The lease was legally binding the minute you signed it. Yes she has every right to sue you for rent until the unit is re-rented. Since she has such high demand for the unit you should not have to pay much.
FYI business law & landlord tenant law are 2 VERY different things. Breaking a contract under landlord tenant law is not so easy.
Im not an attorney..
,most cases are if the lease is both names and only 1 signature is signed and not the other person then the contract is not ratified, (Is this the case)
Dont dislike what i said when its true
You signed the lease, you are bound to it. Period. The contract is 100% legally binding the second you signed it.
Send LL a written notice you intend not to move in. You owe rent until someone else does. PERIOD.
Yep you are bound to it. However, she must try to rent it & when she does she can no longer charge you rent. (Can't get double). You will lose in court.
To make a long story short:
I am fresh out of college and I got a job in Illinois. I found a roommate from the company I'm working for and I sent a deposit for a townhouse I saw. She was pressuring me and she told me that another man wanted it and I sent her half of the deposit (stupid on my part I know). When I drove up to Illinois, I went to go see the house and it was ok, but we found a better option that we were happier with and it was much closer to work. I told her that she could keep the deposit ($600) and that we wanted other options. I signed a lease, but it was pretty informal. I am the only one that signed it and not my roommate because she was out of the country.
Now she is saying that she could sue me because I signed the lease and that I am responsible. She told me that she had demand from 7 other people and she told them no. I told her that if she has so much demand, then she shouldn't have a problem finding somebody else and I told her that I doubt those 7 people found a house in less than a week.
My question is: Has anybody been in a similar situation and does anybody have any insight on the legal binding of a contract? I took a business law course and I recall seeing situations where you could break the contract, etc. I am just asking before I seek legal counsel.
