Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
When is an agreement not binding? / Violation of agreement
My fianc� and I signed a rental agreement for an apartment. We gave the property manager the security deposit and first/last month's rent the next day. We asked for a copy of our rental agreement and were denied such as it was ''waiting to be signed by the owner''. We decided not to rent the unit 2 day later as there was no refridgerator or blinds (both were included in the agreement) and put in our 30-day notice the following business day. We have yet to receive a copy of our rental agreement (21 days later) as it is still ''waiting to be signed''. My questions are as follows:
A) If the owner had not signed the rental agreement before we turned in our 30-day notice, aren't we entitled to all our money (our deposit and our first/last month's rent, not just the deposit and a pro-rated rent from the time we gave notice to the time new tenants moved in) back?,
B) Isn't it illegal for the rental agency to accept our money if the agreement had not been signed by all concerned parties? and
C) In your opinion, would we have a case in small claims court?
I'd like to know if I should pursue the matter further or if we should just accept our deposit and pro-rated rent back.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: When is an agreement not binding? / Violation of agreement
The rental is probably valid without the owner's signature, because you signed and gove the money.
You could argue, however, that they breached the agreement by failing to provide a refrigerator and blinds, as per the agreement, and could have a good chance in small claims to recover all of your funds.
Re: When is an agreement not binding? / Violation of agreement
There is often room for reasonable disagreement on a question of law, and I think I would answer your question differently. Arguably at least, your signing the agreement did not seal the deal, and it was only an offer, subject to retraction prior to the owner's acceptance by his signature.
It is a general rule of contract law that an offer to enter into a contract can be withdrawn by the offeror prior to the offeree's acceptance, if the withdrawal of the offer is communicated to the offeree or his agent.
The owner's counter-argument might be that a binding agreement was already reached through the negotiating process, and his signature on the written lease was a mere formality. However, this is in my opinion a losing argument, since if the shoe were on the other foot the landlord would argue, "Unh-unh, I'm not bound to lease the apartment to these guys, I didn't sign the lease agreement yet." You can't have it both ways.
Your case is not rock-solid but it is pretty good, if you can prove everything you mentioned and there are no hidden facts.
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