Lease: “Initial Here”

By Richard Marmor, Esq.
AZSA Legal & Legislative Chair

We use the AZSA Standard Form Lease,” said the caller. “But there are some things you need to add. You need to add a signature line on the second page and initial boxes next to paragraphs...” I stopped him. I asked him why, but there could only be two possible justifications in his mind, neither of which make sense.

I review leases from time to time for operators and I see those extra signature lines and initial blanks often. As soon as I see that, I know that I’m looking at a homemade lease.

Let’s start with the notion of multiple signatures. Once you sign a document, wherever the signature blank is, the document is legally binding. If you sign your name a second time it does not become twice as binding or twice as legal. It doesn’t even imply some further recognition of the provisions that happen to appear on the page with the extra signature. It’s a totally meaningless act.

I once signed some mortgage papers and was asked to sign at the bottom of each page. That had nothing to do with the legality of the document or the provisions. That document was going to exist in a variety of forms, including electronic. My signature on each page could be used to confirm that some future image is of original, unsubstituted pages. That’s hardly necessary on a storage lease.

Then there is the matter of initialing hot and cold running paragraphs. The presumption, apparently, is that the tenant reads each of those paragraphs before initialing them. The idea, I guess, is to drive home the importance of those lease terms.

The last time you rented a car, the rental clerk told you to sign here, and initial here, and here, and here... Ask yourself: did you read each of those paragraphs before initialing them? I bet not. The car rental guy may have explained that initialing here waives the extra insurance, etc. Over here, something else. Did you read the little boxes to confirm that such indeed was what you were initialing? I bet not. So why should we presume that a tenant renting from us takes in any information from the lease as (s)he initials in various places? The renter is undoubtedly thinking the same thing you were thinking when you rented the car: I need the car. If I want it, this is what I have to do. They’re not going to give it to me otherwise.

I can’t leave this topic without noting that the AZSA Standard Form Lease has an initial box on the front. That is very different. The lease already grants some special rights to the alternate contact in four special situations: the tenant is dead, in jail, on active military duty or is legally incompetent. By initialing the box, the tenant can elect to give the alternate contact even greater access to the rented space. By not initialing the box, the tenant is indicating an election not to grant additional access to the alternate contact. Very different.

Bottom line: all the extra signing and initialing in the world on a storage lease legally means absolutely nothing.

[This article deals with a law related subject at a general level and is not intended for you to rely on. You should consult a lawyer before making a final decision in a situation involving any legal issues.]

Richard Marmor, Esq. is a self-storage consultant, facility owner and former facility operator in the Phoenix area. He is also the founding President and current member of the Board of Directors of the Arizona Self-Storage Association, serving as Chair of the Legal and Legislative Committee.

Source: Behind Closed Doors, AZSA Newsletter Archives