Can our landlord force us to extend our lease?
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Can our landlord force us to extend our lease?
We are an LLC company that had entered into a 1 year lease about 7 months ago. The owners of the building have hired a new office manager and now we are all required to sign a new lease. It requires us to all renew for another year as of the date of signing. We have, what we thought, was a binding legal contract by signing the original lease. With this new lease we would have to stay in this contract for an additional 7 months. There has been no explanation as to why we are signing new leases other than they are updating the lease. However to require such an extension doesn’t seem legal.
Asked on October 6, 2014 under Real Estate Law, Pennsylvania
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 9 years ago | Contributor
You do NOT have to sign a new lease or extend the time period: the old lease is a binding, enforceable document, and the new office manager cannot ignore it or require you to sign a new one. He or she can certainly *ask* if you would--there's no harm in asking, after all--and could offer you something to make it worth your while (maybe a rent concession), but it's purely voluntary for you whether to extend the lease or otherwise sign a new lease.
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