Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I signed a contract. After it was signed the property management person made a comment concerning his willingness to violate the federal fair housing act. I cancelled the contract in writing the next day. The contract was signed and dated, however, the line that says when the contract begins is empty. I do not want to risk a federal violation and will not use this person (there is more than happened, but this is the biggest issue). I have done research and have read that if there is no clear start date then it is not a legal contract. Has anyone dealt with anything like this before and if so how did you handle it?

First of all - you signed the contract. If it did not have a clear ENDING date, you would have better grounds to end the contract but not so much with a missing beginning date. Because the person made a verbal comment, you could cancel the agreement on those grounds, but it would be up to you and a court to decide if there is enough proof of this allegation. Does the contract have a "break" clause? Many contracts such as this will have a clause where if one party is not fulfilling their obligations or each party agrees to terminate, a certain amount of notice is given and viola... If not, then I would give formal notification that XXX Property Mgmt has not fufilled their obligations to XXXX for the follwoing reasons: LIST REASONS Therefore XXX wishes to terminate the contract and all property management services, effective XXX. It may end up in court, but if you have enough documented issues with thhis company...there is a good chance you will win.

Posted by Donna , NC on Thursday, July 28, 2011