need some help with house renting

[danshaz82]

well, as the title states, i need some help and have some questions with renting a house.
first off, i am in college and looking to rent a place with 3 buddies for this summer/next year.

well, we first started looking for places back in late feb, early march when everything was starting to go on the market. at the time, we were being a little picky and didnt want to go through the biggest rental place cause theyre just real shady and are just terrible over all.

so we found a place that was pretty much perfect for us. and the guy that was the landlord seemed like a pretty legit and laid back guy. the only problem with this was he WOULD NOT let us get a copy of the lease until after we signed it. but he let us come in and read it over and all that. so we went in a read it over, and it seemed like a pretty fair lease. so we all called our parents to let them know what was up, and all of them said to sign. but our one friends dad said not to because the land lord wont give us a copy. and he is really against us signing it. so i called my uncle who went through this 3 times with my cousins, and who also happens to be a lawyer. he said its not common, but doesnt seem like a big deal and to go ahead and sign.

now our friend that wouldnt sign decided to do some "research" on this landlord and found out that a few people gave him bad reviews. so now he is really against the land lord because he swears that "were going to get screwed over really bad". but if we go through the other company, were going to get screwed guaranteed.

jump to now. we still have not found a place or signed anything. and were really running out of time. so weve been looking around, making calls like crazy. but were looking for a lease that is from this May to next May because we have to stay down here for summer school. so today, all of us went out again to see if we can find a place out side of the one landlord that wont let us get a copy of the lease. out of every house we looked at, nobody has May to May leases except this one guy that we have been avoiding. so 2 of my other friends and myself are getting really fed up with the other friend because he wants to go through the lawyers and make a huge deal about this.

now, after that pointless background info, my questions are:
1. has anybody dealt with a landlord that wont let you have a copy of the lease?
2. does it seem shady that he wont let us have a copy or is it not a big deal?
3. should we go through the lawyers for this?
4. do you think that we should go through some other rentals company and just sub lease for the summer?


cliff notes:
landlord wont let us have copy of lease
friend think he's "really shady"
cant find anything else that has May to May lease except this particular landlord.
friend refuses to sign lease and wants to go through lawyers and make a huge deal of it
need advice/help with the situation.

thanks guys :fistpumping:

[Dattebayo]

Did you ask said landlord "why" he won't give you a copy?

Maybe you should just bring a friend along with a photographic memory... (or a portable scanner)

Edit: It seems that the reason why most Land lords do this is because they don't want someone forgin their signature and claiming it was signed to kick out current renters and take their place...

[Tyler]

ditch your third friend if you have the money to split two ways instead of three

[danshaz82]

well the reason he wont give out a copy was because he said "he gave out a copy to a guy. guy went back to read it over. came back next day with signed lease. but someone else came in a signed before that guy could. so the guy called his lawyers and made a big deal about it. so his lawyer advised him against give out a lease"
but the landlord will give us a copy after we sign it. and i talked to ant about it, and he said that there shouldnt be a problem cause he cant change anything after we sign.

[Joe]

just have him write

COPY OF LEASE AGREEMENT. NOT VALID IF SIGNED

on it.

problem solved. or have him add a portion that validates the lease when HE signs it. if he doesnt sign it, it never goes into effect.

landlord seems kinda slow to manage property...

[LongBeachCoupe]

I dont know what lawyer you consulted... Nor the landlord tennant laws in your state (in NY the tennant has basically all the rights).

That being said, in this case, and EVERY CASE... if someone wants you to sign something, but doesnt let you run it by a "friend" (lawyer, dad etc.) then theres not a chance I am signing a damn thing. From employment contracts, to leases, to loans (that I do at Chase Bank), if they dont give up the paperwork, THERE IS A REASON!


In all cases, it doesnt really matter what you do, as long as you dont sign something you cant review first, and move in to an already "marked" bad landlord... seems like a recipe for a big pain in the f-in arse!

Or, you can print your own standard lease contract, and then bring it to him and say lets do this one, and if he wants to add things, in your presence, thats cool, but then you will know what the "non-standard" terms hes adding are.

Ive lived under 6 different landlords, my parents were landlords, and I am currently in an apt that I had to put up 3 months security deposit on!
Ask me anything you like!

[Jesda]

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[danshaz82]

why should i avoid?

[Jesda]

What kind of shady ***hole hides a contract? Tell him to eat a d!ck and rip off someone else.

[danshaz82]

fair enuf. well, hell let us have a copy after we sign and he did let us come on and read it over with him there. this is my first time doing anything like this, so i really dont know what to do/expect

[AppleBonker]

I agree with Jesda and LBC. It's not that hard to stamp a copy noting that it is not an official copy. If he wanted to rent you the place, he'd gladly let you look over the contract and show it to other people.

At U of I, the Union had a "Tenant Union" department that would actually look over leases with you to help make sure you didn't get screwed. That leads me to believe that nearly every landlord in that area would provide a copy to you if you requested it. The tenant union wouldn't go with you to the landlord, they worked out of the office. I'm not saying it's guaranteed to be a bum deal, but it's definitely shady that he won't let you have a copy. It's a lot harder for you to get a lawyer to come with and look it over, so that would make it easier for him to hide some crazy crap in the contract that the average students might overlook.

