[lite1]

I have looked at a California residential rental property and have signed a one year lease which commences in a week. I want to move into the rental and while I expect that will take place, I am not sure whether I have a valid one-year lease at this point. I have been told by the agent who has represented me and shown me the property that the lease will be signed soon by Landlord and that the lease is already valid and not to worry. While I expect that Landlord will sign, I disagree with agent's indication that lease is valid.

Other info: There is a listing agent who has not signed but lease does show their name but not their license number. I believe that the listing agent prepared the lease for my signature. The lease does show the name of the Landlord. Just prior to my going to sign the lease, my agent had emailed me indicating that I was to bring two cashiers checks to cover first month and security deposit, however one check was to be made out to my agent's company as the commission owed to my agent based on the lease that is paid by Landlord, and presumably Landlord had instructed agent to have the cashiers check to owner deduct this commission amount from the total due Landlord for first month and security deposit. I have every reason to believe that that is an accurate request made by Landlord but have no indication of the communication requesting it as it did not come directly to me. The lease shows that two cashiers checks were delivered by Tenant to my agent and shows date and initials for that aspect in the clause regarding Move-in costs.

I imagine that my agent has deposited the cashiers check made out to agent's company. I do not know whether the cashiers check to owner has been delivered to owner/Landlord or has been deposited. So consideration has been offered and delivered by my but not necessarily consummated.

It is unclear whether the person who was at the rental when I viewed it is the Landlord/owner or not, but I believe from further research that it is the Landlord/owner. The exchange between me and that person was friendly but did not have the elements that would constitute a verbal contract.

I am not privy to the email communication between my agent and the listing agent, or to the phone calls between the two. I have not spoken directly to the Landlord (other than perhaps when viewing the property). My written agreement with my agent is for them to rep me but does not give them authority to bind me to a rental agreement, and I assume that that is the case as well with the Landlord's listing agent.

An application was made via my agent with regard to the rental. My agent had told me that I had been accepted by the Landlord as a tenant, but I suspect that this communication was via the listing agent and that my own agent has not had direct communication with the Landlord who is the other party to this contract.

Do I have a valid one-year lease without Landlord signature? If "no," would the lease be valid if Landlord had deposited her cashiers check but had not yet signed lease? In this latter case, is this a valid one-year lease or perhaps merely a month-to-month lease?

Thanks for adding to my knowledge about contract law. From reading here and other websites I realize that there is lots of nuance to this whole signature aspect of contract law.

[ScottGem]

You signed the lease and paid money. You have completed your end of the contract. As soon as you receive the keys and move in the landlord will have fulfilled their end. The landlord's signature is not absolutely necessary to complete the contract. Your possession of the unit would be considered by a court as completion. The only way transaction is invalidated is if the listing agent was not authorized to act for the landlord and committed a fraud by renting to you.

[lite1]

@Scott From my understanding of contract law, based on a one semester class of biz contracts, I think you have some valid points. However, I think the crux of the matter is whether the Landlord has accepted the agreement and hence the "mutual agreement" aspect of the elements needed for a valid contract exist.

While acceptance does not require a signature, can be oral, and can be via behavior/actions, I am not sure that those yet exist in the situation that I described. I do agree if keys are delivered to me and therefore I have possession/access regardless of whether I have moved any possessions in that this constitutes acceptance. Perhaps depositing the cashier's check also constitutes acceptance.

Even if these things do occur, my understanding upon further research is that without a signature it is most likely that I would not have a one-year lease by a month-to-month lease under the same terms of the written contract; essentially I'd have a tenancy at will situation, which is not really what I want.

[ScottGem]

Like I said, "AS SOON AS" you get the keys...

I don't believe a court will go for the month to month interpretation. The facts being that you signed a termed lease. If the reverse were true, if you never signed the lease but took possession and paid, then you could argue that it is month to month since you never agreed to a term. But not the other way around.