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My lease is going to be up end of July and I was offered a new lease term before 60 days which was lower than my current lease. I confirmed the amount with the leasing office twice before signing it. On the lease it mentioned that read carefully before I sign as it will be a legal binding once signed and submitted. Three days after submitting the lease I was contacted by the leasing office and told that they made a mistake and quoted a 2 bedroom apt's rent (instead of a 3Bdrm which I have). Based on the rent decrease I signed a 12 month lease and after submitting it I extended my contracts for the Electricity/Cable/Internet/Renters Insurance.
Now can anyone advise as to whether i should hold them accountable for their mistake or let them force me to sign the new lease offer they have now sent me.
It's not your problem they made a mistake. They signed a legally binding contract with you, and they should honor it, especially after you confirmed the amount twice. If they don't want to, tough. Tell them to contact your attorney at that point.
Now can anyone advise as to whether i should hold them accountable for their mistake or let them force me to sign the new lease offer they have now sent me.
Thanks in advance
Absolutely. You signed a valid contract and too bad they made a mistake. I assume the description of the unit was a 3BR? Tell them, "sorry, but I twice confirmed the amount with you" and leave it at that. They can't "force" you to sign a new lease. Nice bonus! Just expect a hefty increase next time your lease comes up for renewal - and expect to find a new face behind the secretary's desk!
Thanks for the quick response. I do have one more question though, when I told the receptionist that I signed the lease after confirming with them first, her reply was that the rental office have not signed the lease yet so it's not valid yet!! I checked my copies of the leases for the last three years and none of them have the rental offices' representatives signature. So if i have signed and submitted the lease, and they didn't: what is the legality of the lease? is it valid with my signature only or it need theirs too to go into effect?
Thanks for your quick reply. I have one more concern; the rental office says that although I have signed the contract but they haven't signed it yet, so it's not valid yet. Are they bluffing me or both parties' signature needs to be on there for it to be valid. Just FYI, i checked the previous three lease agreements I signed with them, none had their representative's signature on them.
Thanks for your quick reply. I have one more concern; the rental office says that although I have signed the contract but they haven't signed it yet, so it's not valid yet. Are they bluffing me or both parties' signature needs to be on there for it to be valid. Just FYI, i checked the previous three lease agreements I signed with them, none had their representative's signature on them.
When you sign a contract (whether lease or otherwise), the only signature YOU need is the other party's. So when you sign a lease, the only important part is getting a landlord signed copy and the only thing the landlord is concerned with is getting YOUR signature on their copy. It actually is not unusual for each party to have a lease signed by only the opposite party.
This is actually quite interesting. If the contract says right in it that as soon as you sign it and submit it that it is legally binding, I think it might be worth fighting them over. That's of course, if you are ready to leave at the end of the lease term, and you're ready to go to court over it. And if you're ready to have them tell future landlords what happened, which may make future landlords not want to rent to you.
Be sure and check with an attorney about how to proceed, if you decide to try and enforce the lease. In some states, you have to pay rent into an escrow account while you're duking it out in court.
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