If I wasn’t given a full copy of my lease, is it legally binding on my part?
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If I wasn’t given a full copy of my lease, is it legally binding on my part?
I signed a lease and am expecting to only pay the 19 days of this month; that’s when my lease runs out. However, I was told today that I have to fill out a 30-day notice to vacating the premises I’m being required to pay for extra days. I was further informed that this information is in my lease. Yet when I looked at the copy of the lease that the office gave me, there were only a few pages here and a few pages there. And nothing stating the 30-day notice part. Am I negligent or them?
Asked on September 22, 2011 under Real Estate Law, California
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
In order for you to resolve your issue with your landlord as to the payment for the balance of your lease where you are soon to move out, you need to get a complete copy of it in that its written terms control the obligations owed to you by the landlord and vice versa in the absence of conflicting Calfornia law.
Under California law, there is a thirty (30) day notice of termination requirement to end a lease for various reasons either by the landlord or the tenant. This provision typically plays in when the lease's initial term is about to end and there is an automatic renewal provision within the written document and the lease will be renewed for another term at a set rental unless the tenant or the landlord terminates it under specified guidelines.
I suggest you get a copy of your written lease and read it carefully as to how to end it. You should also send a written notice immediately to the landlord advising him or her that you will be ending the lease after thirty days and possibly sooner keeping a copy of the notice for future need.
Good luck.
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