I have rented commercial and residential properties in South Africa
for 12 years now. Our laws and legal system are largely based on
English law. I also hold a bachelor's degree in accounting science,
where commercial law was a subject for two years of this degree.
The fact that the bookkeeper is hired staff is not really important
with regards to their ability to bind the landlord.
If the bookkeeper was given express permission to contract on behalf
of the landlord, then he/she would be able to sign on behalf of the
landlord, as would anyone, regardless of whether or not they work for
the landlord at all.
If the landlord is a company and the bookkeeper is an officer of the
company, (ie. a director or similar position), they should be able to
legally bind company without prior express permission.
However, if you have been acting in accordance with the provisions of
such a lease, and now want to terminate based on the grounds that your
bookkeeper did not have authority to sign, the lessee could argue that
you tacitly agreed to the provisions of the lease by acting accordance
with the contents thereof.
If you are happy that the lease is signed, you could always ratify the
agreement after the fact - this should be no problem for the lessee,
as their rights and obligations in terms of the lease will not have
changed.
You may want to look up more information on some forums and legal web
sites in your country - I have done a few searches, which will
hopefully assist you in your search for the right answer:
://www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&q=landlord+forum&meta=
://www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&rls=GGLG%2CGGLG%3A2005-39%2CGGLG%3Aen&q=%22authority+to+sign+lease%22&meta=
://www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&rls=GGLG%2CGGLG%3A2005-39%2CGGLG%3Aen&q=%22authority+to+contractually+bind%22&meta=
://www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&rls=GGLG%2CGGLG%3A2005-39%2CGGLG%3Aen&q=%22authority+to+contract%22&meta=
I hope that this helps you. |
