Have not moved in, nor paid

Hello again:

Ok, the consideration aspect is arguable. But, do any of you believe that there was a “meeting of the minds”?

I offer only one fact to show that there was none. Green kept looking. Had green agreed to move in, he wouldn’t have continued to look. Indeed, have you ever shopped for an apartment? I have, and I hated it. When you found it, didn’t you go “wheew”, I can stop looking now? And, IF you kept looking, wouldn’t that mean that you HADN’T found a home?

It would to me, and I believe it would to a judge. I again submit that there was no contract.

excon

Sorry, excon, but I have to disagree. A contract is very strong evidence that there was a meeting of the minds. The only time that a contract is not a meeting of the minds is if there is a substantial misunderstanding by one or both of the parties of the subject of the contract. That wasn't the case here. The original poster understood exactly what he was getting and chose to back out when his personal circumstances changed after the contract was signed.

And by the way, mutual promises constitute sufficient consideration for a contract.

While Chuck makes some good points, the FACT of the matter (based on the information provided) is that a contract was entered into (the Lease). It appears the landlord acted in good faith and the apartment was ready for occupancy according to the terms of the lease. Therefore, the prospective tenant is in breach of that contract. The only wiggle room here is whether the landlord had a right to enter into such a contract. But the fact that it was put in writing and signed would indicate she was.

Those are the legal issues and I don't believe, as Lisa points out, that there is any doubt about that.

However, there are several questions, as Chuck points out, about what can or will happen next. Whether the landlord will proceed with legal action and in what venue is an open question. Whether a judge will award full remuneration is another open question. A judge might decide one months rental is sufficient.

The question is whether you want to risk that as well as deal with the time involved. Best to offer to settle for 1 month's rent.

I have re-thought my position on the amount that has to be tendered to the landlord. The original amount should have been for 1150.00 Since the leasee will be giving notice, the last months rent can be considered a deposit and should be returned in full if tendered. So the leasee would have to lease and give a notice of vacating at the same time. On consideration, If one were to take the explanation given here there would be no such thing as a rental contract anywhere because one could back out at anytime prior to posession

In this case, the consideration comes about by way of posession. A couple of notes about posession.

POSSESSION - A person has possession of something if the person knows of its presence and has physical control of it, or has the power and intention to control it. [More than one person can be in possession of something if each knows of its presence and has the power and intention to control it.

The law recognizes several kinds of possession. A person may have actual possession or constructive possession. A person may also have sole possession or joint possession.

A person who has direct physical control of something on or around his person is then in actual possession of it.

A person who is not in actual possession, but who has both the power and the intention to later take control over something either alone or together with someone else, is in constructive possession of it.

If one person alone has possession of something, possession is sole.

If two or more persons share possession, possession is joint.

The tenancy agreement is a contract between a tenant and a landlord. It may be written or oral. The tenancy agreement gives certain rights to both tenant and landlord, for example, tenant's right to occupy the accommodation and the landlord’s right to receive rent for letting the accommodation.

We don't disagree that it appears a valid lease was entered into. However, I don't know if a judge would award first AND last month rentals if the person never moved in. Assuming a 30 day notice, then only one month rental would be due. Awarding 2 months would seem to me an overstep and more punitive. That doesn't mean a judge wouldn't do it. It appears that Greenducky may not have acted in goodfaith by continuing to look for another apartment after signing a lease. That might weigh on a judge's decision, especially in Small Claims court.

Bottomline here is that it appears a valid contract was entered into. That gives the landlord solid footing in any legal venue. Whether they can recover more than 1 month rental is debateable, but I don't think there would be any problem in getting a judgement for the one month.

John did not indicate where he is located, but in certain states asking for more than twice the amount of rent would be considered an invalid contract. Since the rent is for 450.00, it could be that requiring 1150 may be a reason to invalidate the lease agreement.

Terms like that within a contract do not invalidate the contract...they are just unenforceable terms.

Rick, I stand corrected, I should have said that if the landlod were to try to enforce an illegal clause the tenant can sue for damages. In some states that would include penalties equal to or exceeding the months rent and may also include attorney fees. In this case it would zero everything out.

Gotta go!

At most, you would be responsible for 1 months rent, which is 495.

However, Exon and Fr Chuck make very good points that you should consider.

First, as they said, talk with HER landlord about whether she can sublet or not.

If she does take you to court, use Fr Chuck's advice and fight her in court. If you lose in court, all you will have to pay is 495 (1 months rent).

While I think that is the most likely scenario, its not a guarantee. I agree that you should contact her landlord, but, as I said earlier, I doubt if she would have a written lease if it was not allowed.

If you wait to go court, you will be losing the time involved in a court case as well as the potential stigma of having a judgement entered on your credit record. And you would very likely still have to pay at least the one months rent.

So I stand on my recommendation to settle. If you want to try and call her bluff about taking you to court, you can. But if she does, then I would quickly settle.