My husband and I looked at a home in MI we were interested in renting. The home was advertised as a 4 bedroom with a family room in the basement. The fourth bedroom is also located in the basement. When we viewed the home, we noticed that the basement was very cold with no apparent heat source. I called the owner and inquired about it, asking if the basement was heated. His reply was that there was heat in the basement, and that it was controlled by a panel in the laundry room which we overlooked.

With that answer we decided we wanted to rent the home and I met with an associate of his to sign the lease and pay the rent and deposit. The lease was to be in both my husbands and my names, as we applied jointly. He was not there for the signing however, so I signed and took a copy which I was instructed to have him sign and mail to the owner.

We were given the key and went to the house, where we found that there is, in fact, no heatingdor the basement. The panel he said was there is for a wall heater which barely works and would only heat the bathroom if it did work. So my question is, is the lease binding with only my signature? Also, doesn't there have to be a heat source in any room stated to be a bedroom? I know it was a mistake to trust this person and take his word without verifying details first, bit it seems he has misrepresented this home and we don't want to be bound to a house which won't suit our needs.

Thank you for any help you can offer.

Yes, the lease is binding. He offfered and you accepted by signing it. It's a done deal.

It may be that you could avoid the contract based upon what he may have said about the heat, but I doubt it. He could probably dispute what you asked him exactly, or what his answer was.

The lease is definitely binding since you paid money and got the keys. But I'm not so sure you can't void it because the premises were not as advertised. However, it would probably have to go to court since I doubt if the landlord will agree to return what you paid unless you take him to court.