united-states residential-lease signature lease
Can a leasor defer signing the lease agreement until the lessee actually moves in?
<p>I have just signed a new lease. The leasing agent says they countersign my lease after I move in. I still have a few days before I move in. Is this common/legal? Does it not expose the lessee to some risk?</p>

<p>In any legal dealing, there is always some risk. The signature constitutes definitive proof that you have a contract, but you still have a contract, because you have mutual acceptance. A far-fetched scenario is that the lessor could allege that they did not agree to the terms of he contract with you (perhaps claiming that you obtained a blank contract form from them and filled in details, but they didn't agree to those details). However, if they allow you to move in, that is sufficient constructive evidence of a contract, so they could not argue &quot;We didn't agree to this&quot;. The main risk would be your lack of proof that they ever agreed to lease the place to you (no emails, no texts, no witnesses, no legally-recorded conversations). There may be specific state laws about providing a copy of the rental agreement, such as <a href="https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/civil-code/civ-sect-1962.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this California law</a>, where they must provide a copy to the tenant within 15 days of execution by the tenant. <a href="https://statelaws.findlaw.com/property-and-real-estate-laws/leases-and-rental-agreements.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This</a> provides a collection of relevant state laws, though you may have to dig a bit because this is a hook into all of the laws about leases and not just about providing copies.</p>
