No Rental Agreement -All Verbal?

By Mac McHenry

I have a verbal agreement.  My landlord says that its still valid but I thought that only a written agreement is valid.  How can a landlord force me to comply with a verbal agreement when there is no signed lease or anything?

 

I’m not suggesting that I am attempting to not honor a verbal agreement we made; but I have a problem when my landlord seems to make up additional details or requirements that we never talked about.  How can my landlord hold me responsible for what he calls legally binding verbal agreements.  Especially when I know we didn’t make such an agreement.

What are my rights with a verbal rental agreement.  Is it ok to file a complaint with the Rental Protection Agency?  It seems like that would be a good way to dispute these claims being made by my landlord.  Doesn’t written always rule when it comes to the law?

Edited on: Wednesday, July 10th, 2013 8:20 pm

4 Responses to “No Rental Agreement -All Verbal?”

My response: (We welcome stories, examples, explanations, answers and a touch of your personality)
 

Simone

September 17th, 2013 6:20 am

Yes, that’s a good question. I too have a verbal agreement and was wondering what my rights are. I’ll be watching this post to see what other responses come in as I would like to know too.


Terrell

September 19th, 2013 12:40 pm

Contrary to what your landlord says; Verbal Agreements are non enforceable. The only exception would be if you had a recording of the conversation. Filing a complaint with the RPA is wise. That will be a way to formally document the agreement as you remember it. In fact, the complaint would probably hold up in court as the agreement since there is no other written evidence. Good question, thanks for posting.


Joaquin

September 21st, 2013 6:40 pm

Ahh… I’ve been wondering about this for awhile now. My property manager made a new verbal agreement that she said over-writes the written agreement. From what I understand that is not allowable or enforceable.


Tamara

September 24th, 2013 1:00 am

Non written agreements should still be honored. I have a problem with people that try to get out of an agreement just because the law can enforce it. I remember when a hand shake was all it took to solidify a deal. Today people don’t seem to care about what they agreed to. Your word is your oath. (not anymore)


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