Thursday, December 8, 2011

Can a landlord keep my deposit if i back out two days after giving it to him (the lease dident even start)?

Hello, i was wondering if a lanlord is justified in retaining part rent.





this was the situation:





my girlfriend and i were interested in a home in a fourplex. we contacted the landlord of the premises, and looked at the place. we arranged a payment plan for the first months rent and damage deposit on the terms of 500 down ( of 1200) for the rent, and the rest to be auto withdrawn from my account at a later date.


$500 cash was transfered to the landlord and a six month lease was signed on the 26th of may 2009. Reciept was given to me stating that the purpose of the money was, as agreed, part rent.


In the lease agreement, it stated that tenancy began on the first of June 2009.





However, on the 29th of may, after unforseen financial circumstances, we decided that we were no longer in a position to afford the residence. We contacted the landlord and let him know this, and returned the keys. When we asked about the $500 for the part rent, we were told that the rental company would retain our money for the simple fact that we " wasted their time". But it had only been two days.





Is this legal? there was no mention of retainer fees, or any other fees of that sort.|||Legally you are responsible for not only the deposit, but you must pay rent until either the lease runs out or a new tenant is found.





It does not matter that it's only 2 days. Once that lease is signed, it's a legally binding contract.|||When you pay a deposit to hold property until you sign the lease you are not entitled to the money back.


Because in paying the deposit you caused the landlord to take the property off of the market causing them to lose potential residents that would have went thru with the lease.


It is legal and it is fair.You caused them to lose income.


You do not have any right to the deposit because you did indeed waste their time.


It is a expensive lesson to learn but when renting property you are talking about someone's income,you wouldn't like it if someone caused you to lose income.|||You don't seem to realize that once a place is rented, others are turned away and the advertising is stopped and then there was all the time spent. When you back out of a legal contract, you are costing the landlord money. Why should he lose because you can't keep your word? Most contracts have a clause that states what they will do if you don't move in. Losing your deposit is the least it could cost you. You should have expected it. You don't sign legal contracts lightly and then change your mind. And just why would you think you should get your money back and the landlord should take a loss? Get real.

No comments:

Post a Comment