tenant rights?

I had a year lease that expired 1/1/10.  I paid January's rent and my landlord and I talked about the new lease 1/7/10.  After some discussion of the possibility of me leaving, we both agreed that I would stay (he even said "I 100% want you to stay).  Unfortunately, the lease was not available for me to sign at that time (not my fault, his). 

Now the landlord has said he's changed his mind and delivered to me a 45-day vacate notice!  He admitted that we had a verbal agreement for a new 1-year lease but told me that, even if we had one, he could still break it if he wanted to.  This makes no sense to me, can someone tell me if what he says is true?!  What's a lease for if you can break it whenever you want to for no apparent reason?

FTR, there is nothing I can find on the recently-expired lease that says he (or I) can break the lease with any kind of notice.

Please help me; I'm freaking out and supposed to be having surgery soon, so having to move is something I don't want to do!

Thank you and God bless.

captain_sassy

An expired lease normally will continue as an occupancy on a month-to-month basis.

Now, a lease can be verbal and be just as binding as a written lease. However, what do you suppose the odds are that the landlord will admit in court that he verbally renewed the lease?

lex

Thanks, Lex, for responding.

I don't think he's a dishonorable man; I really think he thinks he can change his mind in the middle of a lease for no apparent reason.  He readily admitted to me that there was, in essence, a lease. 

I went by legal aid today but there weren't any attorneys there; they told me to come back tomorrow.

captain_sassy