Q: Can a landlord change a contract terms at any time?
Was in a 5 year contract rent to own with me and my girlfriend on the agreement. We broke up, she stayed in the home with our 2 children. She recently wanted out of the house, so I took over and moved in. The landlord knew what we were doing, she then contacted me 11 days later saying the contract was in default and said we had to be out by June 8th. Then the next morning, sent another "contract" if I was willing. Starting all over with none of the money going towards the principle and just renting the home with the option to buy once I can but at the appraisal value once an appraisal is done. There's a back room that isn't up to code that I would be responsible for to bring to code and any other repairs needed, which was agreed to in the original contract, but now with nothing towards the principle.
A: The only way to get a legal opinion on this is by scheduling a consultation with an attorney, so that the attorney may review the original contract and discuss the facts with you. The landlord is stating you are in default. Why? It should be plain, by the terms of the contract, whether you are in default, and if so, what the landlord's remedies are in the event of default. If you are not in default, the landlord would of course be in the wrong. If you are in default, but the landlord is trying to impose a remedy that does not exist, the landlord would be in the wrong there as well. So start by reading the contract, which might enlighten you, and if it doesn't, OR it is clear from the contract that the landlord is in the wrong, schedule a consultation.
Bruce Alexander Minnick and Tim Akpinar agree with this answer
A:
Based on the limited facts you gave us--and reading between the lines--it sounds like the original "rent to buy" contract required you and your girlfriend to make timely payments for the full 5 years in order to be entitled to purchase the home under that rent-to-buy contract; is that right?
If so, then being 11 days late on the rent violated the payment terms, and negated the rent to buy part too. There are several ways to extract yourself from this situation; however, I cannot discuss any of them here.
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