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My rental property lease has a clause that I have to pay for their legal fees if anything happens unless the court states otherwise. Is this normal or should I be concerned?

BlueDogRanch
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Hamsterman64
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1 Answers1

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Is this normal or should I be concerned?

Avoid signing contracts with that type of clauses.

Clauses regarding legal fees usually are enforceable and can include attorney fees even if not stated explicitly. See Lindenhurst Realty Co. LLC v. Modern Air Strike Inc., 2014 NY Slip Op 33385(U):

Although a promise to pay "legal costs" has been held to be insufficient to impose a duty to pay another party's attorney's fees [...], a promise to pay "legal fees" in the context of an entire agreement, has been held to be sufficiently clear and unmistakable to impose that burden

(citing cases).

Ultimately you need to (1) ascertain from the literal terms of the lease whether legal fees are meant to include attorney fees, and (2) see how case law from your [unspecified] jurisdiction compares to Air Turbine Technology v. Quarles & Brady, 165 So.3d 816 (2015):

Under Florida law, the term `costs' is not generally construed to include attorney's fees absent an express contractual provision that defines expenses to include fees.

Attorney fees can be very costly regardless of whether the clause is in terms of "reasonable" rather than actual expenses. Gresham v. Meadow Ridge Cincinnati Assoc., Ohio CoA (Jul. 5, 2020) shows how attorney fees tend to be disproportionate: The ruling awarded the reimbursement of tenant's deposit ($395), statutory damages of $300, and $5,695 in attorney fees. Note that Gresham is premised on a statute that provides "reasonable" attorney fees.

Iñaki Viggers
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  • Thanks, I am not from Florida though. Know any website I can use for my lease in Rhode Island. – Hamsterman64 Jul 14 '22 at 13:30
  • @Hamsterman64 "* I am not from Florida though." The same principle applies by default in Rhode Island. See [Moore v. Ballard, 914 A.2d 487, 489 (2007)](https://www.leagle.com/decision/20071401914a2d48711401) ("Generally, the term "costs" does not include attorney's fees*", one exception being a partition action, which does not apply here). But that by the default and a contract could override this principle. Hence the importance of scrutinizing the actual terms of the lease. – Iñaki Viggers Jul 14 '22 at 16:51
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    "Avoid signing contracts with that type of clauses." I have never seen a professionally drafted lease without such a clause. – ohwilleke Jul 15 '22 at 00:57
  • @ohwilleke "I have never seen a professionally drafted lease without such a clause." I hear you, but (1) that does not mean that leases are required by law to include a clause like that; (2) pushback on risky clauses is lawful in most (if not all) contexts; (3) lawyers can be --and some of them certainly are-- sloppy when drafting clauses; (4) the landlord in the OP's scenario might have just copy/pasted legalese from somewhere else; and (5) years ago I myself had a former, renown landlord remove some clause before I would sign the lease. – Iñaki Viggers Jul 15 '22 at 08:24