what joint and several liability means in a lease.
Every person who signed owes the whole amount, not their share of it. The landlord can pursue all of them together, or any one of them alone, for the full sum.
3 people on a $2,400 rent are not each liable for $800. Each is liable for $2,400, and the landlord chooses who to ask.
this page says what the words mean. it does not say what to do about them, and it is not legal advice.
where it turns up
residential leases and lease addenda with more than 1 tenant, and guaranty forms. Also any contract signed by 2 or more people or companies on the same side.
the clause, as it usually reads
wording of the kind these documents carry. it is written for this page, not copied from anyone's contract.
4. Joint and Several Liability
Each Tenant is jointly and severally liable for the payment of Rent and for the
performance of all other obligations of Tenant under this Lease. Landlord may
enforce this Lease against any one or more Tenants without first proceeding
against, or joining, any other Tenant. The departure of any Tenant does not
release that Tenant or any remaining Tenant from any obligation under this Lease.
line by line
jointly, and severally, are 2 different permissions
Jointly means the landlord can treat the tenants as 1 group and come after them together.
Severally means the landlord can also pick one and come after that person for everything. Having both words in the sentence gives the landlord the choice. That choice is normally whoever is easiest to reach and has the money.
without first proceeding against any other Tenant
This removes the obvious defence. The tenant being asked to pay cannot answer that the landlord should have asked the others first, or asked everyone at once.
what happens between the tenants is a separate matter
A tenant who pays the whole amount generally has a claim against the others for their shares. That claim is against them, not against the landlord, and collecting it is that tenant's problem.
The lease is unaffected either way. It has already been paid.
the departure sentence
Moving out is not the same as being released. Someone who leaves mid-term stays liable for the rent that keeps coming due, unless the landlord signs something releasing them.
That release is the usual reason a lease addendum exists: it names who is being added or removed, and from which date.
a guaranty stacks on top
Where a parent or a company signs a guaranty, that person is liable for the same whole amount as a backstop. That liability sits in addition to the tenants'. Guaranty wording is often severally liable too, and often waives the requirement to chase the tenants first.
the wording that changes it
the same clause does very different things depending on which of these it carries.
- each Tenant shall be liable only for that Tenant's proportionate share
- several but not joint. Everyone owes their own fraction, and a departing roommate's share is not the others' problem.
- severally but not jointly
- the same split, in the wording used between companies. Each side owes its own part and no more.
- jointly and severally liable for Rent
- narrower than for all obligations. The whole-amount rule covers rent, and damage or cleaning costs are handled elsewhere.
- Landlord shall apply the Security Deposit ...
- sits next to this clause. 1 deposit covering all tenants is normally settled as a single sum at the end, not divided per person.
- no assignment or subletting without Landlord's prior written consent
- the reason a replacement roommate does not swap the liability across on their own.
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documents this clause sits in
whole examples, with the summary sign writes for each one.
what a lease addendum actually says · what a software order form actually says
the other 8
what indemnify and hold harmless actually means · does an NDA expire if it has no end date · can you cross out a clause before signing · how long you have to cancel after signing · what a personal guarantee means on a lease · what a binding arbitration clause means · what entire agreement means in a contract · what an automatic renewal clause means, and how to cancel