Recent Feedback
an apartment management team enticed me to rent from them by offering me 2 months free rent on a 12 month lease agreement in october 2008. I signed a contract declaring what I would be paying per month and which 2 months were going to be free starting november 1st. Upon move in I was asked to read and sign a larger contract in which unaware to me they had taken out the 2nd free month with a different wording which I did not catch. I went on thinking the original contract was still valid. I was never told that i was not getting the 2nd free month nor did I ever sign off the first contract as void. I feel very decieved by the lack of communication to make me aware of the change before I signed the 2nd contract. Can you help me to understand who is at fault and if there is anything that I can do.Thanks for your advise, Christie
DearCustomer- Since I have not read the documents involved I can only comment in general. First, if you have an original document that clearly states that you get 2 months free rent then you can use that document to argue your case and you can argue that there was no consideration for the second lease to be signed.
If all of this was just a verbal promise but not included in either written document then you have a problem since the written contracts take precedence over anything verbal, especially in real estate transactions. You are responsible to read what you signed so you would have to use a contractual argument to declare that the second contract is not enforceable and from what you have said that argument would be that there was no consideration to enter into a second contract and therefore the first contract is still valid.
Of course, as in any case of this nature, you will be up against a company that probably has a retained lawyer and the expense of hiring a lawyer to represent you will probably be more than the one month's rent you are contesting. I really can't offer you a solution to that problem but I think your technical legal position is good assuming the first contract provided for the 2 months free rent.
David Kennett - JD - Attorney at Law
Experience: 25 years experience in general law, including real estate, criminal, traffic, and domestic relations