Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois

My wife and I moved into our apartment in May, making it clear that we only needed the apartment for 8 months(until my wife has finished her student teaching). The agent said that we would work out the details of that later, and when we signed the lease the date was even such that it would have to be altered to fit our needs(it said the lease started on 5/13/10 and ended 4/30/10). Really all that needed changed was the month of April to the month of December. However, when we looked at a copy of the lease from the office, it shows that the Year in the ending date has been crossed through and written over with an 11 and is initialed by the agent, who claims to not remember us needing to be out in December. Now they want to charge us early termination fee to get out when we originally needed to be. I want to know if the lease is even valid, with the wrong date on the original copy and the change only being initialed by the leasing agent. Can they hold us to this lease?


Asked on 12/10/10, 9:22 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Stephen Messutta

Didn't you get your own copy of the lease when you made the change that differs from the one in the office? It is possible that the agent committed fraud, but you may be the victim. But if YOUR change doesn't also have the landlord's initials accepting it, you may be at risk. Have an attorney look at what you have for a complete analysis.

The response given is not intended to create, nor does it create an ongoing duty to respond to questions. The response does not form an attorney-client relationship, nor is it intended to be anything other than the educated opinion of the author. It should not be relied upon as legal advice. The response given is based upon the limited facts provided by the person asking the question. To the extent additional or different facts exist, the response might possibly change. Attorney is licensed to practice law only in the State of Illinois. Responses are based solely on Illinois law unless stated otherwise.

Read more
Answered on 12/15/10, 8:19 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Landlord & Tenants questions and answers in Illinois