What to do in case of a legal lease agreement?

Questioner

My elderly parents sold their house and wanted to rent an apartment. After a viewing I let the rental company know by email that they wanted to rent that apartment. For three days they have had the rental agreement at home for signing. However: - in the meantime they have developed a greater need for care, which also means a greater urgency for a nursing home and they have now been offered an apartment there (which they also want) - the lease for the first apartment appears to be for 1 year. They (and I) did not know that and we find it too long considering their age and state of health. Furthermore, the rental agreement included a hefty bill for administration costs. I have now let them know by email that they are withdrawing their intention to rent this apartment. Can they still hold my parents to the original intention? And possibly also charge something like lost rent (the contract would only start on 1/11). And do they have to pay the administration costs?

Lawyer

This is a problem because in principle your parents are bound by the annual contract. If they now want to withdraw from that contract, conditions will come into effect that they agreed to prior to concluding the agreement. Legally, in my opinion, there is only real advantage to be gained if the deterioration of the health of one of your parents was unforeseeable and serious, in any case such that they can no longer live in a normal house/apartment. What do the conditions state?

Questioner

How can you be bound to conditions that you can only read in the lease agreement? For example, they did not know before that it was a one-year contract. Incidentally, they have not signed anything yet.

Lawyer

That was not entirely clear to me. In that specific case you could pay attention to how the agreement is concluded according to the conditions, sometimes a signature is really required, other times it is just a formality. In tenancy law, even a verbal agreement is legally valid, so is an email. And perhaps the agent's response already refers to the conditions and was the rental period known in advance?

Lawyer

The conditions for the conclusion of a rental agreement are that the parties agree on - at least! - the essentials: the amount of the rental price/service costs, what the object to be rented is and the start date and duration of the agreement. So there is no agreement as you describe it. After all, no term was agreed upon, or at least now they suddenly come up with a minimum term about which nothing was known in advance. I do not agree with the above answer. Rental law has been my specialization for over 15 years. I would be happy to help you/your parents with this if you want. Feel free to contact me without obligation.

Lawyer

The problem that may be at play is that the rental house is offered via a website and all the essentials are mentioned there with a series of photos. A home visit is not required, but the duration of the contract and the price are, but these can also be mentioned on the website of the broker. That is what I meant, to first investigate how this agreement came about. Disagreeing with my previous answer is illogical without knowing the additional information I asked for earlier; after all, the answer is not there yet.

Lawyer

I am responding to the information provided by the questioner - both in the original question and again in the response. The duration of the agreement was not previously announced. And that is one of the essentials. Moreover, essentials should not be hidden away in small print. I did not mention a home visit (?) as one of the essentials. And the questioner did not use that word either.

Lawyer

Tenants have been in contact by email. How does that work these days, all legally required information is simply on the specific information page of a real estate agent's website. The chance that a lack of one of the essentials is at issue is almost zero. The user of the website who responds with the words yes, I want to rent this house, does not realize that he is accepting an offer. This must first be clear. The questioner says my parents did not know about the duration of the lease, that is possible. But the real question is of course: could they have known this, for example because this information is simply mentioned with the offer on the website, not in small print but as the most important aspects mentioned with the object in question. (which is usually the case)

Lawyer

I'm not going to waste any more words on this nonsensical discussion, except to quote the questioner: 'How can you be bound by conditions that you can only read in the rental agreement? For example, that it is a one-year contract ....'

Lawyer

The discussion was also not necessary, I am waiting for more information, for example the answer to my question 'And possibly the broker's response already refers to the conditions and was the rental period already known in advance? And add to this, on the broker's website?