When the landlord hands you something to sign

Q: I know most of your letters come from people who own houses, or want to buy houses, but I’ve been a longtime reader and rent an apartment in Fair field. Now I have a question and I’m hoping you can give me some information. I live in a rather large apartment complex and have lived here for almost three years now. The manager came to my door last night and handed me an envelope. Inside were a letter and a form called an Estoppel Certificate. The letter instructed me to read it carefully and sign it. It kind of looks like it has all the terms of my lease, like when it expires and how much I pay for rent, but the form is much different. Additionally, the amount of rent is wrong. It’s too high, although not by much. I don’t know what this is and I don’t want to sign something I don’t understand. Do I need to go see a lawyer about this?

A: As enjoyable as it is, and as much as people look forward to talking to a lawyer, you probably don’t need to in this case.

Although rarely seen by residential tenants, estoppel certificates are actually very common.

My guess is that whoever owns your apartment complex is selling it.

If you were buying a big, expensive building that has numerous tenants with longterm leases, you would want to know how many leases, what the terms and conditions of the leases are, and most importantly, how much rent you can expect to receive every month.

Simply put, the higher the rent each tenant pays, the more the building is worth. Of course, process of buying the building, a common condition of the sale is that the seller gives to the buyer a completed estoppel certificate

Estoppel certificates contain all of the material terms of the lease, including the rent and any options the tenant might have to

Once the estoppel certificates are given to the buyer, the buyer reviews them to make sure the - actual terms in the lease. If the certificate is accurate, you sign and return it.

Now here are the two things you need to know.

First, you are probably required under the terms of your lease to sign an estoppel certificate if the landlord presents you with one, but only if you agree that it’s accurate. If you refuse to sign an accurate certificate you could be subject to an eviction for breaching your lease.

And most importantly; the estoppel certificate is the last and final word regarding the terms of your lease.

In other words, if you sign the certificate with the erroneous higher rent amount, once the sale is finalized you will be on the hook for the higher rent payment. You can’t argue later that the terms are different than in the written lease.

The word “estoppel” comes from the Latin and literally means to “stop” or “prevent.”

In this case, it prevents the tenant from claiming that the terms of the lease are other than what was contained in the estoppel certificate she signed. Period. End of discussion.

So read it carefully. If there are mistakes, like the amount of rent you are obligated to pay or the term (length) of the lease, immediately call it to your landlord’s attention so it can be corrected before you sign.

Other than making sure the estoppel certificate is accurate, there is nothing else you need to worry about. Your lease, and all of its provisions, are just as enforceable against the new owner as they were against the old owner.

You’ll probably never know the sale actually took place.

Tim Jones is a real estate attorney in Fairfield. If you have any real estate questions you would like to have answered in this column, you can send an email to AllThingsRealEstate@ TJones-Law.com.