[danshaz82]

s***. the more ive been reading the responses, ive been thinking about it more and it doesnt make me wana sign with this guy. and what really throws up a red flag is that almost all of his houses are still up for rent.
but my buddy that im going to be living with said he talked to somebody that rented from him and they said that there wasnt anything really that bad. like they didnt say anything really bad, but nothing that was all that good.
i dont think we have anything like a tenant union down here. but i guess my friend is going to the school lawyers to talk to them about it and see what they say

[AppleBonker]

A lot of larger schools do it to help the students. Not sure what Southern has to offer though. For the record, I never used the service as I never rented an apartment/house while I was in college.

[danshaz82]

well, i could go in tomorrow and do some investigating. this whole situation just sucks. cause no other landlords have a may to may lease. i just have to sit down with the kids im gunna live with and just figure this crap out.

[AppleBonker]

What other options are out there? I can understand why they don't like leases that end in may. In a college town it's hard to fill the lease over the summer since most people go back to their parents. It seems only a relatively small percentage stay for the summer.

[danshaz82]

well, i just found and read over some renting stuff with the student leagal assistance. they said to avoid stuff like this. so i guess this guys out.
and, we can sublease, but we havnt really looked into it so much. we asked a little about it today and found that only 2 people can sublease a place. but i think it was just for this one landlord we called.

[PEZi]

as i said before shaz... as long as he gives you a copy after you sign it you're good... i understand why some of the reasons why he won't give you one prior to signing... its DUMB! but i get it... as long as you have a signed copy once all is said and done you should be good

[nissangirl74]

Avoid this man like the plague. Find a summer place or sublease for the summer. Start looking NOW for someplace to move into at the beginning of the Fall semester. If ANYONE tells you can't have a copy of the lease, just walk out. If they really want to rent the place, they'll give you a copy. If not, you don't want to rent from them in the first place. They won't be around when you need them for issues that will come up.

[danshaz82]

well, im going to see what my friends want to do. see if they would rather sub lease or just deal with it and rent from this guy. cause at the point were at, we kinda shot ourselves in the foot. we waited too long, so pickins are slim. at this point, it seems like a pretty bad choice to rent from this guy. but if worst comes to worst, we might have to.
but thanks for all the input and advice guys! :fistpumping: :fistpumping:

[MinisterofDOOM]

Honestly, I don't know why you're so determined to live there. The guy is either crooked or an idiot, and neither will be good for you in the long run. You should never, EVER just go with whatever you can get because you "don't have any choice" when renting. Bad landlords can really screw up your life.

Anyway, why does it have to be a house? Of course people renting houses aren't going to be too excited about a 1-year lease. Look at apartments or condos or townhomes or something.

[AppleBonker]

Anyway, why does it have to be a house? Of course people renting houses aren't going to be too excited about a 1-year lease. Look at apartments or condos or townhomes or something.

College house parties > apartment parties. And one-year leases are pretty common on college campuses for houses. Most of the rental houses I saw in college were pretty beat up, but they had no problem getting people to move in.

[numbnuts240]

OK can someone please explain to me why everyone above me has the same avatar?! I are confuse.....

tienes trabajo?

[sx moneypit]

OK can someone please explain to me why everyone above me has the same avatar?! I are confuse.....

I are too.

[Eikon]

Technically you don't have a right to a copy of a legal document until you've signed it. Until it bears your signature, you have no ownership right. Again, that's a technicality. 99% of the landlord's in the world would let you have a copy to review on your own prior to signing.
On the other hand, most tenants don't even read the lease they sign.. lol.

As much as his reasons are probably stupid, I do think he's legally ok with his choice.

You have a right to have an attorney review the lease (he/she just has to be there in person with you to do it).

If there is nothing objectionable in the lease, I wouldn't stress not having a copy prior to signing it.

Besides, the laws are so far in favor of the tenant nowadays, the lease probably doesn't even matter much.

I wouldn't stress over it unless you are not given a chance to read the lease fully prior to signing or if you are not allowed to keep a copy after signing.. in either of those examples I would walk away. But otherwise, I wouldn't stress too much over it.

[danshaz82]

well, the reason were looking for a house is because we have 4 people including myself. and i dont think that there are many apartments that accommodate 4 people down here. im not sure tho. weve checked out some houses that this guy is renting out, and they are MUCH better kept and in very good condition compared to all the others.

and we do get to read this guys lease before signing and he will give us a copy if we sign with him. it seems pretty straight forward. like, he had pretty much everything in the lease and he explained everything to us. and the only reason we would want to rent form this guy is because 1. he is the only person that has a May to May lease. 2. the house we looked at was pretty much what we were looking for.

but i think the only way we would rent from this guy is if we literally have no other choice. were looking into sub leasing for the summer and then signing a new lease with a different rentals company.