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As some of you may know, I haven't been happy with my living situation.

Today, I was looking over the lease that my roommates and I signed to see if there was any mistakes made on it or anything like that. Basically, I'm looking for leverage to get out of the lease.

Previously, the landlord broke the terms of the lease by entering our unit without giving us permission and 12 hours notice. I however was an idiot and did not get the maintenance guy to sign anything! Doh!!

However, now I see these exact words on lease:

TERM: ( Strike either (a) or (b) )

(a) Month to month beginning on ______, ____; or
(b) For a term of __12___ months/beginning on __May 1st__, __2008__ and continuing to __May 1st__, __2009__.

The landlord checked A mistakenly, so in our agreement and per the instructions, we do not have a year commitment, we are month to month and can leave at any time.

While I realize this is a pretty nit picky thing, to me it seems like there is a realistic chance that this would be a valid way to end my lease and have my roommates and I move out without consequence. Any one with a background in law have a quick opinion on this? If its not legit I'm not going to bother, but from my uneducated mind on the subject this seems like the "typo" I was looking for!

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I don't think it's nit picky at all. You have a month to month contract, apparently. Check the paperwork for how much notice you need to legally give your landlord and move out (probably end of December, as it's probably a 30-day notice).

Get your utilities and all that shit in order as well, and get at least an email from them that the accounts will be shut off or transfered into the landlord's name at the beginning of the following month. And take photos of the place before you leave. I had one landlord try to screw me for damages after I left, only to back off and finally return my security deposit () after he found out I'd taken photos of the place cleaned and undamaged.

[Taskiss]

I've been in a similar situation and looked for answers from lawyers, and found that for the most part, lease agreements are weighed heavily in favor of the landlord. Stuff like not signing lease extensions and being auto-extended, all that is legal, as is a mistake in spelling, etc. Most nits can't be picked...I've tried.

There isn't a nit in your lease though. The term is selected and obvious. That isn't a "oops", it's a fact in black and white.

Turn in your 30 day notice and the day you leave, contact the utilities and tell them you're gone.

As an aside, I walked out on my lease prepared to pay but determined to make them work for it. They sent a creditor after me, and I sent a registered letter telling them they needed to provide the proof a judgment was awarded and that was the last I heard of them. It's one of those things - folks just can't say you owe them money, they have to win an award in court before they initiate collection against you, well, at least if they want it to stick.

[Partial]

Crap. I think I misunderstood. The strike could potentially mean "strike out the one not selected", as opposed strike the selected option as I interpreted it. Poopsicles.

[Brave Ulysses]

Originally Posted by tensdanny38 Crap. I think I misunderstood. The strike could potentially mean "strike out the one not selected", as opposed strike the selected option as I interpreted it. Poopsicles.

shouldn't be confusing... which one has the date(s) written in.... a or b?

[PKIDelirium]

Looks like B the way he typed the dates on the lines in the OP.

[Trumpetman]

Originally Posted by tensdanny38 As some of you may know, I haven't been happy with my living situation. Today, I was looking over the lease that my roommates and I signed to see if there was any mistakes made on it or anything like that. Basically, I'm looking for leverage to get out of the lease. Previously, the landlord broke the terms of the lease by entering our unit without giving us permission and 12 hours notice. I however was an idiot and did not get the maintenance guy to sign anything! Doh!! However, now I see these exact words on lease: TERM: ( Strike either (a) or (b) ) (a) Month to month beginning on ______, ____; or (b) For a term of __12___ months/beginning on __May 1st__, __2008__ and continuing to __May 1st__, __2009__. The landlord checked A mistakenly, so in our agreement and per the instructions, we do not have a year commitment, we are month to month and can leave at any time. While I realize this is a pretty nit picky thing, to me it seems like there is a realistic chance that this would be a valid way to end my lease and have my roommates and I move out without consequence. Any one with a background in law have a quick opinion on this? If its not legit I'm not going to bother, but from my uneducated mind on the subject this seems like the "typo" I was looking for!

As someone else noted, the date is written in on the lease portion. You'll have signed with those dates on the lease lines. Even if the language was ruled confusing the judge will rule that both parties knew they were entering into a lease.

Originally Posted by Taskiss I've been in a similar situation and looked for answers from lawyers, and found that for the most part, lease agreements are weighed heavily in favor of the landlord. Stuff like not signing lease extensions and being auto-extended, all that is legal, as is a mistake in spelling, etc. Most nits can't be picked...I've tried. There isn't a nit in your lease though. The term is selected and obvious. That isn't a "oops", it's a fact in black and white. Turn in your 30 day notice and the day you leave, contact the utilities and tell them you're gone. As an aside, I walked out on my lease prepared to pay but determined to make them work for it. They sent a creditor after me, and I sent a registered letter telling them they needed to provide the proof a judgment was awarded and that was the last I heard of them. It's one of those things - folks just can't say you owe them money, they have to win an award in court before they initiate collection against you, well, at least if they want it to stick.

