contract-law rental-property residential-lease rent
Telecom fee that is mentioned in the lease but no mention of exact amount (U.S.)
<p>My apartment lease says that the Internet has a telecom fee but there's no mention of how much the telecom fee is anywhere in the contract. In this case, am I obligated to pay this fee? Does it not invoke an issue where they can arbitrarily set the price? Does this fall under the category of lease addendum?</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>am I obligated to pay this fee? </p>
</blockquote>

<p>Yes. You entered the lease despite been aware of the existence of that fee. That meets the contract law tenet that an agreement be entered <em>knowingly and willfully</em>.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Does it not invoke an issue where they can arbitrarily set the price?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>If the landlord requires a fee that is unreasonably high, that would violate the contract law <em>covenant of good faith and fair dealing</em>. As such, that part would be unenforceable, meaning that the landlord may only charge a reasonable fee. Likewise, unless the lease clearly entitles the landlord to decide the telecom fee <em>arbitrarily</em>, the lease would fail to meet that extent of the aforementioned tenet of a contract being entered knowingly.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Does this fall under the category of lease addendum?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The form (or format) in which the requirement of telecom fee was mentioned --and agreed upon-- does not matter. The landlord only would need to prove that the tenant was --or should have been-- aware of that fee. Usually the landlord can prove that by showing/producing in court the lease with tenant's signature.</p>
