant stays (Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 111(D)). Arithmetic only, not legal advice.
Copy and send: Before your lease ends, as soon as you know you need extra days
Ask to stay past your end date
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
How Oklahoma compares
Statutory holdover rent multiplier, state by state
2x3xNo figureGuide coming soonYou are here
See all 26 cities as a chart
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Understanding the Holdover Clause
This page is for Oklahoma City renters who need to stay a little past the end of their lease, or who found a holdover charge in the lease they signed. Oklahoma law ties its extra amount to a holdover that is willful and not in good faith, and your landlord's consent changes what your stay becomes.
So read your holdover paragraph before your end date, and ask your landlord in writing whether you can stay and what you will pay.
What renters assume
Stay a day past the end of the lease and Oklahoma law doubles your rent automatically.
What is actually true
Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 111(D) sets a ceiling a court may award, not a charge that starts on the first day. It applies only where the holdover is willful and not in good faith.
Ten of the 26 rows in the comparison on this page carry a 2, and Oklahoma City is one of them, beside New York City, Miami, Chicago, Phoenix, Washington, Newark, Baltimore, Milwaukee and Kansas City. Louisville's row carries a 3, and the other 15 rows carry no multiplier.
A 2 does not mean the same thing on each of those ten rows. Oklahoma City's label reads "Up to 2x rent (willful)", a ceiling tied to a holdover that is willful and not in good faith.
Phoenix's reads "Up to 2 months' rent (willful)" and Louisville's "Up to 3 months' rent (willful)", while Chicago and Kansas City double the yearly value.
Six of the 26 labels name willfulness, Oklahoma City's among them. The bar does not show Oklahoma's other question, what a landlord's consent creates: Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 111(D) describes a month-to-month tenancy, and tit. 41, § 35 presumes a renewal.
Holdover Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Oklahoma City, OK
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
If the Lessee retains possession of the Premises after the term of this lease expires, the Lessor may either accept further rent payments by the Lessee, in which case a month-to-month tenancy shall be created, or sue for possession; and Lessor shall be entitled to recover from Lessee all damages sustained by him as a result of Lessee's failure to vacate the Premises, including but not limited to lost rent, court costs and attorneys fees. In no case shall a holdover tenancy be created. In the event Lessee retains possession without Lessor[']s consent beyond the term of this lease, the monthly rental shall be 150% of the rental for the original term.
Quoted from the published opinion in Roth v. Dillavou, No. 2—04—0840 (Ill. App. Ct., 2d Dist., Sept. 8, 2005). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
What the 4 highlighted phrases mean
“rent payments by the Lessee, in which case a month-to-month”
Taking rent turns the stay into a month-to-month tenancy under this lease, and Oklahoma's Act reaches the same place by its own words. Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 111(D) says “If the landlord consents to the tenant's continued occupancy, a month-to-month tenancy is thus created, unless the parties otherwise agree”. § 110 also makes a tenancy without a definite written term month-to-month, except for a roomer or boarder who pays weekly.
See the example
“sue for possession; and Lessor shall be”
Suing for possession is the landlord's other choice, and in Oklahoma it can start at once. Under tit. 41, § 111(C), unless earlier terminated or otherwise agreed, a tenancy for a definite term “expires on the ending date thereof without notice”. § 111(D) then lets the landlord of a tenant who remains without consent “immediately bring an action for possession and damages”.
See the example
“and attorneys fees. In no case shall a holdover tenancy”
Two promises sit together here: fees for the landlord, and a label for the stay. Oklahoma has its own fee rule. Tit. 41, § 105(B) awards reasonable attorneys' fees to the prevailing party in an action for breach of a rental agreement, which may be either side. § 105(A) gives an aggrieved party under the Act “a duty to mitigate damages”.
See the example
“term of this lease, the monthly rental shall”
This is where the lease sets its own price for the extra time. Oklahoma's figure is a ceiling with a condition. Under tit. 41, § 111(D), where the holdover “is willful and not in good faith”, the landlord “may also recover an amount not more than twice the average monthly rental, computed and prorated on a daily basis”. That runs “for each month or portion thereof that the tenant remains in possession.”
See the example
The clause was enforced exactly as written. Because the lease itself said no holdover tenancy would arise - only a month-to-month one - the court held the original lease terms carried straight through the post-term period, which kept the tenant's co-signer on the hook for it. One judge dissented, warning that reading it this way exposes a guarantor to open-ended liability.
How this state's law treats this clause
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Oklahoma Law on Holdover Clause
- The extra amount turns on the tenant's state of mind.
Read the law's words
Section 111(D) says that "If the tenant's holdover is willful and not in good faith the landlord may also recover an amount not more than twice the average monthly rental, computed and prorated on a daily basis, for each month or portion thereof that the tenant remains in possession." It is a ceiling a court may award on top of possession and damages, not a charge that runs automatically from the first day. - No notice period is needed to end a fixed term.
Read the law's words
Section 111(C) says that unless earlier terminated or otherwise agreed "a tenancy for a definite term expires on the ending date thereof without notice", and § 111(D) lets the landlord of a tenant who remains without consent "immediately bring an action for possession and damages". Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 1148.3 opens the forcible entry and detainer proceedings to "all cases against tenants holding over their terms". - Consent changes the tenancy, and two sections describe it differently.
Read the law's words
Section 111(D) says "If the landlord consents to the tenant's continued occupancy, a month-to-month tenancy is thus created, unless the parties otherwise agree", and § 110 makes a tenancy without a definite written term month-to-month except for a roomer or boarder who pays weekly. Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 35, a 1910 section outside the Act, presumes that a lessee who stays after the lease expires, where the lessor accepts rent, has renewed the lease "on the same terms and for the same time, not exceeding one (1) year". Check the current text of both before relying on either reading. - The same twice-the-rent measure protects an incoming tenant.
