Q: Am I obligated to sign this lease when a verbal agreement to sign happened prior to being given a copy of the lease?

A: It seems to me that there are a few different ways this could be interpreted.You could be regarded as merely a permitted occupant for the last seven months under the lease with your roommate, which creates no independent obligation on your part. It also provides no protections for you and you would need to move out with your roommate. The landlord could require payment of damages from your roommate but not anything from you if you move out by the end of the month. If you were paying rent directly to the landlord, though, you may be considered to be in a separate, unwritten lease agreement with the landlord. Virginia law generally provides that all leases should be written, but if a lease is not written and the parties act as if they are in a lease (i.e., the landlord allows the tenant to live there and the tenant pays rent), there will be a default year-long lease with basic terms as provided under Virginia law. Since you have not signed the new lease agreement, it seems to me that you are not obligated to the terms you do not agree to; however, you may be obligated to stay for the rest of the year under default unwritten lease terms. You might want to talk with an attorney to discuss your options if you cannot come to an amenable agreement with the landlord.

A: The legal issue is whether there was a mutual assent between the parties or meeting of the minds to the terms of the lease when it was orally presented and then further negotiations occurred before it was signed. This is a question of fact for the Judge to determine. It is not a question of law. No provision of Virginia law will provide a clear cut answer to your question.