Sami, a recent immigrant to Australia, has poor English and is studying English while working part time at a garden nursery. He inspects a hectare of land, which he believes to be suitable for growing organic vegetables. Claudette, an experienced property developer and real estate agent, owns the land. Claudette tells Sami that she is willing to lease his land to Sami for five years at a monthly rental of $2,000.
During that discussion, the following conversation took place between Sami and Claudette:
Sami: “Will there be a rental increase during the lease period?”
Claudette: “No increase. You have my word on that.”
Sami: “I agree to take the lease but do you need me to sign any documents?”
Claudette: “No need to sign anything. Just as long as you keep paying the rent there will be no problems. But in any case here is a letter which sets out the terms of the lease and rental payments. Just sign at the bottom of that letter.”
Sami signed the letter reyling on Claudette’s promises. However, due to his poor command of English, he did not read the letter carefully. The letter actually stated that the lease is “on a monthly basis and that the landlord/ landlady can increase the rent by giving a month’s notice”.
Some time after signing the letter, Sami decided to withdraw from his English course and from his part-time job to concentrate on clearing his land, cultivating the soil and planting his crops. After 6 months, Sami considerably improved the land and is ready to start making an income from the cultivation and the sale of his vegetables. Sami had been paying his monthly rent.
A few months later, Sami received a letter from Claudette advising that she intendeds to increase the rent to $4,000 per month. Sami is very upset and tells Claudette that he can not pay the increase.
Claudette produced the letter Sami had signed and insisted that Sami abide by the terms of that letter. Claudette said that if Sami refused to pay the higher rent, she issue Sami a month’s notice to end the lease and vacate the land.
Explain whether Sami has any rights against Claudette under the common law of contract.