questions & answers

Question: Student signed lease that states leasing period 8/2016-6/2017 listing total rent for $20,000 - $2000 monthly. Student agreed to a 10 month lease and landlord now says there was a typo in lease and student owes one more month. Is student responsible for landlord typo?

Answer: If the written rental agreement clearly states that the term of the tenancy was to be for ten months, then the landlord definitely could be required to honor the agreement as written, despite the mistake. However, if the “typo” is an obvious error that is contradicted elsewhere in the document, then the tenant might need to be able to prove that the tenant originally wanted and genuinely believed that the lease reflected a ten-month rental agreement. Arizona law requires both landlords and tenants to operate in “good faith” whenever they perform or seek to enforce their rights and responsibilities within a tenancy relationship (A.R.S. 33-1311).