Can I rescind a signed lease4 days after signing it, if I have not given a security deposit or moved in?
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Can I rescind a signed lease4 days after signing it, if I have not given a security deposit or moved in?
I signed a 1 year contract to rent a house. However, after riding by that weekend I saw that it was a two family house and people were outside hanging out and drinking in the street. I notified the landlord 5 days after signing the lease that I wanted to rescind the lease. There were no clauses in the lease that stated the amount of time that I would need to give to cancel the lease. I have not exchanged keys or given a security deposit as the current tenant’s lease ends in 2 weeks. My lease was to begin in 6 weeks
Asked on October 15, 2011 under Real Estate Law, Maryland
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If you wish to rescind the entrance of the written lease that you signed, you need to carefully read its terms and conditions in that the written document controls the obligations owed by you to the landlord and vice versa in the absence of conflicting state law.
Generally, written leases for residential property do not have a statutory basis to rescind like a loan to buy real property does. If the written lease is silent about the time to cancel it by rescission, then the lease does not have a provision allowing you to rescind it. Typically in order to rescind a contract there has to be fraud by one person, mutual mistake of fact for the entry into the agreement, duress, or one person does not have a mental capacity to enter into the agreement.
I suggest that you speak with your landlord face to face about why you want out of the agreement that you entered into and see if he or she will sign a document cancelling your obligation under the agreement that you signed.
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