Submitted by citizen on
Jurisdiction:
Area of Law:
Question:
Our landlord won't allow my roommate and me to move in on the date we agreed upon when we turned in our leases in May, and now he won't reimburse us for a hotel room. Here are the relevant parts of the lease:
APARTMENT LEASE AGREEMENT
This Apartment Lease Agreement (hereinafter "Lease") is entered into on the 11th Day of March , 2012. by and between the Lessor: [name of apartment complex], hereinafter referred to as "Landlord"), and [my roommate and I] (and all Lessees hereinafter referred to collectively as "Tenant"), are jointly, severally and individually bound by, and liable under, the terms and conditions of the Lease.
3.TERM OF LEASE
This Lease shall commence on August 1st 2012 and extend until its expiration on July 31st 2013; unless renewed or extended pursuant to the terms herein.
7. UPON COMMENCEMENT OF THE LEASE
if Landlord can not deliver said apartment for occupation on such date, then Landlord will supplement the Tenant with an allowance of $50.00 per day for living expenses and a storage for such a time that Landlord can deliver the apartment to Tenant.
27. DELAY OF POSSESSION
Tenant expressly agrees that if by reason of the premises being unready for occupancy, or by reason of the previous tenant or occupant of the dwelling holding over, or as a result of any other cause whatsoever, Tenant is unable to enter and occupy the premises, Landlord shall not be liable to Tenant in damages, but shall abate the rent for the period in which the Tenant is unable to occupy the premises.
Basically, we were supposed to move in on August 1st, but less than a week before our move-in date we were informed that we wouldn't be able to move in until around August 15th. Now we're being told that the date has been moved to September 1st. The landlord says the lease doesn't commence until we actually move in and pay the first month's rent, so he isn't obligated to reimburse the $50 a day allowance. Is it true that he isn't bound by the lease until we move in? Does section 27 essentially nullify my argument, or am I still entitled to being reimbursed? Also, he never physically signed the lease. Would that be a problem, or does the act of him giving us the lease bind him to the contract?
Selected Answer:
This is complicated. It is
Submitted by Staff_Writer on
All Comments
This is complicated. It is
Submitted by Staff_Writer on
This is complicated. It is difficult to enforce an unsigned lease. You could take him to small claims court, where they might do justice, regardless of a signature, since you relied on his representation that it was yours. But, he can't have it both ways. If you want to pull out, you probably can, since he has not signed it. You could say "we withdraw our agreement" and if he doesn't give you a copy with his signature you are probably free to find another property. It is always a mess to have unsigned agreements like this.
This is complicated. It is difficult to enforce an unsigned lease. You could take him to small claims court, where they might do justice, regardless of a signature, since you relied on his representation that it was yours. But, he can't have it both ways. If you want to pull out, you probably can, since he has not signed it. You could say "we withdraw our agreement" and if he doesn't give you a copy with his signature you are probably free to find another property. It is always a mess to have unsigned agreements like this.