Read the law's words
Section 120(B) says that if a person's failure to deliver possession "is willful and not in good faith, an aggrieved person may recover from that person an amount not more than twice the monthly rental as specified in the rental agreement, computed and prorated on a daily basis". Section 105(A) gives an aggrieved party under the Act "a duty to mitigate damages", and § 105(B) awards reasonable attorneys' fees to the prevailing party in an action for breach of a rental agreement.
Sources include Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 111(D); Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 111(C); Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 110; Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 35; Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 120(B); Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 105; Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 103(A); Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 1148.3; Okla. Stat. tit. 11, § 14-101.1 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Oklahoma prices a holdover by the tenant's state of mind and the landlord's consent. Four rules apply:
- The term ends by itself. Unless earlier terminated or otherwise agreed, "a tenancy for a definite term expires on the ending date thereof without notice" (Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 111(C)).
- Without consent. The landlord may "immediately bring an action for possession and damages" (§ 111(D)). Forcible entry and detainer proceedings cover "all cases against tenants holding over their terms" (Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 1148.3).
- A willful holdover. If the holdover "is willful and not in good faith", the landlord may also recover "an amount not more than twice the average monthly rental, computed and prorated on a daily basis", for each month or part of a month you stay (§ 111(D)).
- With consent. A month-to-month tenancy is created unless the parties otherwise agree (§ 111(D)). Tit. 41, § 35, a 1910 section outside the Act, instead presumes a renewal "on the same terms and for the same time, not exceeding one (1) year" where the lessor accepts rent. This page does not pick between them.
An aggrieved party under the Act has "a duty to mitigate damages" (§ 105(A)). Check the current text on oklegislature.gov before relying on it.
What's Specific to Oklahoma City
Our record of the Oklahoma City Municipal Code finds no city holdover rate. The word "holdover" appears in no section of it.
The figure that reaches an Oklahoma City renter is the state one in § 111(D). State law also limits the city: Okla. Stat. tit. 11, § 14-101.1 bars a city ordinance "which regulates the amount of rent to be charged" for private rental property, with exceptions for municipal property and some subsidized or federally assisted properties.
We are not predicting how it would apply to a particular ordinance.
A definite term "expires on the ending date thereof without notice" unless earlier terminated or otherwise agreed (§ 111(C)).
§ 111(D) allows its extra amount only where the holdover is willful and not in good faith.
Consent decides what your stay becomes under § 111(D) and § 35. Keep the paper either way.
§ 111(D) prorates its amount "on a daily basis" for each month or part of a month you stay.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 111(D); Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 111(C); Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 110; Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 35; Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 120(B); Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 105; Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 103(A); Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 1148.3; Okla. Stat. tit. 11, § 14-101.1, read on oklegislature.gov. The Oklahoma Legislature's website states that the Oklahoma Statutes were last updated on November 18, 2025, and its Title 41 file, generated December 30, 2025, prints each section cited here with its history note; confirm the current text at oklegislature.gov before relying on it.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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A premium that starts automatically
A ceiling a court may award for a willful holdover not in good faith, not a charge from the first day (§ 111(D)).
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A rate above twice the rent
That is more than the extra amount § 111(D) lets a landlord recover for a willful holdover. Ask how the figure was set before paying it.
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Rent paid with no terms agreed
Rent the lessor accepts after the lease expires is the fact § 35 describes as a presumed renewal for up to one year. Agree the terms in writing first.
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A clause that skips the possession case
§ 111(D) gives the landlord an action for possession and damages, and tit. 12, § 1148.3 opens forcible entry and detainer proceedings to tenants holding over.
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Fees promised to the landlord alone
Tit. 41, § 105(B) awards reasonable attorneys' fees to the prevailing party in an action for breach of a rental agreement, which may be either side.
Your Rights as a Oklahoma City Tenant
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A ceiling on the holdover amount
Not more than twice the average monthly rental, prorated by the day, and only for a holdover that is willful and not in good faith (§ 111(D)).
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A court case for possession
A landlord who wants the unit back from a tenant who stays without consent brings an action for possession and damages (§ 111(D)).
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A month-to-month tenancy on consent
Consent to your continued occupancy creates a month-to-month tenancy unless the parties otherwise agree (§ 111(D)). § 35 describes a renewal instead, so read both.
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Fees if you win
The prevailing party in an action for breach of a rental agreement recovers reasonable attorneys' fees (§ 105(B)).
What To Do - Step by Step
Find the end date in the lease
A definite term expires on that date without notice, unless earlier terminated or otherwise agreed (§ 111(C)).
Ask for more time in writing
Ask before the end date whether your landlord agrees and what rent applies. Keep the reply, because consent decides what your stay becomes (§ 111(D)).
Keep rent receipts after the end date
Receipts show what you paid and when. Accepted rent is the fact § 35 describes.
Set any holdover figure beside the statute
Compare the lease figure with the § 111(D) ceiling. If it is higher, or bills full months for a few days, ask how it was set.
Check the code and the statute text
Our record of the Oklahoma City Municipal Code may miss later ordinances, so confirm the current city code. Read the current text of Title 41 on oklegislature.gov.
Get local advice before paying a premium
Take the lease, any written consent and your receipts to an Oklahoma City tenant lawyer or legal aid office. If a case is filed, bring the court papers.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Holdover rules near Oklahoma
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
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