I know I said I was done but, if you need a good(cheap) paint and body guy I may know of someone who can fix you up but he is Waco. PM me if/when you get to that point.

 

dude I wouldnt pay them a cent Go their tommorrow, ask to see the contract , tear the **** up and say'' now what'' '' looks like were threw here'' and walk out .
unless its a judge and your facing jail time your geting punked , punk them back , heim them up against the wall , rob them , take their lunch money do something exept paying money for some ragged *** apartment that you never even lived in .

 

i would just get a lawyer and split the costs between you, if for no other reason than to get some real, actual legal help by a licensed, bar-certified lawyer, rather than going by something some guys on the internet said to do. the "that's what i was told on LS1Tech.com" defense probably won't pull much weight in court, if it comes to that.

that said, it seems pretty damn ridiculous that they would try to charge you anything for something that doesn't even go into effect until Jan. 2008, especially in light of the fact that you called the very next day to try to clear this up and get out of it. it's not like they can't find someone else to rent the damn apartment in 1 year's time....if they can't, they have some major problems....

but yeah....don't ever sign/initial/sell your soul/etc. without at least looking at the apartment first. you should never have to sign or pay anything to just look at an apartment. if they do try to charge you or make you sign anything for that, it's time to look elsewhere, 'nuff said.

 

Lots of advice on here, most of which is purely emotional. I am also a Texas attorney, and while the other attorney on here, and some of the other posts, are academically correct, please, please know that $237 will very likely not hire you a certified idiot attorney for this particular situation. Everyone seems to get emotion involved, and this is just a business transaction. Again, right, wrong, legally correct, etc. really doesn't mean anything unless you want to spend the time and money fighting it, which I promise will be more than $237. The only way to disprove the lease is to do it in court...EXPENSIVE...and you still have a chance you will lose...more EXPENSIVE.

In either case, this would be a "declaratory judgment" action, which is one of the very few ways in Texas a party can recover their attorney fees, but he will ask for the same thing (goes to the winner). If the court decides it's too close to call, even if you do win, the judge can still make each party pay their own fees.

This only seems to be such a clear cut case to everyone here because they are on your side, but the judge will not see it that way (maybe, maybe not). My biggest concern is that I didn't see the provision allowing you to terminate the lease for simple payment of a reletting fee, which is why you need to be focused on getting the release from the landlord.

I'm $350/hr, so just from my light review of your docs and the few posts, you'd be at least $350 into fees, which should give you an idea of how expensive this could get if you did go to court. Most attorneys will ask you for a $5,000 retainer beyond writing the first letter to these guys. An attorney that does this all the time could be helpful and may get it done with a call or one letter. Just remember that a landlord has a lot more regular use for attorneys than renters do, and it's sometimes a "mutually assured destruction" scenario...you pull out your lawyer, and I'll pull out mine. If he has to use his, like I said before, it will be for a lot more than the potential $237 for which he's willing to let you off the hook.

It's all about risk management and what your tolerance for gambling is. If the $237 ends it, that's the least risk you can take. Otherwise, you have credit issues, court issues, etc., which can eat up your time and more money.

As for the notary thing, please look at what the other attorney said...doesn't mean a thing. Oral agreements in TX are valid for God's sake (again, requires a court to prove it up if there is a dispute). If an agreement is for over $500, for land or for services to be performed more than a year from the date of the agreement (general list), then the agreement must be in writing to be enforced. Those are the minimum thresholds.

Your best course would be to get an attorney to handle the "settlement" and make sure you have a valid release, but that's more money, and it's up to you on what you want to spend to get rid of this. Do a quick search on the web and you can find general releases that may work for you, provided you feel comfortable modifying appropriately.

It's hard not to be emotional about this, but try to treat it as a business deal. You're buying the least painful path.

 

Or you could wait for the person that knows you owe them something to walk out in the open. snipe them from 100yards .. problem solved haha. Just joking geese lighten up . I guess thats why I always end up pouring water in my koolaid in a place thats not home .

 

well my friend that was stuck in this with me showed them a phone record showing that he called a day later to cancel the contract when in actuality he started the call, hung up, and had my other friend call to tell them we were no longer interested. so now im the only one left.

one of them said that he'd pay 1/3 and he'll talk to my other roommate to see if hes down. but i guess i'll hve to wait till tuesday to get this fixed.

 

The contract should have an agreed rent amount somewhere on it for $279 or whatever, so if you wait till Jan 08 they cant raise it to $1958 because you never agreed to those terms. Dont pay them crap, wait till Jan 08 and if the apartments vacant you might owe them some rent but I doubt itll be open unless they plan on kicking out a tennant just to win this silly dispute. If its occupied pay them the money and theyll have to give it right back for double booking an apartment and then its all settled lol.