My friend and I moved into a house apartment in NE Ohio recently along with another person (who had already been living there a while). We all three printed off copies of the lease agreement and signed, but they were never sent in to the lessor. Is this still binding. I'm not trying to cause any issues, but the third party (tenant already living on the premises) already has new roommates lined up and I know for a fact that the lessor doesn't have a signed copy of the leases we signed. My friend and I are currently in possession of all four copies of the lease. If brought to court without any paper evidence could they have a case against us.
This may seem very sneaky but the living situation was extremely uncomfortable and seemed even dangerous to both my friend and I.

You moved in and you have leases, strong evidence that agreements were made, and any argument about who signed or not is very weak. This isn't like buying a house.

What is your objective; to not be liable for the lease? Is the landlord demanding rent for the full term?
Or is this a case of a gap in rents between you wanting out and the old/existing tenant getting new roommates? Either case, the landlord can legally hold you to rent until he approves and collects rents from new tenants.

Have you made any rental payments or paid a security deposit? If so, who was that paid to and was it accepted? Do you have a receipt/canceled check for it?

There are two parts to any contract. One party contracts for some goods or services and the other party receives some consideration for providing those goods or services. So if you have proof of payment, your tenancy is valid. However, the landlord may deny the term of the tenancy without the signed lease making you a periodic tenant and subject to termination of tenancy with proper notice.

Did you ever talk to the actual landlord/owner or were all your dealing through the current tenant?

He can legally hold us to pay even though he has no lease signed by either one of us? And in all honesty I've sent him multiple e-mails since we have decided to move out and have yet to hear a reply. Only the current resident has demanded money in the up coming months. So I'm assuming that he has no issue with us, but since he refuses to reply to my e-mails I'm wondering if he is trying to speak to us through her.

If there was a written lease, if all parties, agreed even verbally to those terms, If that written lease was acted on, such as by moving in, by paying the rent stated in that lease and the deposit.

The landlord can try, and the other room mate can also claim damages if there are no room mates to replace you.

Your obligation would end, once other room mates move in, but you may have obligation till the move in.

I say may, since it will be up the local judge on his beliefs on the contract.

If you tell in court, you signed it, but did not provide the landlord with a copy, you will lose for sure, but your other actions in many courts will be viewed as binding the contract.

I sent a check to the landlord, but all other bills were paid through the roommate currently living in the house. I've, since attempting to move out, tried to contact the landlord on multiple occasions and have had no reply. The request to pay for next month was made by the current tenant. I will not pay for anything unless asked by the landlord himself, and I don't want this to move to court in any case. If asked to pay next month I will more than willingly do so. The only thing I could see being an issue is the other months set out by my 6th month lease. But the current tenant is having new roomates moving in so I'm hoping this won't be an issue. Thanks for your input.

Would this obligation apply also to other bills not covered by the lease such as gas, electric, and water; since these have no dealing with the landlord? Thanks for the input.

Were there verbal agreements about the electric and things with the landlord ? With the other renter ?

Even if the lease is not considered valid by a judge, you will be bound by a month to month rental agreement, and have to give at least a 30 day notice to move and be obligated for all bills though that point.

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As noted, both parts of the contract have been executed. You paid a sum of money and received lodgings. Therefore the lease is valid and you are responsible for the rent and any additional costs, such as utilities, that are part of the tenancy.

When a landlord accepts a check, he is bound to that person as a tenant, even if only a tenant at will rather than a tenant with a lease of a term such as a year. Your landlord may be not replying because he has no idea who you really are yet, who is troublesome or not, and what he might plan to do with any or all of you - you haven't said with whom the rental was arranged, and it's usually the existing tenant.

The existing tenant can sue you for some amount of rent and utilities for the gap before being replaced, depending on agreements in writing or verbal and what the court feels happened. The landlord can also try for the rent, since you are now a tenant, but he can more easily go after the names on the current lease. This depends a lot, again, on who you rented from and who provided you with the lease form. You just can't rely so much as you would like on little technicalities when the broad strokes apply and there are many aspects to the situation.


It's OK to say you will only pay the landlord for rent, but you do owe, and you do owe for utilities.