Am I off the hook for the lease agreement? Landlord emailed okay...?

Question

I was recently in a car accident and have been speaking with a counselor about my fears of driving, anxiety, etc. Myself and my counselor think that the best option right now would be to move back to campus for my senior year rather than stay in the house. One of my roommates was the driver in the accident and we have had a few conflicts regarding the situation and insurance issues.

I contacted the landlord via email and asked about how to deal with the matter and he replied with the following...

"As for breaking the lease, it is no problem with me. I will take your name off the lease, but you need to talk to (ROOMMATE'S NAME) about getting your deposit money returned, if he will even do that for you."

I know that a verbal statement is not valid for lease agreements but would this email actually release me from the lease? I don't want to get screwed over in the end and I just wanted to make sure I can get out and move on with my life...

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

NO....that is your landlord acceptance of your intention of breaking your lease.  You will need an actual release letter, signed by your landlord (and possibly your roommate) allowing you to be relieved of all lease responsibilities.

EDIT:   TYPING IN YOUR NAME IS NOT A SIGNATURE!!!  Besides...most courts will not accept emails as evidence..since they are to easily manipulated.

Answer 2

I would save the email but since the landlord says its okay with her then I would still get her to write out something saying you are released from the lease regardless of the previous contract blahzay blahzay because regardless of her email, you still have a binding contract with them.  Just tell her you need it for documents just in case

Some states may be stricter on what a binding contract of an email may be...not sure if you live in detroit or not...but I would print it out and still have her at least sign that

Answer 3

Legally, if you are on a joint lease with a roomate or roommates, then they must agree to sign you off the lease as well. All parties to the lease must agree in writing and sign off on the deal.

The landlord cannot remove your name from the lease without your roommate's approval.