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When we moved in to our current house our landlord said our lease would be a year to year lease. We recently found out that they are selling the building and our housing situation isn't concrete anymore because it turns out our lease is a month to month instead. We asked the landlord to fix the issue and send us a new lease to sign but they are refusing to do so. Is there anything we can do about this situation?

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    We do have written proof as well that our lease is meant to be yearly instead of monthly.
    – Tanner S
    May 3 at 19:47
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    It doesn't sound like your landlord had you sign the wrong lease; it sounds like you signed a lease with terms different than what you agreed to. Absent some really strange circumstances, I think most courts are going to say you should have read the lease and send you on your way.
    – bdb484
    May 3 at 22:01
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    @TannerS Probably not. Can you prove the landlord was lying and didn't simply give you a month-to-month contract language by mistake? Can you prove the landlord knew you were less likely to sign a month-to-month, which many tenants would actually prefer? Can you provide some good reason why you didn't read your contract?
    – bdb484
    May 4 at 0:28
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    @bdb484 I have a message literally saying it is the wrong lease and was meant to be year to year from the realtor hired by the landlord. Is that not proof?
    – Tanner S
    May 4 at 0:56
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    Is there anything we can do about this situation? Sure. Option 1 is to try and get the landlord to sign a new lease (I understand you tried this and so far it failed). Option 2 is to find alternative housing arrangements, and once that’s done break the lease (with as much notice period as indicated in the lease you signed). Option 3, pursuing a legal recourse, in a case with such a thin factual basis, is going to be orders of magnitude more expensive and inconvenient than option 2.
    – KFK
    May 4 at 15:48

2 Answers 2

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You signed the lease

In general, this is definitive of your intention to have a month-to-month lease.

Any correspondence that you have prior to you signing that you wanted or even agreed on a yearly lease is only evidence that such things formed part of the negotiations but, for whatever reasons, what was ultimately agreed was a month-to-month lease.

If you can prove misrepresentation you might be able to get what you want but the usual remedy is recission (ending) of the contract, not a change to the contract. However, given that the type of lease is such a fundamental feature and is usually prominent on the document, proving you were misled rather than agreeing to a month-by-month lease will be difficult.

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  • How would it be difficult to prove we were misled? We have a message from the building realtor telling us that the lease is wrong and was meant to be monthly.
    – Tanner S
    May 3 at 23:58
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    @TannerS no, your lease is right - the realtor is wrong. Now do you see the issue?
    – Dale M ♦
    May 4 at 0:55
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Depending on the state, depends on how much tenant protection you have. Eviction process and notice regulations can be months out. So yes it is not a yearly lease, but depending on state, this may not matter much. Check your local town/city laws, and your state laws for tenant bill of rights.

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