My landlord is dumb. Can I move out yet?

April 3, 2007 6:06 AM

Help-Me-Get-Out-of-My-Lease-Filter: My landlord made a mistake when filling out my lease. I'm wondering if I can hold him to it.

I live in Kansas. Last summer, I signed a one-year lease. Except my landlord wrote down the wrong end date. The lease says, "... for a term of 1 years, to commence on July 1, 2006 and to end on March, 2007 ..." and July-March is obviously not a full year.

The lease goes on to say that at the end of the lease period, it switches over to a month-to-month agreement and I can leave with 30 days' notice.

It occurs to me now that it would be in my best interest to leave before the full year is up (end of June). Amateur advice from friends and family is "give your notice! get out!" but my gut says I'm stuck through June.

While my landlord is stupid enough to write down the wrong month, he is smart enough to always consult his lawyer on things like this. So if I give him my 30 days' notice at the end of this month and insist that the lease says it ends in March, what will his lawyer's response be?

As I see it, there are questions issues here:

1. If you make a mistake on a lease, is it legally binding?
2. If a lease contradicts itself (1 year vs. July-March), which terms are valid?

posted by katieinshoes to Law & Government (22 answers total)

Response by poster: Sorry, no coffee yet. That should be "As I see it, there are two questions here:"
posted by katieinshoes at 6:16 AM on April 3, 2007

Before you get all caught up in legalese, is your landlord a dick or might he be willing to end the lease early if you can provide a compelling reason for doing so (occurring to you that in your best interest is not a reason)? Try talking to him first. Point out that there is an inconsistency in the lease and you're wondering how he would feel about you leaving earlier.
posted by Deathalicious at 6:24 AM on April 3, 2007

I am not even close to a lawyer... but a (very) quick google of 'interpret inconsistent lease' got me this case. Basically it says that the court will first try to make all the provisions match up, then secondly if that is impossible (like in your case), it'll go with intent. Your lease has the intent of one year, at least that's what I'd rule on a jury, and the dates were mis-calculated. I see those dates as a shortcut route anyway, the 1 year time period being the time period the lease is really over.

On the other hand, I'm making stuff up, ask the landlord, then go see a lawyer if you really want out.
posted by cschneid at 6:35 AM on April 3, 2007

Forget about the lease for a minute. I was in a similar situation, tho no slip-ups from the manager. I told him I wanted to break the lease and move out, and he said he'd have to charge me for all the rent (or just most) until it ran out, whether I lived there or not. So I asked if I could find someone to take it over, would he let me out of it? Sure, he says.

So I went to Kinko's and make up a bunch of flyers and plastered every telephone pole in Seattle, and lo and behold a few days later a college girl rings me up, comes and looks at the place, says "I'll take it." Bam! So if you can find someone to take it over, your landlord will more than likely agree.

And remember, fighting a court case sucks, no matter what side you're on. It might suck up more money than simply paying out the lease.
posted by zardoz at 6:44 AM on April 3, 2007

I'm pretty sure a court would rule with the intent, as cschneid says. But even if they didn't, would you want to be the kind of person that uses a technicality like that to (possibly) screw someone over¹ for some small gain² on your part?

¹Because the landlord thinks he has plenty of time to find another renter--he may in fact have someone ready for June but not March.

²"in my best interest" doesn't sound too compelling, but maybe you understated it.
posted by DU at 6:47 AM on April 3, 2007

As far as I can tell after a cursory search, a mistake of that caliber doesn't rescind a residential lease, especially if its by the landlord (who is assumed to have greater knowledge of the leasing process.)

I would call your local Housing Authority office and get them to give you more precise advice; its what they do all day.

IAN(Y)AL, Seek competent licensed council in your area.
posted by plaidrabbit at 7:11 AM on April 3, 2007

My law student girlfriend says that the dates on the lease trump the "term of 1 year(s)" clause, but I'd have to agree that a polite discussion with the landlord / attempting to find a sublet is probably a wiser course of action than relying on the court to sort things out.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 7:13 AM on April 3, 2007

If the one-year language was part of a template lease and the dates were written in, a court might be more willing to interpret the lease as ending in March. Especially in a case where the tenant relied on the dates in some manner (like, made arrangements to live elsewhere).
posted by jaysus chris at 7:34 AM on April 3, 2007

The reality of the situation is this: if your landlord doesn't agree with your interpretation of when the lease ends and you leave anyway, he'll probably haul you into small claims court for whatever penalties your lease provides for breaking early. Do you really want this to end up in court? Even small claims is a lot of hassle, and there's no guarantee you'd win -- especially if he has a lawyer and you don't. There's a possibility a judge would find that the lease is invalid on account of the mistake, but there's also a possibility that, given evidence that you both understood the lease to be for one year (as you said, "I signed a one-year lease"), a judge would view that as sufficient meeting of the minds for the lease to stand as an agreement for one year.

I think it would be easiest to do as others have suggested and offer to have someone else lined up to rent your apartment as soon as you vacate. So much less hassle that way, and unless your landlord's a total jerk he will probably agree to it.

IANAL, this is not legal advice, etc.
posted by AV at 8:40 AM on April 3, 2007

Most of the damage to an apartment is at move-in/move-out times. Most of the hassle is in finding a tenant, checking references, renting it out, assessing damages, reimbursing the security deposit, arguing about how dirty the carpet was when the tenant moved in, yadda, yadda.

If you really need to leave, keep that in mind when you negotiate with the landlord. S/he doesn't want to go to court, and if you make it a painless situation, s/he will have less motivation to. IAAL (I Am A smalltime Landlord)
posted by theora55 at 9:35 AM on April 3, 2007

Unless you have a very expensive apartment, anything that involves lawyers is going to suck up far too much time and money to be worth it.

