An agreement is supposed to be binding, no matter what it is, right?

Well…I guess it depends on who you ask.

But you’d think that the landlord you’ve had for more than three years would probably be pretty upfront about how things operate.

Until today…

A renter talked about how he’s getting mixed messages from his landlord about a move-out date, and it’s causing him some heartburn.

Check out what he had to say.

Landlord and I agreed on my 60-Day Notice through text, now she’s backtracking.

“I’ve been renting my current apartment for the last 3 1/2 years.

Never been late on a rent payment, I’ve always communicated issues and I’ve always been cordial.

She’s an older woman, so I help where I can when it comes to maintenance.

This was all on the up-and-up.

Almost 2 months ago, on March 27, I gave her a 60-Day notice through text. I said exactly:

“Good Day, (Landlord).

I will be moving to (City, State) at the end of May. There’s not much choice in the matter for me, I need to follow my job. Please consider this my 60-Day notice. If you require a hand-written notice, I can accommodate. Please advise how you would to proceed.”

Then the landlord responded.

She responded with:

“Thank you for letting me know about your move. Please put it in writing and put it in an envelope in the furnace room. Let me know when you put it there. You need to return the apartment in the same condition it was given to you in order to get your entire security deposit back. I will need to start showing it ASAP. Please be ready for showings ASAP.”

I agreed to the showings and asked if she could just provide notice as I do have dogs and constant strangers would overwhelm them. I’d just take them over to my parents for the day.

We’ve had multiple conversations about the unit’s parking lot and other tenants and such. I even helped her put up the “For Rent” sign about 2 weeks ago in the yard.

Huh?

Today, she calls me claiming she did not know I’d be ending it early (it ends on August 14) and that it says in my lease that I cannot.

This is simply not true, I read it page to page before I gave her my 60-Day notice. There is absolutely nothing in it about ending the lease or ending it early. Just that I need to provide a 60-Day notice.

She asked if my job could pay the difference in the lease, and I told her they cannot.

She is now saying once again, she’ll be needing to show the apartment ASAP. I agreed to this just as I did nearly 2 months ago.

She does have proof in writing.

She never put it up for rent online (that’s how I found it in the first place) nor performed any showings. She doesn’t seem to upset but is mainly just saying “you can’t do that.”

Does our previous agreement to the 60-Days and move out procedure bind her?

It is in writing in the forms of texts. She’s made no comment on the topic specifically since then until our phone call. Is she able to take legal action? Can it be justified?

Everything is set up for me to move across the country. There’s no backing out of that now.”

Reddit users shared their thoughts.

A landlord weighed in.

Another person spoke up.

This Reddit user shared their thoughts.

Another individual weighed in.

If you enjoyed this post, check out this story about a landlord who is confused about how to return a despot since the tenant doesn’t ever want to contact them again.

And this person spoke up.

Well, they have to get to the bottom of this in a hurry, huh?

You’d think that these two have enough of a relationship that they’d be able to figure out.

But sometimes that’s easier said than done.

He’s in a real pickle of a situation with his landlord…