Ditched my lawyer for a $49 contract template, cost me $3,200 in rent

Signed a commercial lease in Columbus using a generic template I downloaded online. The clause about property taxes was completely different from what the landlord meant, and I missed a renewal option deadline by 12 days. Landlord raised my rent 30% and I had no legal ground to fight it. My old lawyer would have caught that for maybe $500, so I saved nothing and lost more. Has anyone else had a cheap template backfire this badly?

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wendy_lee4812d ago

Cost me $3,200 in rent" is right, but the math on the lawyer part is a little off. A $500 lawyer visit wouldn't have just caught the tax clause, they'd have flagged that renewal deadline too. That's two separate things you paid $49 to miss.