[lkroosgirl]

My daughter signed a lease under false pretenses. (Washington State). The lease's last paragraph is as follows, BINDING EFFECT:This contract contains the entire agreement of the parties. The terms and conditions of this contract shall apply to and bind the parties, their heirs, successors, executors, administrators and assigns.This contract shall become effective when properly signed by the Student, the Corporation and the Guarantor.

First off, security deposit (which was due at the time of signing) has never been paid. The contract requires three signatures, the student (my daughter), the Corporation (her sorority) and the guarantor (me). My daughter signed the contract, the corporation signature was photocopied onto the lease and I never signed as guarantor.

My question... without all the terms being met, specifically the security deposit and a guarantor signature, is this contract binding? Or can she tell her sorority to go take a flying leap? To this day she has never received a copy of the lease for her own records.

Help please, as my daughter is a college student who can't afford top ramen, much less rent on a place she isn't living at. Thank you, Lkroosgirl

[Fr_Chuck]

Why did she sign a lease that she did not want or could not afford ?

This will be tough, without payment, it could be argued that there was no consideration paid, You of course are not bound by it,
I would say if they push it, it will end up in court, so wait and see if they sue and then get an attorney. Even if they are wrong, they can always sue, so even being right does not mean you won't be in court.

[LisaB4657]

The lease is binding as to the people who signed it. The fact that no security deposit was given doesn't matter except that it means your daughter is in violation of the terms of the lease. As long as they offered her the place to live then the fact that she signed a lease means that appropriate consideration was given to create a binding lease.

You said that she signed the lease under false pretenses. What does that mean? Did they purposely mislead her in some way? If they committed some sort of fraud then the lease would not be binding but it would take a lot of work to prove it.

[lkroosgirl]

The lease is binding when it specifically states in the contract that it will not become effective till it is signed by the student, corporation AND the guarantor? Those words were specific to the lease.

The false pretenses thing: My daughter lived in the sorority house for the month of July, paid her rent in full for the month and without a lease being signed yet, as she was told she HAD to have my signature (or another adult ) as the Guarantor. When she moved in, she fully intended on living in the house for the upcoming school year. Near the end of July she was laid off from her job (overstaffing reasons) and it was clear to her that to continue to live in the sorority house was beyond her means. She and a friend signed a lease on an off campus apartment for a fraction of the rent at the sorority. (500.00 a month at the sorority and 150.00 in the apt) When she was preparing to move out of the sorority, her chapter president approached her with the lease. My daughter apologized and just said there was NO WAY she could afford to live in the house, therefore was moving out. The president "understood" and that the paper she had was for the landlord and her tax records to go with my daughters July rent payment. "It is just for the month of July, not the whole school year". My daughter took her at her word, and signed the paper. She would not have signed a 2nd lease if she knew that is what she was getting sucked into. Funny thing... each step of the way with the apt lease, she was calling me, asking a ton of questions as to what kind of information she should give to the prop. Mgmt company, if it was OK to sign this or that etc. Then for her to bonehead out and just take someone she thought was her friend at her word as to what she was now being asked to sign! OH to be 19 and have the world by the tail... I am quite sure no matter how this turns out she doesn't as much as sign her name on a matchbook w/o knowing exactly what it is she is signing and is total agreement!

As the situation stands right now, the national headquarters has washed their hands of the situation saying to "take care of it at the collegiate level"... bringing it back to dealing with it between my daughter and the president of her sorority. At this point it is a he said/she said thing and the only item to deal with is the contract.

I have received a phone number for legal aid in her area and suggested that my daughter contact them and have them look over her contract and advise her on what to do (or not to do) I have also strongly suggested that she avoids the sorority president till the day they have an arbitration meeting with the college housing board, impressing upon her that the ONLY issue at hand is the contract and circumstances under which she signed it. Not to muddy the waters anymore than has been done already with the hearsay crap. I am not an attorney, but that just seemed to be the best advice I could come up with until she could get some legal advice and direction on how best to deal with the situation. Thank you so much for your assistance... tough being a mom and knowing you got to let your child sink or swim, but would sure like to have a life ring to throw her way if she needs it:-)