Q: Can a landlord present a new lease a week after signing increasing rent 300 more dollars?
Our landlord picked up rent this month and produced a lease with 1500 per month (it was 1400 prior). We asked for time to think about it and they said yes, take the time you need. Three days later we were out of town getting married and he text asking for the extra set of keys. I stated we were in agreement to sign the lease and had signed it- but we were out of town getting married. He didn’t respond. Two days later he shows up at our home and hands us a new lease increasing rent by an additional 200 dollars, now 1700 per month, and when I went inside to grab the new lease signed he stated this was the lease and we can either sign it or move out. I argued the lease was already signed and he turned around and walked away and drove off. He then text asking when we would be out of the home. Is this legal? We all signed the lease for 1500- can he increase it like that?
A:
1. All agreements of any kind that deal with real estate MUST be in writing and signed by both parties.
2. Written leases expire on the date stated in the written lease.
3. Your lease expired before you left town.
4. Nothing your or your landlord said ORALLY about the terms of any new lease has any force of law.
5. The fact that you signed a new lease for $1,500 does not mean the lease is effective.
6. The landlord was under NO obligation to honor the lease he gave you days earlier because you did not sign it then.
7. Had you DELIVERED the signed lease on the day it was presented--before you left town--it would now be effective.
8. Because you told the landlord you "wanted to think about it" there is NO doubt in my mind that your landlord
(a) did not trust you to accept and sign the new lease; and probably
(b) found a new tenant willing to pay $1,600 or $1,700 while you were out of town.
9. Conclusion: Unless the landlord has leased the place to another tenant you must go find another apartment.
10. If the landlord is playing the waiting game--knowing he trapped you--the place can still be yours--at $1,700.
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