New tenants moved in before my lease agreement ended. (tenant, renter, security deposit)

[ATXex-renter]

We are looking for answers:

Our lease agreement was from 12/15/09 - 12/31/10. We moved out 11/22/10 after purchasing a house in the same neighborhood. We paid the full amount for December although we had already vacated the premises. Since we now live down the street, we noticed that a new tenant was moving in on 12/20/10.

Are we still the legal occupants of that property? Regardless, is the LL obligated to reimburse us the prorated rent for the last 11 days of December since they found new tenants? We could have been aholes and taken our sweet time moving out. We left the place in better condition then when we moved in...the previous tenant allowed their kid to "express themselves" with crayons on the wall...needless to say, we repainted the place after the landlord bought the paint.

Are we due 11 days of rent or are LL's allowed to double-dip???

Thanks!

[Ultrarunner]

Did you return the keys to the landlord and are the utilities still in your name? What about the security deposit?

Only ask because turning over the keys is symbolic of vacating.

And yes... the landlord is not nomally able to "Doulble Dip" unless it was your agreement to speed-up the return of your deposit, liquidated damages or something similar.

Another possibility is the new tenant's rent doesn't actully start until January 1... so it wouldn't be double dipping.

Depending on how things transpired, it wouldn't hurt to ask.

[ShaneSA]

If the new tenant moved it before your lease expired I would take that as an indicator that you will get your full deposit returned.

[jdm2008]

Originally Posted by ATXex-renter

We are looking for answers:

Our lease agreement was from 12/15/09 - 12/31/10. We moved out 11/22/10 after purchasing a house in the same neighborhood. We paid the full amount for December although we had already vacated the premises. Since we now live down the street, we noticed that a new tenant was moving in on 12/20/10.

Are we still the legal occupants of that property? Regardless, is the LL obligated to reimburse us the prorated rent for the last 11 days of December since they found new tenants? We could have been aholes and taken our sweet time moving out. We left the place in better condition then when we moved in...the previous tenant allowed their kid to "express themselves" with crayons on the wall...needless to say, we repainted the place after the landlord bought the paint.

Are we due 11 days of rent or are LL's allowed to double-dip???

Thanks!

Yes you are. Can you prove it in court is another matter. The landlord cannot collect rent from two people at the same time under any circumstances.

[manderly6]

You could always try and knock on the door and ask the new tenants if they are paying for those overlap days. If they say yes, seems like you should ask for some money back.

[STT Resident]

Seems to me like a lot of fussing about nothing and all for a few dollars. You were apparently a good tenant, your LL was apparently a good LL so where's the rub? You can expend time and $s trying to figure out if your previous LL is double-dipping and all for possibly, maybe perhaps, a whole 11 days pro-rated rent?

Did you get back your security deposit in due course? I'm guessing you did and that you're simply nit-picking. If you didn't get back your security deposit then ask on.

[tess89]

A few dollars? That's a huge assumption. Where I live 11 days of rent adds up to well over $600! I'd nit-pick over that any day of the week.

[texdav]

Ig you vacated the property it then in most states comes under the control of the landlord.Whether you are do a refund depends alot on the contract and laws.In most cases you own the conhtract period and if you vacated it comes under the control of the landlord ;vacating being your choice.

[STT Resident]

Originally Posted by tess89

A few dollars? That's a huge assumption. Where I live 11 days of rent adds up to well over $600! I'd nit-pick over that any day of the week.

I wasn't making an assumption. The OP was renting in the Cedar Park area of Texas where rentals are in the range of 600-1100/month. If the LL was indeed "double-dipping" for 11 days, that amounts to between $250-$400 due to the OP if all else is equal. But we don't know that so are offering general advice and admonitions. My apologies for having offended.

[TexasHorseLady]

I'd be more concerned about liability if the lease was still in my name and the next tenants moved in early. That could come to a heck of a lot more than "a few days rent".