Understanding the Digital Signature Legality for Sublease Agreement in United States

How to eSign a document: digital signature legality for Sublease Agreement in United States

[Music] hello again everyone I'm attorney Robert fleshes before you enter into a residential lease agreement as a tenant or if you're a landlord drafting a rental agreement to give to a tenant you really need to watch this video I'm going to tell you about seven possible provisions that could be included in the lease that could be illegal rendering the entire lease void which means the lease isn't enforceable and if you find this video helpful please consider subscribing to my channel remember that every state has different landlord tenant laws but the seven contract terms that I'm going to discuss in this video are probably illegal in most states the illegal terms that I'm discussing do not impose criminal liability on the landlord first let's talk about the form of the lease many landlords download boilerplate leases from the internet in order to avoid paying attorney to prepare a valid and effective residential lease or to pay for a state-approved lease containing enforceable terms in many states there are vendors that will produce valid leases with all of the terms that are allowable in a particular state some boilerplate leases that a landlord can download for free on the internet contain illegal terms or terms that your particular state doesn't allow many times landlords actually add terms into the lease that they dream up on their own that are illegal or unenforceable for tenants instead of just signing a lease tenants need to read the entire lease not only to know what you're getting into but to see if there are any illegal terms the lease before signing it for landlords you need to review your state laws regarding tenant agreements so that a court won't void your lease if there's ever a dispute and you're relying on the terms of the lease to evict a tenant here are the seven lease provisions that are probably unenforceable in most states in most leases a landlord has a provision that any damage caused directly by the tenant or their guests or invitees imposes liability on the tenant well that provision is okay but a provision that makes the tenant liable for damage that arises clearly out of the tenants control is usually illegal for example let's see some kids are playing baseball outside your building one of the kids and not yours smacks the ball and it smashes your window kids playing baseball the premise this is something that you can't control and the resulting damage to your rental you and it was damage that you couldn't control either another lease provision that's usually illegal is when a landlord makes a tenant waive the landlord's statutory or legal obligation to deliver the rental unit in a fit and habitable condition or even maintain the premises for you so that landlords provision is attempting you to accept a beat-up uninhabitable unit or without the landlord having any liability for such a condition or a unit where the toilet doesn't work faucets are leaky or windows have no locks or any other item that should be in good working order before you rent it this contract provision is an illegal rental term and here's another one some leases contain a clause that makes you waive any and all liability attributable to the landlord's negligent acts or the landlord's omission here's an example let's say the landlord busts it up the sidewalk leading directly to the entry door to your unit you are never made aware of this hazard well one dark winter night you're coming home from work and because of this hole in the ground that's never been there before you slip and fall and break your two front teeth and nose you didn't know that the hole was there there was no notice to you there wasn't even a barricade to warn you of this danger well that's negligence on the part of the landlord and they're liable to you for the damages that you suffered is a salt of your fall another contract term that's illegal is for a landlord to include a lease provision that has you waive your rights to the eviction process or any other remedy that you may have against the landlord by law in other words if your state requires a landlord to file an eviction action for let's say not paying your rent the landlord is attempting to skirt that legal process by inserting it into the rental agreement under this provision the landlord can throw you out of the unit can you imagine that one day you come home you try to unlock your door and your key doesn't work then you walk around to the back of the building to enter from another door and you find all your stuff piled up in the alley most states require an orderly and civil eviction process that requires the landlord to sue first allowing the tenant to respond to the eviction action and allow the court to make a decision the landlord is abridging your legal rights when they take your right to argue your case here's another one some online rental agreements actually have a clause that authorized the landlord or management company to confess judgment against the tenant for any action filed on behalf of a landlord what is confess mean it means that you're automatically admitting that you're wrong without even trying to explain yourself that Clause ignores due process of law and in some leases the landlord automatically has the right to have you pay the landlord's attorney fees and costs in any legal action brought against the tenant by the landlord in most states that Clause is illegal - it can't be in the lease if the landlord wins in court then they can ask the court to tack on legal expenses and costs but a landlord can't make you agree to that before you even violated the lease and the last contract provision that could be illegal is one that allows a landlord to automatically evict a tenant when a tenant was a victim of a crime in or on the premises let's say you get into an argument with a roommate or a partner at no fault of your own the roommate injures you and you call the police to get your roommate arrested and removed when the landlord learns of this you receive an eviction notice because of this altercation that you never started in most states that action by the landlord is illegal - so this video should make both landlords and tenants think a landlord should review their proposed lease before handing it over to a tenant for the tenants review and signature and a tenant must review the landlord's lease for illegal provisions and to understand what exactly you're getting yourself into people need to understand their rights by taking the time to read a lease i'm attorney robert flushes i hope you found this video helpful and thanks for watching [Music]