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Buying or Selling a Home/signing a lease under false pretenses

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Expert: - 4/10/2011


Question
I am wondering if our real estate broker committed fraud and if so what can we do about it.  We were renting a home from a military family for two years, through a broker, we are also military. The lease ended 12/31/10, however the broker sent us a lease renewal and I signed it thinking we were set for another year.  11 days after I signed the lease she emailed me to tell me we had 60 days to vacate as the owners were moving back. The lease stated that the owners could break the lease at anytime however we could not, it also stated that rent was due for those 60 days as usual and the section below it state that the owners would have to compensate us one months rent for breaking the lease and she added as tiny "n/a" beside that leaving us to bear the entire expense. I asked the broker why they would have a sign a lease only to break it 11 days later and if they knew before we signed that they were moving back? She told me she did not know, however I found out from the owner that he notified her in November that they were coming back and to let us know but she told him to wait until after the 1st of January to keep us from moving out early. He also told me that she took it upon herself to have us sign the new lease and that he told her he did not want to renew the lease.  She did this without his knowledge and it benefited her because she continued to make money and he continued to have his mortgage paid. Becausse we signed the lease, we felt we were locked in and could not do anything about it because of they way the lease was written up. Unfortunately, we did not catch those sections or simply never thought any of this would have happened. It cost us 5000.00 to move. Did she commit fraud by lying to us and having us sign that lease thinking we were fine for another year knowing the owners were coming back and did not want her to renew?  

Thanks,
Tammy

Answer
This is a good question. I would need to review the lease too give my best answer. My suggestion is read your lease or hire and Attorney to review lease. Other question was lease signed by ALL parties. My opinion, if you had a legitimate lease it should not be able to be broken, by either party unless it stated it could be broken.Other than that they gave you 60 days to vacate, most give 30  days. Also the agent more than likely works for the property owner, in North Carolina the agent should have given you a Working with real estate agents brochure,disclosing agency.

I would review your lease carefully, they cost for going forward into this will be expensive, good luck. My opinion , consider buying a property, get away from rentals.

mb

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Marvin G. Bobbitt, III

Expertise

Can answer questions about Real Estate in North Carolina. Professional Real Estate Broker,REALTOR Residential Real Estate,Professional Advising,Commercial Real Estate, Estates, Issues regarding real estate and the County Tax system,Bank owned properties, REO/Foreclosures and Investment properties,New homes & re-sale home sales,Management of Investment properties,1031 tax deferred exchanges, Profit enhancement within investments,Investment property advisor,North Carolina agency and required forms and disclosure.

Experience

Have 20+ years Professional experience.Experianced in property estates and real estate transactions primarly in the Durham,RTP,North Carolina area.Residential Real Estate, Professional Advising,Commercial Real Estate, Estates, My experience covers a vast range of real estate services.Due to my personal training by Frank Ward for over 20+ years everyday.In residential,commercial,sales and leases, I have had the opportunity to work and learn with some of the best in the business. Estates have become a specialty to me, including the personal property side of things and how to handle things and what to do with what you got.Hire me and forget about it..

Organizations
Active Member of the Durham Association of REALTORS. Past BOD for Durham Regional Association of REALTORS. Active Member of North Carolina Association of REALTORS. Active Member of the National Association of REALTORS. Active Member of Triangle Multiple Listing Service. Past member Durham Jaycees, Durham Sales and Marketing and Durham Rotary Club.

Publications
Durham Herald

Education/Credentials
Graduate; Durham Public Schools Graduate; North Carolina Central University. Appointed; Real Property sale Commissioner/ Durham County N.C Clerk Of Superior Court 2010, Honorable Archie L.Smith, III, Durham County NC. Completion of the following North Carolina Real Estate Courses. North Carolina Real Estate School Fundamentals. North Carolina Real Estate Broker Classes. Completes Continuing Education classes annually as directed by the State of North Carolina Real Estate Commission. Completion of the following North Carolina Appraisal Courses. R-1 Real Estate Appraisal. R-2 Valuation & Principles & Procedures. R-3 Applied Residential Property Valuation. G-1 Income Property Appraisal & Valuation. Completion of Notary Public Classes for the State Of North Carolina. Active Notary Public for Durham City/County, North Carolina. Active until; 06/16/2015

Awards and Honors
20+ YEARS EVERYDAY PERSONAL TRAINING BY;FRANK WARD. Appointed; Real Property sale Commissioner/ Durham County N.C Clerk Of Superior Court 2010, Honorable Archie L.Smith, III, Durham County NC.

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