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Hi! I was planning on renting an apartment in St.Louis, and put down a $895 deposit for a place at $895 a month. Both my boyfriend and I paid a $40 application fee.
We just now finally got the lease, a little over a month before the move-in date, and it is totally not what we agreed upon before we put down the deposit.
The lease they wanted us to sign had US paying sewer/water/trash, which they had previously said was part of the rent. They also were going to give us a 13 month special, which was 13 months for the price of 12 or one month free. The lease they gave us doesn't include that.
I emailed them back asking for them to call me and she said she could fix the lease but wouldn't call me.
My questions is:
Since we never signed a lease, can I get my security deposit back? What about my application fees?
My boyfriend signed a form when we put down the security deposit that said:
"This security deposit reserves the above stated property for the applicant for up to 30 days. During this time, no other applications or deposits will be accepted for this property. Applicants have 72 hours (the "deposit holding period") to withdraw this offer and receive a complete refund of the security deposit. After 72 hours, if the applicant decides not to rent with ________ the security deposit is forfeited."
Based on state law, I don't think they can do this when calling it a deposit and not a fee.
You didn't put down a security deposit (or did you?) but you paid an application fee of $40 which is generally non refundable.
You may have no recourse to get back the $40 based on their wording. What you should have done was to ask for a blank copy of the lease agreement to read before you handed over the application fee.
Your wording is confusing but if you did indeed pay a security deposit over and above an application fee then that should be legally returned to you since you haven't signed a lease.
They should have called it a "Holding Deposit" or "Holding Fee" in the paperwork that you signed.
By them calling it a Security Deposit, they most likely have to comply by state laws regarding Security Deposits. And since you didn't sign a lease, you would get it all back.
I think you have a technicality here because they wrongly called it a Security Deposit. You likely will need to sue them in order to get it back since it sounds like they are going to keep it and tell you that you agreed to forfeit.
A discussion with a real estate attorney might be in order. You have a tough situation because you signed a document forfeiting the money after 72 hours. But the document, IMO, is technically incorrect.
If they will fix the lease to what was agreed upon, why did you change your mind? Did you lose trust in them over the shenanigans with the lease switch-a-roo? If they changed the lease terms to something different than what was agreed upon, this gives you more credibility to get your money back. Especially if you have written proof of the switch-a-roo. But I bet you would have to sue them for it, unfortunately.
Last edited by sware2cod; 02-18-2014 at 02:15 PM..
By them calling it a Security Deposit, they most likely have to comply by state laws regarding Security Deposits. And since you didn't sign a lease, you wouldn't would get it all back.
I guess that "wouldn't" is a typo. If it's indeed a security deposit as signed to then it's absolutely legally returnable since no lease was signed and no possession was taken.
I agree with all else and suggest the OP contact either Legal Aid or seek an initial consultation with a real estate attorney.
I guess that "wouldn't" is a typo. If it's indeed a security deposit as signed to then it's absolutely legally returnable since no lease was signed and no possession was taken.
I agree with all else and suggest the OP contact either Legal Aid or seek an initial consultation with a real estate attorney.
They have now changed the lease to reflect what we originally agreed upon, but yes, we have lost trust in them after they tried to get us to sign one that was completely incorrect.
The additional fees imposed in the lease that they sent to us amount to an additional $895 in rent, and between $15-$60/month, per person. It's a lot of money, and they were waiting until the last minute - we only have 8 days until our move-in date.
I called them and they said they wouldn't return the deposit and that all of the issues are a result of 'typos'...so they are chalking this up to clerical error.
I would just sign it and not worry about it since they fixed it, especially if the initial promises weren't in writing. Its also possible that the last lease they signed with a tenant was in warmer weather when properties were easier to turn.
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