Is the contract legally binding?

Question

I can't seem to find this anyway on the internet, but i have talked to a couple different laywers that think since my landlord did not sign the lease, and still have not signed it after 3 months, it may not be legally binding. I have found one thing online that says the contract is not in affect until all parties names on the contract have signed. Which there are 4 names total, and 2 of us have signed, the other 2 are the landlords, which have not. Also if this is true my other question is, is there anything we could do about getting our money back for the rent we have paid since it would not be in affect. We were not sure of this because we have been living here, so we may not get a refund. which is understandable. If this is true and since they did not sign, how would we go about dealing with it, would we just tell them, and if they do not believe us then they can do what they think they need to do. We are talking to some attorneys and seeing if they will be willing to write a letter to them. That is probably the way we will go if possible. Also, sorry last question I promise. Since they have a copy and we have a copy, we are worried about them signing there copy and going and saying they did sign it, even though we do not have a signed copy. There are also parts of the contract that say we will receive a copy of the contract, and a copy of 5 other things listed on the contract the day we sign. I did not receive any of these, and still have not received the list they said we would get information about? Does that make a difference?

we live in colorado. and the rent question is just a question, we do not expect it back because we have lived there this entire time, that is not something that we are worried about. and the reason we are wanting to move is because my husbands job is being relocated, and up until the last month and a half or so we have got along with our landlords, they are personal friends, but then they started calling constantly and asking for things not in the lease, we feel that we do not need to do more then what we signed in the lease, and that we cannot ask more then what is asked of them, but this is becoming a hassle because the last tenants left a lot of there property and the landlords are constantly calling saying they want to know if they can pick it up, and at first we said ok, but then it got to be a big deal because they never showed or did what they said they would, we understand that this is not a huge deal, but we just feel it is not going to stop within the next 9 months we're ther

also the only reason we have lived here for 3 months is because we have been waiting for them to give us a copy of the lease agreement, they finally did on the 1st and after we realized that they haven't signed, that is when we went to an attorney and started asking questions. We don't feel safe since they did not sign this because signing is agreeing to go by what is written in the contract. Since we signed we can never get out of it early, but since they didn't they could kick us out at anytime or do something since there name is no where on the contract.

And I have actually been talking to real estate attorney's.

Answer 1

If your landlords are in possession of a copy of your lease with YOUR signatures on it, you are not in good shape. How do you know they have not signed it, and just neglected to provide copies of same to you ? That they may have neglected to provide you a copy will not invalidate the contract.

Answer 2

People: When you have a question about real estate or any type of legal matter, it is very important to put in your location, as the laws for these things vary greatly from place to place.

You might have a case to walk away from your unsigned lease. However, a judge will probably want reasons other than "the landlord didn't sign it." So you should have some good reason other than this. It's very unlikely, and could even hurt your case, to make a demand for a refund for rent you already paid, unless there is something seriously wrong with the apartment--it makes you look greedy.

I'm no judge, but if I were, I might actually think the fact you stayed as long as you have works against you--in other words, you have agreed to the lease for three months, so what's the problem? For instance, some states have laws on the books that say, if people create a contract, and they agree to it and follow its terms, that a mere failure to actually sign the contract is not a valid reason to cancel it (in New York state).

It is nearly certain that you will end up in small claims court, either as a defendant or as a plaintiff, if you go this route, so be prepared to defend your decision in court. Expect that the landlords won't return any deposits you paid. Be sure to read up on the applicable laws yourself. I'm sure the tenancy laws for your area are available online somewhere. You may also want to do some research at a library or bookstore for books on landlord-tenant relations.

I really don't think you have a good enough reason to break your lease, unless there are other big problems with the apt and landlord that haven't been addressed.

Answer 3

I'm sure the landlord can produce the original lease with all signatures on it. Even if the landlord did not sign it, a judge would see that you did and you knew the intent of such a document. Furthermore, even if a lease was never signed by either party...you would still be considered, by law, a "tenant at will" and local landlord/tenant laws would govern the terms. I don't know what kind of attorney's you've been talking to, but they obviously know very little about real estate law.

Answer 4

You don't need their signatures on your copy for the lease to be valid - it's a copy.

If you have not received copies of all documents, request that the landlord provide them to you.

I can guarantee you that the landlord can produce an original with all signatures, if needed.

No, you would not get any rent back. Even if nobody signed a lease, you would be month to month tenants with an oral agreement by default.

Answer 5

a settlement is signed between 2 events (or greater) with the settlement which you get something or a provider in exchange for something or provider. as an occasion, a hire for an condo: you settle to furnish funds each and each month (hire) in exchange for them offering a place so you might stay. So a settlement that asserts you get each and every thing in somebody's homestead isn't binding on condition that they get no longer something in return. additionally, a settlement won't be able to be made for criminal pastime. despite if that's illegitimate to kiss a sixteen year old, yet she signs and symptoms a settlement pointing out she would manage to enable it, that settlement isn't legally binding.

Answer 6

Your contract is not valid, or legally binding unless and until you receive a signed and dated copy, have offered cash or equivalent payment as agreed upon, and fulfilled your end of the deal, as it is stated in the contract for lease.

You have lived there for two months, so write the rent off as gone, unless you want to try to sue for it.

I would hate to think you were that small.