Lease dictionary
Jury trial waiver
A clause where you give up the right to a jury if the landlord ever sues you.
A jury trial waiver means any lease dispute is decided by a judge alone. Landlords prefer it because it's faster and juries tend to sympathize with tenants.
Several states - New York among them - make jury waivers in residential leases unenforceable in whole or part. Elsewhere they generally stand.
Watch out
Often paired with an arbitration clause as a belt-and-suspenders way to keep you out of court. Flag both.
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