Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Real Estate > Renting
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 08-16-2012, 11:10 PM
 
12 posts, read 72,744 times
Reputation: 21

Advertisements

Hello,
I have a tenant that can not come up with the money to pay their rent or deposit at the start of the lease. It looks like they recently incurred a lot of expenses and have no emergency savings. The tenants want to move in but don't have the money to do so right now. The lease has already started over 5 days ago but we have received no payment. Tenants want to move in but can't make the payment. They are not yet in the house due to non payment. Is the lease void due to them not having taken possession, or do we need to follow normal eviction procedures even though the tenants have not moved in?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-16-2012, 11:12 PM
 
Location: Rural Michigan
6,343 posts, read 14,641,578 times
Reputation: 10548
If they don't live there, you don't have to evict.
You dodged a bullet.
Don't let them move in without full payment.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2012, 11:17 PM
 
Location: Kailua Kona, HI
3,199 posts, read 13,370,395 times
Reputation: 3421
Tear it up. Start over. Did you run these people's credit and verify their income, and call their last couple of landlords?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2012, 11:20 PM
 
12 posts, read 72,744 times
Reputation: 21
Yes,
We ran credit which was ok, and talked to previous landlord who gave a good recommendation. We actually never even received the deposit. We haven't received any money yet. We would prefer to get out of this contract but just want to make sure that we don't get sued for breaching a contract since they still want to move in and did sign the lease. They keep telling us that they will be able to come up with the money for rent.

So does the fact that they haven't paid make their contract void?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2012, 11:56 PM
 
Location: Kailua Kona, HI
3,199 posts, read 13,370,395 times
Reputation: 3421
heck yeah it's void! No rent? no deposit? No deal.

In the future do not have them sign the lease until they bring you the deposit in CASH and be sure that you have a policy wherein the rent must be paid at least by the day before move in. No exceptions.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-17-2012, 05:26 AM
 
27,206 posts, read 46,641,661 times
Reputation: 15661
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guanabana13 View Post
Hello,
I have a tenant that can not come up with the money to pay their rent or deposit at the start of the lease. It looks like they recently incurred a lot of expenses and have no emergency savings. The tenants want to move in but don't have the money to do so right now. The lease has already started over 5 days ago but we have received no payment. Tenants want to move in but can't make the payment. They are not yet in the house due to non payment. Is the lease void due to them not having taken possession, or do we need to follow normal eviction procedures even though the tenants have not moved in?
No eviction needed. Start advertising ASAP and consider your self lucky although you lost time and money...it could be worse.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-17-2012, 05:40 AM
 
Location: DFW
40,936 posts, read 49,025,568 times
Reputation: 54962
Not a good start and only likely to get worse. Consider yourself lucky.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-17-2012, 06:42 AM
 
16,376 posts, read 22,427,722 times
Reputation: 14397
they broke the contract by not paying rent and deposit. You did not allow them to move in because they broke the contract.

You have a unique situation and need to CYA. I suggest you go to a forum that has many, many long term landlords that post there often. ask your questions there. they will have great advice on the legal way to handle this.

the site is www mrlandlord com (<--place . in the spaces) Anyway, the site is confusing at first. The forum is hidden in the area that says "ask a questions" or "q and a by state" or something like that.

You dont need to sign up to ask a question (I dont think). There are many very good Q and A on there to read as well.

The site is only for landlords. If you are a tenant and post they will let you have it. Many of the landlords have many properties and some only have a a few. they share good info on the site.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-17-2012, 08:27 AM
 
12 posts, read 72,744 times
Reputation: 21
Thanks for the comments. I agree that the contract is void, I just want to protect the owner from lawsuits in case the tenants claim that they were treated unfairly and not allowed to move in. I definitely want to CYA. I will go to the site that you mentioned sware to cod and probably need to contact a lawyer. If anyone has any specific legal information about why this contract would be void that would help immensely.

Thank you KonaKat for the suggestion to always collect cash upon signing of lease.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-17-2012, 09:37 AM
 
Location: The Triad
34,090 posts, read 82,716,942 times
Reputation: 43659
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guanabana13 View Post
If anyone has any specific legal information about why this contract would be void that would help immensely.
For "specific legal information" you go find a lawyer.

Quote:
Security Deposit. Prior to moving into the Apartment, the Tenant is responsible for depositing $ Insert Amount as a Security Deposit with the Landlord. This Security Deposit is security that the Tenant will comply with all the terms of this Lease. This Security Deposit may not be used to pay the last month’s rent without the Landlord’s prior written consent.
Without that money being paid there is NO contract to honor.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Real Estate > Renting

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:09 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top