Help! My land lord has just handed me a lease to sign, expecting it back immediately! I am very unhappy with certain parts of it, so I need to decide how to proceed.

 

photo by shho @ sxc.hu

Here’s the back story

I moved into the house I’m living in now at the end of November last year (2010.) At the time, the house was owned by a couple N and J, but my roommate L had signed the whole lease herself in September, and then found R, our other roommate, and myself to move in and split the rent.

I didn’t sign a lease when I moved in, and I didn’t really want to, because I started looking into buying a house and didn’t want to commit to anything.

The new situation

In April, L bought our house from the land lords, who were only too happy to be rid of it. She got a very good deal, and already had 2 tenants (R and myself) paying enough rent to cover the mortgage.

She started mentioning needing to put together a lease, and I think her parents were bugging her to get us to sign something.

Today’s lease situation

Today, my roommate finally brought home a copy of my lease, with my name spelled right. I believe she was expecting me to read it through, sign it, and give it back to her today - but that’s not going to happen.

Issue 1: Lease cancellation terms

The language of the lease states that the lease term begins May 1st, and that in the event of a tenant (me) moving out, all rent for the remainder of the year is due on the move-out date.

Now, I haven’t had time to poll many people in the area, but a quick phone call to my sister confirmed that where she lives, it is typical that if a lease is broken, the tenant will owe only 2 months rent - not the remainder of the lease.

Issue 2: Special arrangement for reduced rent

For the last 2 months I have had a $100 reduction in rent, and this month it will be closer to $150 off, because I paid for some home improvements and L is paying me back overtime for those.

The lease language says that I owe $325 starting in May, so theoretically L could come back to me later and claim I didn’t pay the full rent for those months.

Add a little drama

There are a couple of reasons I want to go into this conversation prepared.

1) L and I had a small argument a couple of days ago, and there is still some tension on both sides. Any disagreement with her terms could turn into a huge fight. I’m not in a position to move to a new place quickly, since I have a 50lb dog to take with me.

2) I’m worried that bringing up the clause about reduced rent will be a big “I don’t trust you” sort of thing - especially because I’m sure she doesn’t plan on coming back to be later and demanding that money. I may be crossing a line in a tense situation just to get some legal reassurance - and it’s probably not necessary.

The outcome I’m hoping for

I am thinking about buying my own place in November and moving out in December. Paying to cancel the whole lease would be $1,625. That’s quite a chunk of change to add on top of closing costs and buying more furniture.

If we put in a 2 month clause, I’d owe only $650.

I think I would probably agree to 3 months, because the rent is so low, but I’d still have to pay nearly $1,000 to move out, and I’m sure she’d find a new tenant way before that 3 months was up.

I also am going to write up a document detailing the reduced rent.

So, a little help?

I know that some of you are renters, and a bunch of you are landlords. Do you think a 2-months or 3-months rent clause at cancellation is reasonable?

Do you think it’s worth it to play it on the safe side and add in some wording about the reduced rent?

Update:

Thank you for the advice! I asked the land lord if we could make it a 6-month lease starting July 1st, so it will end December 31. She easily agreed to this. Still haven’t gotten the updated lease yet though!