Ambiguous statement in lease

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ceilidh

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Hello,

I have recently moved into a new apartment, where rent includes heat and hot water. It does not include cable, however the landlord claims I must pay cable separately, as a lump sum, when I move in. My lease goes as follows:

Renting unit 10 from August 1, 2009 at the rate of $ x p/mo (before cable).

...

Rent includes Heat, Hot water, and cable hookup. Cablevision payable at rate of $z per year in advance including channels 02-58.

My interpretation of the last statement when I signed the lease was that 'cablevision' was optional, and if I wanted cable I could choose to pay the amount. I did a definition search on the word 'payable' and as expected there are multiple definitions. 1) payable indicates that something is due, or 2) payable indicates that something is able to be paid. I read the latter when I signed the lease, and also assumed the conventional thought that if something is required, it would be included in my rent.

Of course my landlord is not happy that I do not want to pay this, however I don't own a TV so am very reluctant to pay for a service that I do not want nor can I even use.

Thank you.
 
RE: Ambiguous statement

I interpreted the last statement as 'cablevision is able to be paid at rate of y per year...' meaning that you could opt into cable at that rate.

Thanks.
 
I interpreted the last statement as 'cablevision is able to be paid at rate of y per year...' meaning that you could opt into cable at that rate.

Thanks.

The word able does not appear in your copy and paste of lease. Nowhere does it say that is optional infact the way I read it its part of what you pay landlord.
 
If the apartment had a dishwasher, however you never used it because you prefer to wash your dishes by hand, would you expect a discount?
The cable situation is similar. It is one of the included features of the apartment whether you intend to use it or not.
 
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