In the US, a tenant upon noting that their lease was editable, inserted Clause 16 which hold the landlord to supply a birthday cake - not vanilla. No mention of decorations. Domain
Yea I've seen this one doing the rounds in online PM communities. Being members of REISA we use standardised forms, so isn't possible here.
What are the legalities of editing and returning leases anyway? Can't imagine any REA re-reading them all for such things. I've received all mine as PDF's and they're just as easy to edit with the right tools.
The general rule is you should be reading whatever it is you're signing - and that whatever is agreed is binding. I often see leases being issued to prospective tenants that aren't yet signed - I always thought it was a bit odd and probably better practice for the lease to be signed by the agent/owner first.
Documentation should always be checked regardless - sending word docs which aren't locked for editing is dangerous.
Personally as an owner I would always be signing last to ensure no changes and @Scott is correct regarding his comments. On saying that, I have slipped a birthday card requirement into a commercial lease to see if one of my tenants solicitors picks it up. Need to prove that their legal adviser does nothing for his $2k. Two days on and no comment.
Oh maybe this is the reason why its commonly done? Its a bit of a misconception though. Signing first 'locks in' what the lease terms are. If a tenant tried to change the terms after that, then the changes wouldn't be valid, and would possibly be fraud. All you need to do is keep a copy of the lease as signed when you send it to the prospective tenant.
There's not really any way of protecting this - every document is editable. Best practice is to just do the sign up in person, have all parties read it and sign it together.
I always give a hard copy to the tenants... Collect the hardcopies. Double check everything THEN sign!
