Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Massachusetts

military deployment of tenant and lease validity to that tenant

My boyfriend and I cosigned a one year lease which expires Aug 31.He is in the Army Nat. Guard and is being deployed to Iraq in May.Can he legally break the lease (i.e., move out before our lease expires and stop paying rent)without legal reprocussions?If so, does that mean that I can break the lease since we are cosigners or will I be held responsible to continue paying the rent in full until the lease expires?Also,our landlady messed up on the year of the lease, we signed a lease from ''9/1/03 until 8/31/03'' (instead of 8/31/04).Is it even valid?


Asked on 3/20/04, 9:21 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Joseph Murray Joseph M. Murray, Esq.

Re: military deployment of tenant and lease validity to that tenant

Your boyfriend should immediately make an appointment through his chain of command with the JAG lawyer assigned to provide legal assistance to his deployng unit, who after reviewing the lease may be able to draft an agreement for early termination of it due to military necessity for him at least. If the landlady will not release you in writing you may need to retain a lawyer to draft a similar release agreemnt for yourself. The wrong date would likely be ruled an obvious typographical error not likely to void the lease which you all signed.

JOSEPH M. MURRAY, ESQ.

56NORTH BEDFORD STREET

EAST BRIDGEWATER, MA 02333-1173

(508) 378-3944

[email protected]

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Answered on 3/20/04, 12:10 pm


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