Re: Can landlord break unsigned lease before move-in?

Re: Can landlord break unsigned lease before move-in? by Katiekate (New York) on July 22, 2014 @04:59

No lease can ever supersede state law.

No matter what you write in your lease...state law is what a judge will uphold.

Since you do not have damages that are so excessive that the tenant cannot move in. Nor do you have a tenant that has failed to move out...you have no grounds to cancel. You agent signed the lease, you confirmed it with emails. Now you must follow through.

Massachusetts is a very tenant friendly state. You are just begging to get the "book thrown at you". Not only can you be held liable for all physical and financial damages done to the new tenant...but..a judge is likely to award punitive damages as well.

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Re: Can landlord break unsigned lease before move-in? by MP (MA) on July 22, 2014 @07:14	[ Reply ]

Thank you for your reply. Given their behavior, we were/are hoping to find a legal way to get out of this situation. It wasn't our manager/agent who signed anything - it was a priest friend of ours who received the lease from them and took the cash they wanted to pay with, and wrote at the bottom of the lease "received cash in amount of ...". There is no signature under the "owner's" section of the lease. We were trying to be brief in our description so I wrote "manager". These people wanted to see the house at the last moment on 4 July weekend when we had no-one available to show them and give them paperwork (we live out of town). They said they were travelling into town for a couple of days, so we worked to accommodate them. Once they saw the house, they said they wanted it and wanted to pay in cash right then since they were leaving town again. The only person we could find on that weekend to take the payment, etc. was our priest friend. 1. Does it not matter that the lease is not signed by us as the owners? How is a contract binding if only one party signs it? 2. What about the section in the lease that says “If the landlord is unable to deliver possession... for any other reason, the tenant and/or landlord may immediately cancel…”? What about “for any other reason”? 3. The lease says the move-in date is the first of the month. They emailed saying they had movers scheduled for the 20th. We told them over the phone that we would try to have the house ready at the end of the 19th; in a subsequent email, we said the house would be ready on the 19th (meaning the end of the day, as we had discussed). They are now insisting that they will move in on the morning of the 19th. We haven’t even discussed the prorated rent for the previous month (which is not mentioned in the lease, since the lease’s start date is the next month). How does that rent get addressed? Can they push their way into the house on the morning of the 19th? Does it matter that the lease's start date is for the next month? In a situation like this, we would expect a brief phone conversation and we could work something out. But they ignored our emails and requests to talk over the phone yesterday, and just emailed once to say they are moving in on the 19th. This has made us very uncomfortable. We’d appreciate advice on anything we could possibly do. Thank you.

Re: Can landlord break unsigned lease before move-in? by Nicole (PA) on July 22, 2014 @07:32	[ Reply ]

I look through jaded lenses at most situations. YOU messed up. YOU allowed tenants to view the property when you weren't there. YOU allowed a friend (being a priest has nothing to do with it) to conduct legal business on your behalf - how and why did he even have a copy of the lease and why would he accept monies on your behalf? YOU allowed a third party to accept monies on your behalf apparently without even a rental application. YOU miscommunicated the date ... move in on the 19th doesn't generally mean the end of the day and that wasn't made clear. YOU apparently didn't do any background check on these individuals if money was accepted on the spot. Generally it's view the place, fill out the application, do YOUR due diligence, and then enter into a written rental agreement/lease. Return all their money to them via bank check, certified mail immediately. That gives them close to a month to find a place. going forward, conduct your business in a business like fashion and you won't have these issues.

Re: Can landlord break unsigned lease before move-in? by jannie (IL) on July 22, 2014 @07:38	[ Reply ]

I think this is one of those "learning experiences". It sounds like your friend was acting as your representative or agent. And, it looks like the 19th is the move in date - I would just let them move in on the 19th since you agreed. (You could talk with the lawyer - about the unable to provide property - however, you'll probably have to pay the tenant damages) I would suggest you be proactive in anticipation of any future problems. 1. If not done already - do an inspection of the property using your checklist prior to move in, but after you have cleaned/fixed any repairs & painting etc. Do Video or still pictures of the property with the date before the move in. Have them go through and sign the checklist sheet. 2. If you didn't run a criminal or background check on them already do so.. maybe they lied on the application. 3. Know your lease and what the tenants can/can't do. In this case I think I would also check with a lawyer experienced in real estate rental law. Good luck

Re: Can landlord break unsigned lease before move-in? - Landlord Forum thread 321616