When does a lease become binding? Before or after moving in?

[Toben B.]

Hello,

I signed a lease with a tenant and they paid the deposit but no rent. They are supposed to come back in a week with the rest of the money and I will give them a key at that time.

After signing the lease a neighbor let me know they moved out of another house on the street several years ago and left the house full of garbage, and broken appliances. (It sounds like a typical tenant, lol)

Can I break the lease now since they have not yet paid the first months rent? Lease does not start for another week and they do not have access to the property, so I do not know if it is binding yet.

I have not decided what I am going to do yet, but if the lease is fully binding already my decision would be made.

Thanks in advance!

[Jerry W.]

@Toben B. A lease can become binding when it is signed or it could be contingent upon a future event. You need to read the terms of the lease very carefully it should specify. If the lease does not specify then the courts would look to parole evidence (statements of the parties) to determine what their intent was. They only look at parole evidence if they cannot discern the intent from the lease. If the lease is ambiguous then then the ambiguity is held against the drafter which is normally the landlord.( Not many tenants write their own lease). You cannot get a firm answer on when the lease becomes binding without a careful reading of the lease itself.