Make the best deal that your landlord will go with.
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 9:50 AM on April 3, 2007

one of the maxims of construing contracts is that when a contract is ambiguous, i.e., susceptible of two different interpretations, it will be construed against the party who drafted the contract and thereby created the ambiguity.
posted by bruce at 10:17 AM on April 3, 2007

Another maxim of contract construction is that when a term is ambiguous, the court will admit outside evidence to determine the intent of the parties at the time the written agreement was executed. Given that you've already referred to it as a 1-year lease, and that accidentally writing "March" instead of "May" is a pretty easy slip-up, most likely a judge would ignore "March" and substitute "May."

Just ask if you can get out of it, offer to help find a replacement if necessary.

This is not legal advice, and I'm not your lawyer.
posted by MrZero at 10:24 AM on April 3, 2007

Your landlord is a human being. Treat him with the respect you would anyone else. I find the attitude you display here a little baffling, to be honest. Fine. You don't want to live there any longer. Take the high road and find a new tenant, or something. Why decide to be an asshole?
posted by miss tea at 10:49 AM on April 3, 2007

So if you can find someone to take it over, your landlord will more than likely agree.

He has no choice. The damages he can collect for breaking the lease are limited to the rental income that he lost. If the apartment is rented, he has no damages.
posted by Lame_username at 12:11 PM on April 3, 2007

Don't end on a sour note, and don't go to court. Instead, use the lease mistake as a conversational gambit for discussing your early departure. If he's a normal person, he'll understand that you're saying "I'm not going to be a jerk and try to leverage your mistake into a benefit for myself", and so may be more inclined to be flexible.

Simply give your landlord a holler and say "hey, I was reviewing my lease, because I'm trying to make plans for the rest of the year, and I noticed you accidentally wrote the wrong month for the end of the one-year term. Obviously it was just a mistake, and the lease is in effect for the full year -- but it got me thinking that I'd actually be better off if I left earlier than that. What are my options for terminating the lease early, as far as security deposits, subleases, and such? I don't *need* to leave, but I thought I'd bring it up in case there's an arrangement that would benefit both of us."
posted by davejay at 1:09 PM on April 3, 2007

IAAL, IANYL, IANAUSL (I am not a US lawyer) and TINLA (this is not legal advice).

Precise dates generally trump vague ones ... and ... contract clauses tend to be interpreted against those who drafted them (contra proferentum rule). I'd say you would be OK ... but he may put you through hell to get your deposit back "just cause he can ... just cause you did!"

J
posted by jannw at 1:45 PM on April 3, 2007

I don't think that is good advice Lame_username, I strongly doubt a Landlord is required to accept a sublease or another renter entirely vetted by the original renter. Some will allow it, some expressly forbid it. It is something to ask about, but not assume that the owner of a property has no say in the matter.
posted by edgeways at 1:53 PM on April 3, 2007

Has your landlord wronged you? If not, it would seem only honest to stick with the terms you agreed to - you obviously entered into it expecting a year lease. A mistake in the lease's legalese shouldn't give you the right to renege on an agreement.

This assumes you care about upholding your agreements, of course, and isn't a legal opinion.
posted by chundo at 1:54 PM on April 3, 2007

People move and get out of their leases all the time. I woud be surprised if you couldn't simply find someone else to replace you. Use Craig's list.
posted by xammerboy at 5:00 PM on April 3, 2007

This situation is simple. Send your landlord a letter that says:

"this letter serves as my written intent to vacate the property I'm currently renting from you on April 30, 2007."

For people who have suggested that katieinshoes is being a jerk here, you obviously haven't rented in Kansas. If Katie lives in Lawrence, she especially shouldn't think twice about doing what she has every right to do.

It especially isn't her job to find a new tenant. What a joke.

Send the intent to vacate letter. They still have a month to find a new tenant.

If you have a discussion with the landlord, you will give away the fact that you also think there is something wrong with the lease. There isn't anything wrong with it, it means what it says.
posted by tommunation at 6:03 PM on April 3, 2007

Response by poster: I have no interest in going to court or getting in a big fight with my landlord. He's doesn't go out of his way to be a dick, but he's made it clear in the past that in situations where only one of us can win, he's not interested in hearing my side of the story. "Conversational gambit" doesn't work with him because he doesn't listen to me beyond the first sentence.

Why I want to leave early is a long story, partly involving him misrepresenting the awesomeness of this duplex. The utility bills have been nightmarishly high because of a botched renovation that he didn't entirely finish. For the sake of my bank balance, I'd prefer to be out before air conditioning season.

I have no doubt the landlord can find a new tenant pretty quickly. The neighborhood's great and if he doesn't tell you about the utility bills, the duplex is a dream. (And I'd feel a little awful tricking someone into subleasing because, damn, the utility bills make it completely unreasonable.)

What I was looking for was a rule of thumb that's applied when a lease contradicts itself. It sounds like there's no clear consensus on that. I'm willing to stay put, but I figured if everyone said, "duh, everyone knows that invalidates the lease," I'd happily start putting my things in boxes. I suspected that my friends and family were giving bogus advice and I just needed the collective wisdom of MeFi to confirm that.

Thanks everybody.

And thanks, Tom. :) I'm not in Lawrence anymore, but it's not much better in Wichita. Especially because it's Wichita. I'm thinking about waiting until the end of the month to give notice (and leave at the end of May) because the landlord's a professor and he'll have more time to re-rent the place once the semester is over so he'll probably be less upset.
posted by katieinshoes at 6:34 PM on April 3, 2007