invalid signature on rental agreement?

[bluelanugo]

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:08 am Post subject: invalid rental agreement?

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Hi there,

I used to live in an apartment owned by two sisters. I am now being sued by one of the sisters for breach of contract ( the rental agreement ). The part of the agreement I am accused of breaching is that she's saying I caused damage to the apartment beyond normal wear and tear.

I can't afford a lawyer and so I'm representing myself. I'm pursuing all kinds of leads in trying to defend myself, but I just got a brainstorm here, and wanted to run it by the legal minds here and see what you guys thought.

Now, for a rental agreement to be valid, doesn't it have to have a valid signature for both the owner and the renter? On my rental agreement, I have signed it, but for the owner space, it seems that one person wrote both names ( eg. Janet - Mary Smith ). Does that count as a valid signature? Can one person sign for two people? If it is invalid, and that invalidates the agreement, it would be pretty nifty. Am I wasting my time with this idea?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
John

PS. I live in LA, in case that matters.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

If you are being sued for damages that are not wear and tear, e.g. a nice sized hole in the wall and a door broken off of its hinges, then your not signing a contract would not seem to matter. You'd still be responsible for damaging the property in the same way you would as if you were in someone else's home and decided to put a hole in a wall using your foot.

My thought -- if the issue is whether the damage is wear and tear, there may be a liability issue. If there damage is not ordinary wear and tear but something more severe, your hope that a lack of signature for a lease will likely not matter with regard to the responsibility of the maker of the hole to the owner of the property.

Originally posted by bluelanugo
Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:08 am Post subject: invalid rental agreement?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi there,

I used to live in an apartment owned by two sisters. I am now being sued by one of the sisters for breach of contract ( the rental agreement ). The part of the agreement I am accused of breaching is that she's saying I caused damage to the apartment beyond normal wear and tear.

I can't afford a lawyer and so I'm representing myself. I'm pursuing all kinds of leads in trying to defend myself, but I just got a brainstorm here, and wanted to run it by the legal minds here and see what you guys thought.

Now, for a rental agreement to be valid, doesn't it have to have a valid signature for both the owner and the renter? On my rental agreement, I have signed it, but for the owner space, it seems that one person wrote both names ( eg. Janet - Mary Smith ). Does that count as a valid signature? Can one person sign for two people? If it is invalid, and that invalidates the agreement, it would be pretty nifty. Am I wasting my time with this idea?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
John

PS. I live in LA, in case that matters.

 

[bluelanugo]

Re: Re: invalid signature on rental agreement?

Thanks for the reply.

I'm being sued for breach of contract. I am said to have breached the "apartment will be returned with normal wear/tear clause". I know this is nothing to base a defense around; pursuing possibility of it as an interoggatory question ( eg. Is that your legal signature on the rental agreement ). My question is under what conditions is someone's signature NOT their signature. Can one owner sign the name of her partner?

Thanks,
John

Originally posted by michael
If you are being sued for damages that are not wear and tear, e.g. a nice sized hole in the wall and a door broken off of its hinges, then your not signing a contract would not seem to matter. You'd still be responsible for damaging the property in the same way you would as if you were in someone else's home and decided to put a hole in a wall using your foot.

My thought -- if the issue is whether the damage is wear and tear, there may be a liability issue. If there damage is not ordinary wear and tear but something more severe, your hope that a lack of signature for a lease will likely not matter with regard to the responsibility of the maker of the hole to the owner of the property.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Re: Re: Re: invalid signature on rental agreement?

This happens so often with landlords. Did you take pictures of the apartment when you moved out? If this goes to court it will be your word against the landlord. In many instances the landlord is bluffing to keep your money but I don't know what your situation is with regard to the lease renewal. The landlord may claim that you kept him on the hook regarding the apartment and unable to rent it in time. You should always send notices via certified mail and if not, by some method of proof of delivery such as fax. This case is not so clear but I would doubt you would be liable for breach of contract of the renewal lease.

Originally posted by bluelanugo
Thanks for the reply.

I'm being sued for breach of contract. I am said to have breached the "apartment will be returned with normal wear/tear clause". I know this is nothing to base a defense around; pursuing possibility of it as an interoggatory question ( eg. Is that your legal signature on the rental agreement ). My question is under what conditions is someone's signature NOT their signature. Can one owner sign the name of her partner?