A. Non-freehold estates: This chapter is about the non-freehold estates. (See supra, p. 49.) The estates that are non-freehold are: (1) the tenancy for years; (2) the periodic tenancy; (3) the tenancy at will; and (4) the tenancy at sufferance. These estates are discussed one at a time beginning infra, p. 159.
1. Landlord-tenant relationship: These non-freehold estates have one particularly important characteristic: each normally includes a duty, on the tenant’s part, to pay rent. Thus they involve the landlord-tenant relationship.
B. Conveyance aspects: The leasehold and the freehold at common law had a key feature in common: they were both estates in land, typically created by a conveyance. Until about the last few decades, the law of landlord-tenant was dominated by these estate, conveyancing, aspects.