My Sister Signed A 1 Year Lease on a Rental Home - Now the Owners want to change It & go up on the Price!?

Question

The Owners says that the price he quoted for the rental property was too low and that he was about to go on vacation so he got excited & gave them too low of a price! He wants to go up 300.00 & change the lease from a 1 year to a 6 month lease. He says that he was going to pay the difference in the rent since the house has been empty and people keep moving out or they can't pay the rent. So him and his wife was like some money was better than no money so they offered the house 500.00 below what they pay a month and now he says that even though they faxed the lease and my sister has already signed it, they don't want to rent it to them! But then he called back and said that since he said it, he would stand by his word, but he had a attitude & was still angry. My sister thinks him & his wifeis having problems. Can they Change the lease & go up on the price? If this was you, would u go ahead & move in anyway since he said that he would go ahead & honor it? I need 2 know what 2 tell her...

Answer 1

A contract is not Binding until it is fully executed (all parties have signed) and all parties have a copy.

If she has signed it but he has not he is free to change the terms and she is free to get her full deposit back and move on, Which I strongly recommend.

Answer 2

If the contract is signed then he is bund by the terms of the contract during the term. In the state of VA, even if the landlord's rep doesn't sign the contract but they present it to a tenant and the tenant signs, it is still a binding agreement. There are too many legalities in the VA landlord tenant act to get into but the long and short of it is that he aggreed to the terms when he offered the unit in writing. Now if she gives him any reason to void that contract (paying late, having person's not on the lease live with her, having large parties and police calls, or if he finds she lied about any info on the application) then he can take her to court and demand that she be removed. Where it gets even more confusining is if they own four or fewer properties because then they are exempt from a number of the items in the act. And landlord tenant issues vary by state. If she thinks this may be a issue of discrimination then she needs to contact the state's fair housing office.

Just on a personal note-I would not want to rent from someone who is doing buisness this way. What if the heating system dies in the middle of winter-will this guy fix it or just be a jerk and drag it out and leave her stuck for a few days while parts come in and such. I don't think he is a trust worthy person.

Answer 3

Has the LL signed on the lease? If he did, take him to court for breach of contract.  Once both parties have signed on the lease, it considered valid.  If he did not sign on the lease, then he can change the terms even though your sister signed. Your sister should have a copy of the lease. Go find out.

Answer 4

Did he fax over a copy of the lease HE had signed?    Her signature alone does NOT make this a legal contract, it is just paper w/o everyone agreeing in WRITING.

She can not just go ahead and move in if he did not sign it, she does not have a lease.

If he did in fact sign it and itinial each page then no, he can not change it.   But if it is not signed it has no legal weight at all and your sister has no lease.

Answer 5

There is no lease until BOTH parties sign it!  Your sister was foolish to change the utilities before the lease was executed.  Your sister can either accept his offer to sign the lease as agreed, then move in, or back out of the deal.  

She will have to get the landlord to return whatever she signed, and all copies, and tear it up.  If he advertised the property at a particular rent, tell him she will report him to the state Attorney General's office, Consumer Protection Division, for "bait & switch" advertising if he does not return the lease she signed and reimburse her for utility charges.  

I do recommend she ditch this deal.  She should not be dealing with a dishonest landlord, and should tell him so.  Even if he stuck to the original rent terms, he'll be a pain in the butt over something or other for the term of the lease.   There is no point trying to do biz with unprofessional people.  Business is business -- stick to it in a businesslike manner.

Answer 6

Once a lease is signed it is a legal and binding contract.

I would get a lawyer.  They cannot go up in price once the lease is signed.

Answer 7

I SIGNED RENTAL AGREEMENT IS LEGAL UNTIL THE EXPIRATION DATE.

If the owner made a mistake he will have to eat his mistake. The only way that he can change the terms if your sister agrees to the changes.  He is planning on raising the rent after six months; and probably every six months.  He sounds greedy to me.

Make sure that they read the rental agreement thoroughly because he will be looking for anything to void the agreement.  Some of the ways to break the agreement would to move additional people into the unit, add a dog or cat, not pay their rent on time, loud noise, a lots of traffic coming and going from the unit, etc.

Answer 8

You need to SEE AN ATTORNEY!

Generally, a signed lease is an unbreakable agreement unless YOU volunteer to change the lease with an addendum.  Which you should not.

A lease is not the same as mont-to-month rentals, a lease is for a set form of terms for a set amount of rent during the set duration of the lease, and cannot be willfully broken by the landlord or the landlord's agent or by you without penalties.  You are generally protected by a lease to the terms of the lease for the length of the lease.

HOWEVER, if there is a clause in the lease contract for such things as utility rate increases where the utilities are included in the rent, then the rent can also be increased to match that utility increase, and in many cases they can do so without you even signing a new contract or addendum, they just give you a legal notice.

But you need to see an attorney.  This is one of the reasons I like a lease... it is binding to its details and cannot be changed "just because" for the term of the lease.  But SEE AN ATTORNEY!

Answer 9

Your sister signed the lease.  But it all depends on if the lease was also signed by the landlord.  Contracts have to be signed by both parties to be valid.

Answer 10

Yep she holds the cards in that lease.. $500 a month BELOW what they owe each month and they took a vacation and now regret all of this?

Sounds like a case of the morning after, blues.

I sure hope they don't lose the house or something more sinister in this next year for  what might seem to be a bumpy ride for all involved.