illegal lease?

[rezinn]

My girlfriend managed to get herself caught in a pretty lame situation here. She signed an agreement to reserve an apartment and paid her first months rent for it, with three other people, last year. Unfortunately there was no date to move in on it. She planned on moving in in august, but it turns out that the lady managing the place called all four of the girls that were to live there, and wants them to sign a least beginning JUNE FIRST. Yes, it is July right now. She want's them to sign a lease that began over a month ago, and the other three girls already did it.

So the lease was just faxed to us. It is four pages and is missing the move in and move out dates, it's also missing the owners address/phone number. The lady won't give us the owners info, as she says he doesnt want to be bothered. I know that this lease is a joke, but what can she do?

She's trying to find someone to replace her, because the other three girls really want to live there and apparently don't care about this lady totally ripping them off. If my girlfriend backs out of the lease they will have to pay her share for the next year, so they are all going along with the old hag and telling my girlfriend it's her fault and to deal with it herself.

My advice to her was to ask for her money back and screw the three stupid girls. But she won't have that. Anything else we can do? I can't find any legislation about starting a lease before the possibility of moving in, only on why other parts of the lease is bad.

Cliffs notes:
gfs landlord ripping her off
roommates dont care, blame gf
lease totally a joke, starts a month before they could possibly move in
what to do?

 

[Gunslinger08]

Fvck that. If she's doing this type of crap at the very beginning, just imagine the stuff she's going to do later on with a signed lease. Your gf should NOT sign the lease and should be looking for a new place to stay.

 

[rezinn]

Sick part is her family is moving up there, and she will have a house not far from it. She is just being pressured by the lady and the three girls. I agree she should just back out.

 

[KarenMarie]

No no no!!
Don't ever sign anything that is not in full and fully understood.

They basically want your g/f to pay for a months rent that she did not live there and had not lease to live there.
Nu-Uh!

 

[HappyPuppy]

Your GF should replace her 3 friends and you should replace your GF. You don't really need to be stuck with a chick this dumb, do you? Seriously.

 

[apac]

Fvck anything to do with her. I was going to rent a house from this woman, but then she stopped returning my phone calls and messages for 2 months, and finally called me back saying she'd been busy with taxes. wtf? On top of that, I asked her about the house, and she couldn't even tell me if there was cable installed, gas or electric stove, etc.

Find a good landlord.

 

[PatboyX]

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
Your GF should replace her 3 friends and you should replace your GF. You don't really need to be stuck with a chick this dumb, do you? Seriously.

its a bit judgemental to call her dumb...i mean, she didnt sign it.
it just seems like the other 3 women jumped in and are pressuring his chick becuase they dont want to be left in a crappy situation alone.

 

[DaveSimmons]

State Attorney General's Office -- sounds like fraud to me, and AGs are pretty helpful since they all want to be governor some day.

 

[MillionaireNextDoor]

Don't do it, out of principle.

Btw, are they blonde, by any chance?

 

[rezinn]

No, just incredibly stupid. My girlfriend is way too nice and feels like she can fix the problem I guess. I've been telling her to cut her losses and move on for a while but these girls and the lady keep calling her and complaining.

I'll try the state office. Thanks.

 

[rezinn]

By the way, the lady cashed their first months rent checks six months ago. These were given to her to so she would hold the apartment for them once it was evacuated by the last occupants. Not sure if that is right either.

 

[JoeKing]

It's easy. Sign the lease, but fill in the dates that you want. Put the end date of the lease somthing like a month (2 weeks if you wanna be really mean) after she moves in. Fax it back to them. If they don't like it tough titty.

 

[aphex]

Why the hell would she want to line the pockets of a moron?

I wouldnt sign a damn thing from her.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The real owner is probably buried in the back yard.

 

[Turkish]

She shouldn't sign it dude. Its normal for her friends to be pressuring her. Human nature ... "We got screwed, you should as well." I am not saying she should replace her friends or anything but she should try to explain her friends what they did was stupid and irresponsible and they shouldn't expect her to make the same mistake as well. Goodluck.

 

[Vic]

Surely there is a dept. of housing or real estate where you live? This is illegal on many levels. For one thing, you should never sign blank or incomplete documents. And at the very least, she should back out. Apartment and rental vacancies are near all-time highs nationwide right now. There are no shortages of nice places to rent if you need one.

