Lanlord does is not willing to cancel lease

[Furby]

A week ago I and my fiancé looked at some apartments, there was one we liked in particular and we ended up signing the contracts the same day. Latter that night we decided it had not been the correct thing to do and we wanted to cancel our lease. I went the next day where I was told there was nothing they could do. I had to pay 87 percent of the rent and find a new lease holder as stated in the contract. I asked for a copy of the contract and left when it was given to me. I subsequently went 2 more times over the next few days. I always asked if there was anything we could do to cancel our lease and they always said we would have to pay and get a new tenant.

Yesterday my fiancé was re-reading the contract when she found a clause that said that if written cancelation was provided witting the first 3 days the lease was signed the lease would be voided without penalties. Today we went to talk to our landlord about it, she said since it was way pass the 3 days there was nothing we could do.

Did our tenant commit fraud by omitting the cancellation clause?
There was no deposit or application fee, we just want to get out of the lease should we seek a civil lawsuit?

 

[mightymoose]

You signed the lease which indicates that you read it and were aware of the 3 day cancellation policy.... even if you didn't actually read it like you are supposed to.

Anyway, if you have not actually paid any money yet, THEN DON'T!!!! If you pay anything you won't likely see it again.

You should still send them a written notice that indicates your attempts to cancel the lease in person the following day. They won't really care, but at least you will have something written on record.

If you haven't paid anything and they want to insist that you owe them then they will have to take you to court. I think they will have a hard time convincing a judge that they are really out anything under these circumstances. They also have a responsibility to try and rent the place to minimize their loss. It isn't totally your responsibility.

Don't pay anything unless a judge tells you to.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

You had a copy of the the "contract" (i.e., the lease) that you picked up the next day after signing it. Yet it still took you over three days to read it and find this clause?

It is up the you to thoroughly read a contract before you sign it. This is an extremely important thing for you to do.

The interesting issue in all of this is that real estate contracts (including leases) are not covered by the three day "cooling off" period that allows other contracts to be cancelled.

Gail

 

[mikelharise]

Signning a contract without reading it, is the mistake you have made and after collecting the copy next day and still not reading it before taking any further step is terrible mistake. I think you should talk to an attorney to find a way out.