Legal Question: "Addendum" to Lease 6 months later?

[ewheeley]

Question for those of you with a few years under your belt...

The company that owns my townhouse was acquired by a different property management company, and today we received an "addendum" to our lease. The lease that we signed on 1 May, 2012. In the lease, they say that the pet deposit has gone up, and there will now be a monthly fee for pets. Fish... Fish count as pets now.

I'm not really concerned, but my roommate has a cat and a fish, so unless he gets written permission from the new manager and pays $40 a month, we could theoretically be evicted. Worst case, he gets rid of the pets, but I don't see how a third party can change the terms of our lease without our consent or signature???

Worse, our neighbor (an accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers, not a guy who might misunderstand something) told us that they've told him they're raising his rent. He said they went as far as to tell him that it's because he's single and established and can afford to pay more. He said that if they follow through, he'll sue them for discriminating against him.

Overall, this situation could work out for me. I'm hoping they'll give us the option to get out of our lease, so I can move in with my girlfriend and we can both save money on rent. Let me know what you boys think.

 

[vvvvvvv]

Does your lease allow for modifications?

 

[ewheeley]

No, Brian

 

[SMS]

Are they asking you to sign the addendum?

Maybe they are just hoping a lot of folks will not fight the addendum...

 

[Werewolf]

Break out your lease and read it carefully.

Unless the lease you signed has a provision that permits addendums/changes and defines the circumstances under which said changes can be made without your approval I'd tell 'em to pound sand.

If it's a big enough deal and worth the cost and time to contest then consult with a real estate attorney.

 

[David2012]

How long is your lease for? If I understand your situation right, your townhouse was taken over by a new property management company... not new property owners. If that is the case, then your lease is with the property owner who agreed to your current lease via his previous agent, not with the new management Company's personnel.

The purpose of a written lease or contract is so there is a legal binding agreement between the parties... generally when rental property is transferred between owners the rental agreements transfer as written until they expire. Then they are renegotiated. You should read your lease, but it appears that at the very least you have grounds to move out without any penalty. Of course the new management may be SOB's about it and try to keep any security deposit or try to enforce the lease.

If you don't have any concern about making the new management mad at you, I'd recommendation contacting someone like Amanda Taylor @ News 9 and tell her about your situation. The OKC television stations like doing stories about consumer issues such as yours. Last thing the new management of a property wants is a lot of bad publicity right after they have taken over. It doesn't reflect well on them and the property owners don't like it because if their property gets a bad reputation in the press.. it might hurt their annual income.

 

[beast1989]

How long is your lease for? If I understand your situation right, your townhouse was taken over by a new property management company... not new property owners. If that is the case, then your lease is with the property owner who agreed to your current lease via his previous agent, not with the new management Company's personnel.

The purpose of a written lease or contract is so there is a legal binding agreement between the parties... generally when rental property is transferred between owners the rental agreements transfer as written until they expire. Then they are renegotiated. You should read your lease, but it appears that at the very least you have grounds to move out without any penalty. Of course the new management may be SOB's about it and try to keep any security deposit or try to enforce the lease.

If you don't have any concern about making the new management mad at you, I'd recommendation contacting someone like Amanda Taylor @ News 9 and tell her about your situation. The OKC television stations like doing stories about consumer issues such as yours. Last thing the new management of a property wants is a lot of bad publicity right after they have taken over. It doesn't reflect well on them and the property owners don't like it because if their property gets a bad reputation in the press.. it might hurt their annual income.

He is spot on, if it doesn't say an addendum is possible in your lease then they are way off base. The point of a lease is to have binding terms for both parties and you cant just make them up as you go along.

My apartments tried to charge us $50 for cigarette butts and trash that my neighbor drops in front of our house (no one smokes in my house) we told them they werent ours and they tried to be hard asses about the issue, we paid our rent sans the fee and months later i saw they realized we werent going to fall for that money trap. Bottomline is read everything in print carefully and stand your ground.

 

[Blewis11]

You are getting good advice from everyone. Its like I'm in a room full of lawyers! (I am a lawyer and since I haven't read your lease, this isn't legal advice by any means, there is my disclaimer). It all depends on what is in the lease and if it allows for modifications of terms. They can certainly change the terms when you come up for renewal, but I would be surprised if it allowed for such a change during the term of the lease - but I just don't know without reading the lease. Your current property owner was most likely assigned the rights to your lease when they bought the property (there will be a clause in your current lease that talks about assignability). But they are generally stuck with same terms and conditions of your old landlord until the term of the lease is up. You need to go over the lease with a fine tooth comb. If you don't understand something or the language in it, just pm me the provision you don't understand and I'll tell you what it means. Its no problem and I don't mind using a few minutes of free time to help out a fellow board member. It does say you are in Arkansas and the laws are different from state to state, so my interpretation of the provision will be based upon Oklahoma law and more for general informational purposes, not specific legal advice. If you really get in a bind or dispute, you will need to hire an Arkansas real estate attorney.

Billy Lewis

 

[ewheeley]

I went to the new office today and spoke with the manager. First of all, new owners and new management, both the same company.

Get ready for some laughs, the woman I talked to needs to be fired.

She told me that I didn't have a choice regarding the addendum, that it was retroactively effective over a week ago. I told her I wasn't notified of the changes a week ago, and I hadn't signed anything. She talked down to me, said it didn't matter if I was notified or not because the new ownership has the right to make changes. I said if they had the right to make changes, then I had the right to leave without penalty. She said I didn't because I signed a lease. I showed her the section of the lease that specifically states "No amendments or addendum without the signature of the tenant" and asked why my lease was binding to me but not the new company. She said the new owner "got put in jail by the FDIC for stocks and bonds" and stuff, so this was a special circumstance. I asked her when the FDIC stopped insuring banks and became a law enforcement agency.

Overall, the ***** just talked down to me like the 21 year old that I am. I'm not taking it. They apparently went around and convinced people in the complex to sign without reading the addendum. They're coercing and deceiving people.

 

[ewheeley]

Also, I'll post relevant parts of the lease when I get back to my computer.