Legal Question in Real Estate Law in District of Columbia
Material Errors in Addendums to Lease Agreements
In April my present landlord sent me a letter inquiring into whether I intended to renew my lease for $1,570 a month. I agreed to this at which he sent me an Addendum to my lease agreement with the monthly rent quoted as being $1,179. I quickly signed this addendum and returned it to the rental office who signed off on it. I requested and kept a copy of this addendum. A couple of weeks ago the rental office contacted me to ask whether it was my intention to renew my lease. I indicated that I already had. They then found the Addendum and indicated that it was for $1,570. The $1,179 figure had been crossed out and replaced with $1,570 after I signed it. I was wondering whether they can now hold me to the $1570 rental figure given that I have a copy of the original addendum.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Material Errors in Addendums to Lease Agreements
Dear Client, in your letter you have not explained how much you are currently paying for rent. I think that this is important because if you are now paying less than what is stated in your new lease term (the copy that you have!!!).... you have a stronger case for a lesser amount than the one contained in the corrected addendum. The lease amount included in the corrected addendum is not valid in my opinion: rent amounts are essential terms of a lease and therefore, any changes to that amount must be ratified by all parties... in other words, the moment they caught the error, they should have called you in to place your initials next to the corrected amount or draft a brand new addendum. On their side, there is a legal theory that could ask you to redraft the addendum due to the fact that the corrected amount was indeed the right amount agreed upon by all parties and that the lesser amount was only an error on both sides. I feel that you have a strong case, however, to keep the lesser amount (especially if it is higher than what you are currently paying) or at the very least you will have a way out of the lease all together. Give me a call to discuss this in further details, so that I can look at the lease and the addendum. I can be reached at 202/271-5983. Good luck to you.
Tiziana Ventimiglia
Re: Material Errors in Addendums to Lease Agreements
This was an obvious error on the part of the
rental office, and, given the fact that you well knew there had been no material change in the circumstances of your rental arrangement, i.e., 1/4 of your square living space footage was not being curtailed, there would be no logical reason for the landlord to be cutting you a roughly 25% reduction in your rent.
Yes, of course, they can hold you to the $1570
figure and anyone who tells you different is
merely inviting you down that proverbial garden path---that leads nowhere but to unnecessary difficulties and expunged expectations.
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