Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Washington

I need to get out of my lease.

I have a 5 year lease with my landlord, 4 of which remain. I would like to get out of this lease. I noticed, upon reviewing it that our names are reversed in the first paragraph, identifying me as the 'lessor' and my landlord as the 'leassee'. There isn't a contractual validity clause like I've seen in other contracts, where it says something like 'no part of this contract shall be deemed invalid if any other parts herein are deemed invalid...'

Is this an out for me?

I am having trouble making the lease payments. I have discussed this with the landlord, and they have waived the late fees, but out relationship is rather acrimonious at this point.

I'm doing my very best to live up to this obligation, but I need some help!

Thank you.


Asked on 7/14/06, 12:53 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Elizabeth Powell ELizabeth Powell PS Inc

Re: I need to get out of my lease.

Well, I wonder it you are not in luck.

This answer is predicated on the assumption that this is a residential agreement. If it is a commercial lease, this answer does not apply.

Turn to the page with the signatures at the end of the lease agreement. Are your signatures notarized? If the answer is no, then the lease is not valid for more than one year. After one year it becomes a month-to-month agreement and a clever lawyer could argue that it was always a month to month.

The RLTA will only allow a lease - a written lease - to transfer an interest in real property for a period of one year or less, unless the document is "acknowledged". That means (in this case) notarized.

Sloppy drafting will not save you. There is apparently a savings clause, and no judge is going to fail to enforce the lease because the names are backwards.

They just might refuse to enforce it if it is residential and not acknowledged.

If it has been at least a year since you entered the agreement, give your landlord a 20-day notice to terminate tenancy (on or before the tenth of the month) and be on your way before the end of the month.

Powell

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Answered on 7/14/06, 1:12 am


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