Consumer Law, Warranties Modification of Agreement on a rental Lease

[glwscott]

I signed a lease with Lessor through a property management company. In the lease it stated that I was to pay the property management company my monthly rent and that they would be in charge of all property issues.

In the lease there is a Modification of Agreement clause that states:

"Any modification of this Lease Agreement or additional obligation assumed by either party in connection with this Lease Agreement shall be binding only if evidenced in writing signed by each party or an authorized representative of each party."

During the lease the Lessor fired the property management company and sent us a letter stating that we now needed to give the rent to them and that they would now be in charge of the property.

We have never been presented with a modified contract and the old contract is no longer correct as it shows that we are to pay the property management company and not the Lessor.

Is my Lease still a valid lease?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Your lease is valid. All the clause means is that if there is to be a change to the lease, it has to be in writing. It's done to make sure that nobody claims that an oral agreement you make later, e.g. over coffee, isn't effective unless in writing. You've received a written notice from the Lessor to pay directly and not to the management company. That's fine. It doesn't affect any other part of the lease.