Must a landlord sign the lease along with the tenant to make it valid?
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Must a landlord sign the lease along with the tenant to make it valid?
My landlord has not signed the lease or provided a seal on any signature line.
Asked on June 9, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Michigan
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If the lease was provided by the landlord to you, then your signature should be sufficient to enforce it:
1) Clearly, you would be bound to the lease, having indicated your acceptance of it by signing.
2) If the landlord provided the lease to you, then it is the landlord's "offer--i.e. an offer to lease to you under certain terms. When one party makes an offer and the other party accepts it, that forms a contract. The landlord's agreement to his own offer can be taken from the fact that he made the offer--i.e. those are his lease terms, so he agreed to them.
(Note that if this was NOT the usual case and you, as tenant, actually drafted the lease and presented it to the landlord, then you would need his signature to enforce it against him.)
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