My friends and I rented a house for school and only 4 of the 5 signed the lease to start in 2 mo is it valid?

Question

We signed the lease and a financial responcibility form and gave the landlord 4080 of the 5100 deposit one of our friends cannot live with us and has not given the deposit or signed the lease. Also we were not supplied with a copy of the lease after we signed and it has been 3 weeks

Answer 1

The lease is valid, but since you have not gotten a copy of it, its still voidable.  IE You can call up the landlord and tell them you have changed your minds and can cancel the lease.  

However, this may cause a real mess and even though you seem to be allowed to do this, problems will come up.  First off, if you have moved into the place and are living there the landlord is of course owed rent for when you were there, and even though the lease you signed would not be valid if you cancelled it, you may still have an obligation to give 30 days notice as you are clearly tenants regardless and as such have that obligation (ie even though the lease you signed is not valid if you cancel it, you nonetheless may have essentially a verbal month to month lease with the landlord and thus have to follow all laws where you are including notice to leave).  Also, even if you have not yet moved in you ca bet the landlord will still keep, or try to keep, the deposit and you'll probably have to go to court to get it back.  The landlord could lie and say you were given a lease and who knows what the judge may say (and, if you have moved in but then cancel the lease - again, who knows what the judge may say).

Personally I think your best option may be to call the landlord up and tell them the 5th guy won't rent but could you find a 5th guy yourselves.  He should say fine (no guarantees but why wouldn't he) and then go find that 5th guy, and then you are set.  Also get a copy of the lease but if there is any chance you may need to break the lease you might acutally want to wait on getting a copy (since once you get a copy it is no longer voidable).  

I suspect the landlord either forgot to give you a copy or is just new at this (ie stupid and thinks the lease is good even though you didn't get a copy), but once he gets you a copy you can no longer void it based on not gettting a copy so in one sense you are in no hurry to get the lease.  Again though, even you do try to void the lease expect a mess to ensue - but legally you do still have a right to void it.

Best luck.

Answer 2

Hope you have proof that you paid a deposit on this house.  If so, just ask the landlord for a copy of the lease.  I'm not sure what the problem is.  If your friend intends to pay his share of the deposit, there is no problem.  If they do not intend to pay or live in the house, then the four of you are going to have to a) find someone else to fill his shoes, or b) cover the extra deposit and monthly rent.  3 weeks is more than enough time to expect a lease agreement, however if the landlord is still waiting for a portion of the deposit to be paid, he probably won't give you the lease until he has his money.

I'd imagine that the lease isn't totally valid til you pay the full deposit on it.

Answer 3

The lease is valid for those that signed it. The 4 of 5 are bound to it and will be in breach if the remaining part of the deposit is not paid. You are all jointly and severally lible for the full amount of the deposit and rent.

The landlord may be waiting for the last person to sign the lease, why would the landlord give you a copy if he is still waiting on a signature?

Answer 4

You may not be liable to the lease because you have not paid rent or taken possession, but you've probably forfeited the deposit.  Notify the landlord and see if you can work something out.  Two months should be plenty of time to find a new tenant especially with the school year starting soon.

Not having a signed copy of the lease is probably a non-issue since the landlord can simply lie and say he mailed you a copy.  

The four of you may still be able to take the fifth "friend" to small claims since he led the four of you into believing he would commit to the lease.  If you have any voicemails, e-mails or applications, you may be able to convince a small claims judge that the fifth "friend" made a commitment to you.  

Google your state's landlord tenant laws.