A lease for a period longer than one year is void unless in writing and subscribed by which party?

• A. The landlord
• B. The tenant
• C. The party to be charged
• D. Both the landlord and the tenant

Answer: (C)

The key concept is the Statute of Frauds rule for leases: a lease for more than one year must be in writing and signed by the party against whom enforcement would be sought. That “party to be charged” is the person who would be bound if the contract were enforced in court. In a typical landlord–tenant lease, the party to be charged is the landlord, because the landlord would be obligated under the lease. So the writing must be signed by the party who would be charged—the landlord.

Signing by the tenant alone would not bind the landlord, and while signatures by both parties would certainly produce an enforceable document, the formal requirement specified is signature by the party to be charged.