140102 contract

In summary, this is the succession of events surrounding the drafting of our contract:

1. We got to his place where I discovered his Internet connection to be unusable by me, while my own data connection was unbearably slow and unreliable.

2. We quickly drafted and signed a contract, handwritten, on the following terms:

   1. I would pay him $500 for 3 weeks plus, if I need it, $50 for one more week until the end of January plus, if necessary, $25 for whatever is left until the end of his payed term - we did not know at that time how he was going to negotiate his termination with the Landlord, he had yet to serve his Termination Notice and we both wanted flexibility.

   2. He was going to provide me with Internet service within a maximum of 48 h. I tried to include penalties in our agreement, but he resisted and I relented.

   3. The place was rented out furnished and everything included, except for one small drawer he was going to take with him.

3. I wanted to do some further checking on the law prior to paying him, and I was going to pay him by PayPal, but with the poor connection I could not do anything, so I suggested we both go to the place I stayed at, which we did, and used the connection there. PayPal allows for a short message (maximum 300 characters if I remember exactly) to be sent together with payment. I checked with him prior to sending payment on a message to summarize our previous agreement. Again, it took some time, but we agreed on a statement that "Internet is available but not guaranteed." This was because of his objection that he might give me his account credentials but even I would not be able to set it up, which could not possibly be his fault. I then sent him the payment using my credit card.

• 1. I left out the clause about $25 as I was not likely to use it and there was no space left.

1. I felt we had already spent too much time, it was getting dark and Francois had to drive all the way to Quebec through snow, so I gave my termination where I was staying, paying a bit extra for one more rental term, grabbed my stuff, said good bye and we left in his rented SUV, going back to his place. On our way back, I replaced my smartphone battery, which got used up because of the earlier tethering, while I was trying to take a photo of the contract.

2. At home, he first went to tell the Landlord he's leaving. He insisted he does so on his own even though he seemed quite emotional about it. I suggested that although Landlords don't have much leverage when somebody is breaking the lease, as he was about to do, it is always best to end a lease, whether early or not, on agreement, both to protect oneself and also because even if you can get away with it, why mess up a relationship you do not have to mess up? In any event, I requested he informs the Landlord that I will be staying over, possibly taking over the lease.

3. He returned intent on drafting a new agreement with an expiry date. I told him I was happy with our first agreement, but if he needs to, he can write me a receipt. This is the receipt Mr Deribere insisted on giving me after seeing the landlord alone (http://go.zodian.net/balmoralRCPT):

1. Obviously, this receipt is signed by him alone and does not contradict our previous agreement - more importantly, it does not set a move-out date; it simply re-states some of my rights and clauses from the first agreement, while leaving out the others.

   1. He then started telling me that the Landlord had requested a 60-day written Termination Notice and then he proceeded to write it. I tried to tell him that a 30-day notice should be fine as long as the Landlord agrees and they both sign the agreement and he should furthermore try to buy his way out of the lease by offering the Landlord a sum of money and telling the Landlord about our understanding, but he seemed convinced he has to pay for one more month. Since we could not print out the Agreement to Terminate the Tenancy (PDF), I suggested he has a look at the LTB website and drafts it accordingly. He could not do so, so I helped him find his words. I insisted he mentions me in his Notice, which he did, and also mentions that I am paying for it and am considering taking over the lease. He refused this last request stating that the lease prohibits it but I can tell the Landlord myself if he hasn't figured it out already.

   2. This is the original lease (http://go.zodian.net/balmoralLS):

• 1. (I obscured some personal data as a courtesy.)

1. We delivered the Notice together. It turned out that the person I had met earlier was not the Landlord but rather the Superintendent. We waited patiently for him to finish a telephone conversation, then Francois delivered his Notice, Superintendent James read it, told us admiringly "your English is good" took the paper and declined to sign it, claiming that all papers go to Jack, the Landlord, and he does not sign anything. I mentioned passingly that I am also paying for this place and neither the Superintendent, nor Francois had any reaction.This is the mutual agreement I helped Mr Deribere draft (http://go.zodian.net/balmoralTRMN8):

1. Back in the bachelor unit, I helped Francois carry his packed boxes and his "portable Ikea drawer" to his car, then I helped him fit it in, then we had a last look at his former place together. I asked him to take anything he needed, as I had my own stuff. He considered taking some of his food for a moment (he was leaving quite a bit behind, most of it not really something I would consume), but decided he'll just grab something ready-made on his way. On the final inspection I found a number of items of intimate use which I urged him to take with him. He did, I walked him to the car, said good bye and finally went back to my new apartment. I was so tired, I slept like a baby.

I cannot yet locate our original agreement. This could be because I placed it off-site, in storage, or because it has been removed or stolen from the apartment by someone else. I may not have taken a photo of it as my mobile phone battery ran out before I could do so due to earlier tethering and attempts to use the Internet.