I would seriously check your credit. Whenever I screen potential tenants, this stuff often shows up. The fact that they aren't pursuing you doesn't mean they haven't reported it or recorded it. It also doesn't mean there isn't a judgment out there with your name on it.

Tens, you are liable for the terms of the lease. The landlord has to make efforts to fill the unit if you abandon it, he can't just let it sit empty until May. However those efforts can be charged against your deposit and any lost rent is charged against it as well.

This time of year would be especially bad to abandon a lease. No one wants to move between Thanksgiving and New Years. That unit would likely sit empty until January 1 or, very likely, February 1st. Certain times of the year are much easier to find tenants and so the landlords due diligence in finding someone can get a quick result. This is absolutely the worst time of year for that and it would result in several months lost rent that the landlord would likely seek from you in a judgment.

Also remember all this stuff goes before a judge. Sure it sucks that he didn't get 12 hours notice to enter but as you noted it is for a repair. There are likely state codes or provisions within the rental agreement that note that in an emergency no notice will be given. You wouldn't expect water to run out from under your door for 12 hours or gas to leak into your unit for 12 hours before it could be addressed would you?

The best case scenario would be you arguing that the repair wasn't a true emergency but that the landlord was really just too enthusiastic to ensure your unit was kept in a working and livable state. This is a terrible argument to have to make before a judge and would just make you look like an ass. The landlord would simply argue he thought it was a repair that needed emergency status and thus he ignored the 12 hour notice. Either way it sucks for you as a legal argument because you are left letting the judge rule how good his intentions were on a positive act. He could even argue that his representative/subcontractor was told to wait 12 hours and simply didn't follow his wishes. Either way the intent wouldn't have been to break the agreement, but to fix the unit. I'm saying this as someone who has been before that judge as a landlord, he would put the screws to you.

What is making you unhappy about the living situation? That might be easier and cheaper to address than all this nonsense.

[Taskiss]

Originally Posted by Trumpetman I would seriously check your credit.

I have and do regularly. Since I just got a 30 yr. loan to buy a very nice house, I'd say my credit is good enough.

The details in my case are, I leased an apartment in January 2001 for one year, then was auto-extended for four more. I contacted them in November, 2005 to tell them that I was moving in January, 2006.

The issue was, they kept extending the lease for a year, but it was for the month after it was due; February the second year, March the third, etc. By their records, I was under lease 'till May and they argued that I had to pay penalties. They never did admit that their practice wasn't done the way it was supposed to be done.

I was prepared to argue in court, but I haven't heard a thing since 2005. This kind of crap shouldn't take a lawyer to deal with. Either they just dropped it, they figured out they screwed up, or a sword of Damocles still hangs over my head. I still have a copy of my original lease, so I'll be glad to argue that I don't owe the thousands of dollars they claimed I did.

[Trumpetman]

Originally Posted by Taskiss I have and do regularly. Since I just got a 30 yr. loan to buy a very nice house, I'd say my credit is good enough. The details in my case are, I leased an apartment in January 2001 for one year, then was auto-extended for four more. I contacted them in November, 2005 to tell them that I was moving in January, 2006. The issue was, they kept extending the lease for a year, but it was for the month after it was due; February the second year, March the third, etc. By their records, I was under lease 'till May and they argued that I had to pay penalties. They never did admit that their practice wasn't done the way it was supposed to be done. I was prepared to argue in court, but I haven't heard a thing since 2005. This kind of crap shouldn't take a lawyer to deal with. Either they just dropped it, they figured out they screwed up, or a sword of Damocles still hangs over my head. I still have a copy of my original lease, so I'll be glad to argue that I don't owe the thousands of dollars they claimed I did.

I see where you are coming from. It would be interesting to see how a court would deal with it. I could see one judge looking at the language and another just as easily stating that you accepted the terms for the previous five years and understood the flawed language.

This stuff can sometimes crop up later in unusual ways. I once had my name pop up in chexsystems (or whatever it is called) and it prevented me from opening a second checking account at a bank I had already been banking with for five years. On an account I had closed seven years prior at a credit unions, it turned out someone had put something in wrong and it had come off as an attempt to write a check on that closed account. The check was for ten bucks and the overdraft charge for bouncing it NSF was $15. All of this should have been impossible since the account was closed. I give them all my info just so I can get a letter to talk to someone about it and bring it up with the bank. Since the account was so old they couldn't even look it up in the computer. The lady there starts telling me they will have to order it up on microfiche and that would take 90 days and then 30 days after that they would clear name with the system.

I start to lose it on her, but then somehow...magically... I calmed down and simply said the follow, "look if I was going to attempt to defraud someone by writing a check on an old account, don't you think I would do it sooner than seven years and wouldn't I do it for more than $10?" This seemed to pry open the common sense vs. computer screw up circuit in her brain and a scant 10 days later I had my name cleared.

But.... you never know.