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[calvert]

Hi guys,

I moved to Hawaii on a whim and got stuck with a not very friendly landlord. Upon my arrival I was expecting a month to month contract, he sprang a "sign this 3 month lease or move out right now" on me. I told him I wasn't ok with that, and talked him down to a 2 month lease. With my pen I scratched out 3 months and wrote 2 months "_____ ________ hereby agrees to a lease of 3 months.."

Lower in the contract is it mentioned again with the sentence saying only, "Lease is 3 months". I did not amend that part with the pen.

We agreed verbally (my mistake) that I would give him at least 2 weeks notice before the end of each month if I was moving out. I gave him my 2 weeks today and he has suddenly forgotten our earlier conversation, saying he has 28 days starting now to find a new renter.

Am I able to point to our original contract and show it represents only 3 months? Ironically the opposite of what I initially wanted..

If anyone is familiar with Hawaii law I would love to hear your advice! Thank you!

[anson34]

The amendment is only valid if both of you initialed it. Since it was verbal it is not valid, it is you altering a contract, not a good thing. Your state does not matter, you are talking about very basic contract law.

[gwen]

The amendment is only valid if both of you initialed it. Since it was verbal it is not valid, it is you altering a contract, not a good thing. Your state does not matter, you are talking about very basic contract law.

Since the original move-out notice was oral, you have no agreement. All real estate agreements (rentals are considered real estate agreements) must be in writing to be enforceable. So your verbal agreement to provide two weeks notice is worth the paper it was written on.

As for the three month agreement, when a lease expires, it becomes a month-to-month lease, meaning all the terms of the original agreement remain in place,m but with proper notice the landlord can increase the rent and you can provide proper notice and move out at any time (without waiting for the end of another year)

Looks like you are paying for another month.