 

[MalikChen]

You should go there, and ask to see the real copy of the lease. Bring a lighter.

 

[txxxx]

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
Your GF should replace her 3 friends and you should replace your GF. You don't really need to be stuck with a chick this dumb, do you? Seriously.

What's with the crap posts today? This is the 3rd thread you've crapped in now!

 

[txxxx]

To OP - clearly the landlord is a greedy ****, better looking elsewhere if you can convince her. If not, her life, let her suffer consequences and she may learn from it.

 

[rezinn]

You guys are at least reassuring me. I say let them deal with it, they screwed themselves over.

Anyway, I still can't find anything about the lease starting a month before they sign it. I read through like 40 pages of civil code. Bleh. Right now I just want to find something concrete stating what a lease must include so we can prove this lease invalid. I've only been able to find this info for the lease of a motor vehicle so far..

 

[z0mb13]

ur girlfriend's friends are dumbasses

 

[MrDingleDangle]

I agree...never sign a blank form....

do not sign it...and im sure its gotta be illegal to create a document that starts a month before its signed.

 

[rezinn]

Funny thing is that I can't find anywhere that says it's illegal. Tried california civil code and department of consumer affairs. Their websites weren't too helpful despite having full text of the laws.

Best I found was this:
Key terms

The written rental agreement or lease should contain key terms, such as the following:
The names of the landlord and the tenant.
The address of the rental unit.
The amount of the rent.
When the rent is due, to whom it is to be paid, and where it is to be paid.
The amount and purpose of the security deposit (See Basic Rules Governing Security Deposits).
The amount of any late charge or returned check fee (see Late Fees) .
Whether pets are allowed.
The number of people allowed to live in the rental unit.
Whether attorney's fees can be collected from the losing party in the event of a lawsuit between you and the landlord.
Who is responsible for paying utilities (gas, electric, water, and trash collection).
If the rental is a house or a duplex with a yard, who is responsible for taking care of the yard.
Any promises by the landlord to make repairs, including the date by which the repairs will be completed.
Other items, such as whether you can sublet the rental unit and the conditions under which the landlord can inspect the rental unit.

In addition, the rental agreement or lease must disclose:
The name, address and telephone number of the authorized manager of the rental property and an owner (or an agent of the owner) who is authorized to receive legal notices for the owner. (This information can be posted conspicuously in the building instead of being disclosed in the rental agreement or lease.)
...

But even that isn't solid and doesn't include the dates, which should be an obvious thing. Fvck her friends are stupid.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: rezinn
Funny thing is that I can't find anywhere that says it's illegal. Tried california civil code and department of consumer affairs. Their websites weren't too helpful despite having full text of the laws.

Best I found was this:
Key terms

The written rental agreement or lease should contain key terms, such as the following:
The names of the landlord and the tenant.
The address of the rental unit.
The amount of the rent.
When the rent is due, to whom it is to be paid, and where it is to be paid.
The amount and purpose of the security deposit (See Basic Rules Governing Security Deposits).
The amount of any late charge or returned check fee (see Late Fees) .
Whether pets are allowed.
The number of people allowed to live in the rental unit.
Whether attorney's fees can be collected from the losing party in the event of a lawsuit between you and the landlord.
Who is responsible for paying utilities (gas, electric, water, and trash collection).
If the rental is a house or a duplex with a yard, who is responsible for taking care of the yard.
Any promises by the landlord to make repairs, including the date by which the repairs will be completed.
Other items, such as whether you can sublet the rental unit and the conditions under which the landlord can inspect the rental unit.

In addition, the rental agreement or lease must disclose:
The name, address and telephone number of the authorized manager of the rental property and an owner (or an agent of the owner) who is authorized to receive legal notices for the owner. (This information can be posted conspicuously in the building instead of being disclosed in the rental agreement or lease.)
...

But even that isn't solid and doesn't include the dates, which should be an obvious thing. Fvck her friends are stupid.

You'd be surprised at the rights of a tenant. My money is trying to get out of this situation with any money paid. There are legal eagle's here that may be able to help.

 

[DrPizza]

Go to the city clerk's office and find out who owns the place... report the problem to the real owner... I'd be willing to bet that the person he has in charge of collecting money, etc. is dipping into his cash and using it for herself.