Error In Lease Term - Am I Stuck?

[aaron]

Posted using the wrong account:

I am a college student renting an off campus 2 bedroom apartment with a friend. We are in Texas. Our lease is up June 1. In February, we went to the rental office and asked to extend our lease until August 31. The agent told us there wasn't a problem with that and filled out the paperwork in front of us. We both signed and my roommate took a copy of the lease extention. I haven't thought about it since.

While we were there, I also asked about reserving a 1 bedroom apartment for the period of September 1, 2007 through August 31, 2008. The agent told me to come back in May to pay the deposit and hold the apartment.

Yesterday I went to the rental office with my deposit for the 1 bedroom apartment. The rental agent asked what I intended to do with the current lease that runs through July, 2008. Then she showed me a copy of what we signed earlier. Evidently, what we actually signed was a lease that was extended for a YEAR and 3 months. She mistakenly wrote 2008 instead of 2007 and admits doing so. She admits she may have made an error, but shrugged and said "it's a legal document that can't be changed".

Obviously we're panicked at this point. My roommate is graduating, moving out of the area. I cannot afford the rent alone. I feel stupid because I know we're partially at fault for not thoroughly reading what we signed, but she filled it out in front of us and I guess we assumed it was correct.

My questions: If we sub-let the apartment, are my parent who co-signed for me, liable if the sub-letters default or damage the apartment?

Is there anything else we can possibly do to get them to admit their error and change the lease to the intended extention time? They are more than aware of our intentions since we've talked about it with them several times.

We can break the lease, but that'll cost $600 and we lose our security deposit.

Thanks, in advance, for any help.

[Mr. Knowitall]

Try to get them to confirm in writing that this was a mistake, but that they're trying to hold you to the additional year anyway.