Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Nevada
We are tenants, 10 1/2 months into our lease, and reading our lease it says the term of the lease is from 11/1/10 to 11/30/11 for a total rent of $21,600. In the next paragraph it says the monthly rent is $1,800. In other words the stated term of the lease is for 13 months but the total $21,600 = $1,800 x 12. Quite frankly we had not read the lease recently and we thought we had a one year lease for $1,800/month. However, the lease says what it says, everyone signed it, and the landlord has held us to other provisions of the lease (a large late fee) that we thought unfair, but we acquiesced because hey, that's our signature on the lease. Do we owe rent for November?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Yes, the lease "says what it says," but does it say what you and the other party MEANT? Obviously, the answer is NO, because it was intended to be a 12-month tenancy.
I would not suggest you try to use a typo (someone put "11" instead of "10" in the termination date) to avoid paying a month's rent. If, indeed, it was supposed to terminate on October 31, you could be deemed to be a "hold-over" tenant in the property for the month of November, and the terms of the lease would still apply - namely, the $1,800/month rent. I don't believe any court would uphold non-payment of rent based on a clerical error.
If you give it a try, though, use the fact that November has 30 days, so the typist obviously intended it to say November. If October was intended, the date would have (mistakenly) read "11/31/11." Everything else in the contract seems to point to an intended termination of 10/31/11, though, so I really don't think you would get far in a court of law. What you might consider is just using it as leverage to negotiate a better finality with the landlord. My advice, though, is that you don't try to exploit an error - knowing full well what the true intent of the parties was - to get out of paying a month's rent. Honor the bargain you made.
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