No copy of lease provided, is it valid?

[Ariock1]

What is the name of your state? California

I was relocating for work and found a property on a company's rental site. When my fiancé and I went to see it, they showed us an alternate property, which was "almost ready to rent". We applied and were told that the app was approved through the property management company pending owner approval. Our lease was up to our old place and we had to load up the uhaul and move. We called the property management company and were told we could sign the lease the next day (Sat May 6). On this day, we signed under what may be considered duress since everything we owned was in a truck and we had no place to go. Regardless, we were not given a copy of the lease, not a receipt for the rent/security/gate remote fee (I believe CA Civil Code requires such). The apartment was quite dirty (as we did the walk through, the property management agent apologized - there were even dead bugs throughout), the stove did not work, the dishwasher did not work, and there was no fridge, the tub and toilet leaked. On cleaning, my fiancé found the "roaches" of two marijuana "joints" the kitchen, we were not given a mailbox key... you get the picture. On Monday May 8, we got a voice mail from the property management company that our app had been accepted; but that they were still awaiting owner approval and that once they had it we could sign a lease and move in. This was a bit perplexing. The next week, a received a surprise promotion at work that required an immediate relocation out of state. We did not know how to break the lease since we never received a copy. We had an appointment with the property management company on the 20th to get the lease. There was no one at the office for this appointment. We called the company, and stated that we had an appointment and that no one was there, and further that were moving out, and needed to turn in our key. The agent agreed to meet with us. I gave the company agent an oral and written statement regarding vacating the property, as well as a letter from my company stating my relocation was work related, and turned in my keys and remote. She told me that she was not sure what to do as she had never had this occur before, and that I may get a refund due to paying an entire month's rent for two weeks of occupancy. Despite the original purpose of the appointment, I still did not get a copy of the lease. The company has since decided to hold us to the lease, and sent a Security Deposit Reconciliation with deductions for the balance of the lease, a fee for them to advertise the property on the Web, and a "new teanat fee", whatever that may be (a total of over $8000). They put the final amount under the line that reads "balance due tenant", which amused me.
So my questions are; Is the lease binding and if so, do I have a good case to get out of it?

[Zigner]

Originally Posted by Ariock1

So my questions are; Is the lease binding and if so, do I have a good case to get out of it?

Yes it is binding and no you don't have good cause to get out of it

[ENASNI]

Zigner has a point but managment is shifty and lazy, you may want to take them to the matresses anyway.
stick to your cannolis..Bonasera.

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[Ariock1]

California Civil Code #1962 - "Landlord's responsibility to provide a copy of rental agreement".

A contract signed under duress that we were never given to copy of despite legal requirements.

They may have been in violation of their own lease for the lack of functioning appliances, but since I have no lease to read, I will never know because I have no lease to read.

How can they hold us to something if they have not met their legal requirements to provide us with a copy of what they are holding us to?

[Who's Liable?]

Originally Posted by Ariock1

California Civil Code #1962 - "Landlord's responsibility to provide a copy of rental agreement".

A contract signed under duress that we were never given to copy of despite legal requirements.

They may have been in violation of their own lease for the lack of functioning appliances, but since I have no lease to read, I will never know because I have no lease to read.

How can they hold us to something if they have not met their legal requirements to provide us with a copy of what they are holding us to?

And what have you done to request a copy of the lease? Phone calls are irrelevant since it is a he-said, she-said argument in a court of law...

Signing a lease becuase you had nowhere else to go is NOT duress, signing a lease with a gun to your head IS duress...