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Old 03-25-2008, 01:39 PM
 
3 posts, read 10,143 times
Reputation: 11

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I rented a room in a house and paid all my rent up front for a year. I am 6 months in and now I am moving out because I can go move in with a friend for cheaper and I know him. The landlord is trying to keep the money I paid because he said that he wants to find a renter since I gave only a months notice. Can he keep my money? Or does he have to pay it back? Should I take him to court to try and get my money back?
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Old 03-25-2008, 01:43 PM
 
Location: Dallas
808 posts, read 3,638,531 times
Reputation: 305
Default Is It My Money?

What does the contract say regarding lease termination?
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Old 03-25-2008, 01:45 PM
 
Location: Houston, Texas
10,447 posts, read 49,561,189 times
Reputation: 10614
Oh boy I can not wait to hear the answers to this one.

Why why why would you give up a year rent in advance?

Can you at least find a friend to sub-let the apartment to?

I guess whatever the answers are will depend on what your lease agreement says.
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Old 03-25-2008, 01:49 PM
 
3 posts, read 10,143 times
Reputation: 11
It was on a month to month standing! there was no lease agreement. They had a room for rent, so I rented it and told them that I wanted to pay up front to dodge having to keep up with paying every month. I just need some strong advice on if he has to give my money back. Or if since I paid in full he just gets to keep it since I chose to move out on my own free will.
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Old 03-25-2008, 07:16 PM
 
415 posts, read 1,714,530 times
Reputation: 133
Did you get ANYTHING in writing? How about a receipt?

There are tenant laws in Texas if you don't have a lease, but you'd probably want to talk to an attorney. Usually, not having a lease happens after a fixed term lease expires, then you fall back on what was in the old lease, but you don't have even that. An attorney can let you know what to expect, even if you don't sue the guy.
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Old 03-25-2008, 08:37 PM
 
1,992 posts, read 4,135,670 times
Reputation: 610
Try small claims court. I have had luck with my daughter's having a problem getting a deposit back. We represented ourselves and the court ruled in our favor. It is a rather simple process, does not require attorneys. The major thing is to have witnesses in your favor and some kind of paper work--cancelled checks from your bank, for example. Leases and such are better, but we won with a cancelled check and witnesses (friends) who saw the condition of the property before my daughter moved in and testified that the damage was done before she took possession. These folks had ripped off four renters in a row for the same damage in the bathroom--which we noted when we moved in. They told us they would repair it, didn't, and tried to charge the repairs against the deposit. I guess we were the first to fight it. My daughter met the previous tenant through her next door neighbor, and they then took the same folks to small claims court and got their money back.
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Old 03-25-2008, 08:47 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
15,245 posts, read 35,499,486 times
Reputation: 8587
That is a hard one to fight w/o some other evidence. It can be argued that you agreed to a verbal one year lease by paying up front.
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Old 03-25-2008, 09:37 PM
 
Location: Texas
3,494 posts, read 14,344,115 times
Reputation: 1413
not specific to Texas..you may want to post this in the forum re housing or business/finances/law...or some CD forum...there you will amazingly find people with all kinds of knowledge in specific areas
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Old 03-25-2008, 09:53 PM
 
Location: Chambers County
1,132 posts, read 2,117,288 times
Reputation: 1178
Quote:
Originally Posted by bellestaroftexas View Post
not specific to Texas...
My thoughts exactly.
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Old 03-26-2008, 12:45 AM
 
28,107 posts, read 63,475,753 times
Reputation: 23225
Moving won't be cheaper if you have to pay for both places...

I would have a hard time defending you... you paid for a year and now you are leaving early... it is true the owner has to mitigate loss by diligently trying find a new renter...

How about you find the renter and the owner refunds all the unused rent?
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