Rental contract valid without signature? Get advice!

Questioner

If a rental agreement is in the names of two people and it is signed by only 1 person, is it valid? And if the second person decides that they do not want to sign the contract, is the first person still stuck with the penalties stated in the contract for early termination?

Lawyer

Dear questioner, the lease is simply valid. Missing a signature is easy to pass. Not wanting to sign the contract should therefore also mean that this person does not want to enter into the lease agreement at all. If he/she does live there, he/she accepts the agreement. In principle, both can be held to pay the fine for early termination.

Questioner

Thanks for the response. :) But if the person does not live there, no agreement has been entered into? The problem is that a couple wants to live together, only when signing the contract it turns out that there are all kinds of extra costs. This was not mentioned in advance. The contract is in the name of both people, but only signed by 1 of them. When the second person heard about all the extra costs, she decided she didn't want the house anymore. So they don't live there yet and don't want to. Can the company still charge them the penalty for early termination?

Lawyer

I understand that you want to get out of a rental agreement that was signed on behalf of one of the tenants? You could appeal to error or fraud. Depending on the amount of the fine, you should consider whether or not to seek legal assistance. I would first see if the landlord wants to enforce the fine. If so, you can contact me via the direct contact button. I can then investigate for you, without obligation, whether it is worth the effort to make a 'case' of it. Although that may sound too weighty: the point is that you have your defense in order quickly enough in a written document. Sometimes that results in water being added to the wine, in sporadic cases a lawsuit.

Lawyer

Two legal principles are important here: * An agreement is concluded upon offer and acceptance; * An offer must be interpreted in the light of the meaning the other party could reasonably attribute to it under the circumstances. If it is clear from the submitted agreement and/or the prior communication that the submitted agreement is offered on the condition that both intended tenants accept, then it is defensible that there is only an agreement after both have accepted the agreement. A refusal to sign gives rise to the presumption of a refusal. You can - since the offer does indeed have the aforementioned purport - set a term for confirmation of agreement by both parties and indicate that if not signed before that date the offer will lapse.