First off, can anyone recommend an attorney to me (real estate I guess?) that would at least look at this residential contract for me without charging an arm and a leg and let me know where I stand. I am no longer an enrolled student so Student Legal Services is out of the question unless it is possible that I give this contract to an enrolled friend to have SLS look at it on my behalf, which I don't know if it can be done or not.

The story goes that I live with a girl whose father owns the apartment. When I moved in, I was given a standard NC residential rental contract/lease, I signed and dated it, and then I gave it to her. She took it to her dad who then signed it and I was given a copy. The lease was not signed in my presence, it was not notarized, and it was not dated on his part. The first line that defines the "Landlord" and "Agent" is blank with only my name on the "tenant" line, and none of the pages are initialed by the landlord or agent. The contract says it is for a 6 month duration from January 15, 2006 to August 15, 2006, which in fact is actually a 7 month duration. Besides these anomales, this is a relatively standard rental agreement.

There is a number of complications that could or could not make a difference, but I just wanted to know first if any of the aforementioned flaws in the contract would mean that I could not be sued for defaulting. I'll elaborate more later if I need to.

11/2/2006 7:09:54 PM

Ernest Carraway is an accounting professor at State, but he's also a real estate attorney. He'll answer questions as needed and he's a really nice guy

11/2/2006 7:27:53 PM

I'm going to guess that these errors were in the contract when you signed it. If that's the case, maybe you should read it first next time?

11/2/2006 11:22:16 PM

from a practical standpoint, those errors are NOT going to get you off the hook in front of a judge.

11/2/2006 11:25:40 PM

you should have had these errors corrected before you signed it and isn't cohabitation illegal in nc...not like that'd do anything bout it but jw

11/2/2006 11:36:18 PM

I saw this on Judge Judy once. The Land Lord failed to fill in some things properly on the lease, so Judge Judy let the kids off the hook.

However, this means nothing because it was Judge Judy, for god's sake.

11/3/2006 12:06:26 AM

the lease didn't have to be notarized or signed in the presence of both parties. the landlord's daughter was present for both signatures, and that's all that is required. you're still bound to that contract.

11/3/2006 12:14:50 PM

even if these flaws will technically let you off the hook... I think you should stand by your word and not be a low life about a contract you entered into knowing the duration and other requirements.

11/3/2006 12:59:26 PM

isn't the duration over anyway?

11/3/2006 1:50:13 PM

why are you having it looked at? did you not pay the last month of rent?

11/3/2006 1:54:03 PM

It's a long convoluted story but I was told by the landlord's daughter (my roommate) that I didn't have to pay rent while I was gone for the summer in Brazil. I thought she was authorized to enter into these kind of agreements seeing as I have always paid my rent directly to her (even though her dad's name is on the lease). But now her dad has found out about this and wants to go back and collect rent for June, July, and August. Now I'm basically trying to find out if I am liable for the rent or not.

Moral of the story, get the shit in writing. That's my fault and I know it.

So for all those saying "don't be a deadbeat and pay up," now you see where I stand. It's not like I am trying to shortchange the guy, I'm just caught in the middle cause I feel like if I was told that I didn't have to pay by his daughter, that I shouldn't have to pay.

[Edited on November 3, 2006 at 2:07 PM. Reason : asdf]

11/3/2006 2:06:05 PM

here's what a lawyers going to tell you. You didn't move your stuff out of the apartment before spending a summer out of the country, so you were still occupying that room in a manner that prevented her dad from being able to lease it out. your contract didn't run out until August 15, so you were still obligated to pay the full amount of rent due for those months. You definitely short-changed the guy, whether you want to admit it or not. the landlord's daughter did not own the property or have power of attorney, so she was not capable of negotiating a break in contract.

on top of that, you still haven't moved out of the apartment, and it's currently November. You also haven't provided a written notice of intent to moveout, which you need to do immediately. Since you're still on the property, he can hit you with all the late fees and back-due rent that was spelled out in the initial contract. If he decides to take this to small claims court, he'll have no problem being awarded everything spelled out in that contract. On top of that, you'll most likely get an eviction notice filed, and that's not a laughing matter.

You need to be worried about how that's going to look to anyone that you try to rent a room from in the future when they pull your credit history and check your rental history. It's not going to look good on any application when you have a gap in your rental history, and if you push this guy through small claims court then you can be guaranteed that he'll be sure to give them all the case numbers and paperwork they need to deny your application.

You might want to try talking to the landlord and see if he'll waive the late fees and only charge you for the past due rent. It would probably be best to type something up and give it to him to look over and sign in agreement if you can get him to do that.

11/3/2006 2:29:30 PM

yeah, my bad for jumping the gun... in my line of work, I see way too many people trying to get out of contracts by technicalities because they can. and maybe they can, but they are proving their word means nothing.

also, you said it yourself... shoulda got it in writing. I doubt he has a leg to stand on if he is coming after the rent just now and didn't say anything before.

11/3/2006 2:29:30 PM