What would happen if I did not sign the lease agreement?

Right. I rent an apartment without any lease agreement signed. But I still get to call my landlord when repairs are in order and they still come and do the repair. For me, as long as the money is paid, your landlord should be happy to help.

I think this usually happens when you are just an authorized tenant. You get the freedom to quit whenever you want to, without having to pay early termination fees and your rent cannot be increased, without a new lease agreement signed. But for the renter who is listed on the lease, this can be a disaster. Someone who’s not on the lease could just pack up their bags and go. Not a very good situation to get stuck with.

I totally agree with the part that reminds us to always give the right amount of notice before moving out. It doesn?t matter if you are on a lease or not, a tenant or a sublet, always give that notice. If worse comes to worst and you get sued in court, a 30-day notice might save you.

Okay. This is totally different from going over the rental application process, took a room and was given a lease agtreement that you never signed. Not singing the lease and then disputing its existence later on will only get you into trouble soon.

I am a landlord and I’ve had an experience with a tenant who said that there was no lease agreement signed so they moved out and when rent was not paid. I turned them over to collections and guess what, they sued me. So the case was heard and the judge scolded them by telling them that a confirmation and proof that an agreement existed can be traced to the fact that they moved in, paid rent, and lived in the apartment.

It’s terrible thing that a tenant would try to use every trick possible just to wiggle out of a lease. I just think it’s very unfair on the part of the landlord. Lease or no lease, you lived there and you paid rent so grow up and return the favor to your landlord.

Even without a written agreement, the law still recognizes any verbal agreement reached between two contracting parties. This is, of course, provided that there is enough proof of their agreement. When renting, there is no problem getting this proof. There are receipts for your monthly rent, utility bills, mails, etc. So if you get out, there would still be a breach of contract.

There are some states that even allow a tenant at will to only provide a 14-day notice to vacate. You are a tenant at will if you are occupying a property but without a lease agreement in place.

I think the relationship only goes sour if one of the party does something to make the other angry. Examples would be not paying rent, destruction of property, etc. So as long as both parties do their parts right, everything should fall into place.

I love the article. Short, but very informative. Thank you.