Landlord is trying to break my lease b/cz he lost his job!

This is regarding a landlord-tenant lease (for a residential townhome).
I\'m the tenant.

I signed a one-year lease in November 2007 for a rental property in southern
california. It\'s a standard lease from the California Realtors Association
(no mention about arbitration in it, nor any statement regarding who pays
for legal expenses in the event of a dispute). The lease terminates in
November 2008.

In the original lease (on page 4) on a section labeled \"other\", the
landlord 1st added the statement \"either the landlord or tenant may severe
the lease with a 60-day written notice.\" The landlord stated it was for my
protection in case I needed to move early due to any typeemergency. He
stated that in order to actually terminate the contract for that reason, we
would both need to agree, that\'s why the statement was necessary. I
immediately questioned the statement and stated that it didn\'t seem right
to me because this gives him (and me) the right to terminate at any time
(for any reason) given appropriate written ntoice. Reluctantly. I signed.
He again repeated the reason why. Sick to my stomach all day, I called him
the next day (was moving in that morning), and stated that I was very
uncomfortable with the statment and that I wanted it omitted from the
lease -- a revision to that page. (I put my request in writing via an
e-mail to him too--I sent myself a copy too which I still have). He agreed
to my request . Thus we signed a new page 4 omitting that statement. This
is my question.

On a new page 4, I wrote on the top of the page \"This page is a revision to
the original contract.\" The statement (mentioned above was omitted) and
instead upon the landlord\'s request, was replaced with this statement
\"Tenant agrees to give landlord at least a 60-day written notice upon
termination of lease, and tenant has the right to renew the lease.\" This
60-day notice was to give the landlord time to find a new tenant before the
termination of the lease (the end of the one-year period). We both signed
the new page 4.

Here\'s my question/concern:

Since we both signed the new page 4, with the statement on the top
specifiying that this page is a revision to the original contract, is that
sufficient for this new page for to be enforced? I believe it is, but I\'m
concerned the landlord might \"loose\" the revision page and stick to the
original page with the 1st statement giving him the right to severe the
contract. He didn\'t tear up the original page (either did I). Thus, I\'m
assuming he still has it. I of course, have both copies too, and they are
both signed my both of us.

The reason I\'m asking is that my landlord has now given me a 60-day notice
(4th month into the one-year lease) requesting I vacate because he lost his
job, can no longer make full- payments (only patial ones for now) on his
mortgage and needs to either sell or eventually foreclose.

I\'ve written him informing him, in a nutshell, that I cannot move and that
we have a one year lease that he needs to lawfully adhere to it, as do I.
I\'ve done a lot of researching, and I understand that his notice is most
probably a defective notice and that if he tries to evict, I can answer the
complaint with a reason of defective notice.

He may know this too, but I beleive he is playing the \"sympathy role\" and
testing the water to see if I would just agree to move now.

Keep in mind, that there is no where else in the contract that gives him any
right to terminate/severe the lease early.

I'd appreciate your feedback. Thanks! Rebecca

[OHlandlord]

Rebecca, your new page 4, minus the termination clause, became the ruling lease once both parties signed it. The original lease clause was voided when both parties signed and agreed to that page. He cannot terminate your lease now. Make sure you keep the copy of that new page 4. If he loses his copy, you can procide a copy of yours to the court. Please write him a polite letter stating that the termination clause was removed from the lease when you both signed the addendum on xx/xx/xx date. Remind him that your lease runs until 11/o8 date and that you intend to continue with your lease through the end of the lease.

You may want to state that you understand his predicament with his job loss and you will fully cooperate with any sale or showings of the house that are needed if he must sell it. (Be assured, your lease will transfer to the new owner.) Offer to allow a For Sale sign to be placed in the yard and to keep the house orderly for any showings an agent may schedule. Request that they provide you with 24 hours of notice prior to a showing so you can be sure the house will show its best. Make sure the tone of the letter is polite and cooperative. Mail it cerified, rrr, and keep a copy.

If the house is sold, the hew owner would have to honor your lease until it ends in November. If the house is foreclosed on, you will receive notice of the auction, and a 30 day notice from the bank or the new purchaser. (In most states, foreclosure does terminate a lease.) You would have to move at that time.

I'll do just that. Thank you for taking the time to answer this post. Your reply is greatly appreciated! It's people like you that make the world run more smoothly...