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I couldn't find an earlier thread about this. I found a place to rent in Berkeley and after some back and forth on email, the landlord agreed to rent me the apartment and asked me to come after a couple of days to his office to sign the lease (he told he is OOO and can only do it after a couple of days). However, a day after agreeing to it he did another open house and told me that they have found another tenant willing to pay a higher price and move in immediately. I have everything in written in emails/texts.
Has anyone faced this before and do I have any rights in the state of California to help me in this situation?
You have emails. So what? My email account is chock full of emails from people wanting me to hold this or that for them, because they are on their way, and they never show up. Easily 90% of the people who say they are on their way so please hold it for them never show up. There is absolutely nothing I can do about it.
Did you sign a lease? Pay a deposit to hold the place for you? No one will hold an apartment for you because you sent them an email that says you want it.
The landlord doesn't have to hold a place on your email say-so and hope you turn up when you are supposed to. What you have is the social equivalent of "Let's do lunch sometime"
In future, if you want a rental held for you, you must get a deposit placed on it and a contract that says it is yours.
Incidentally, not your question, but an email is not a legal document.
I couldn't find an earlier thread about this. I found a place to rent in Berkeley and after some back and forth on email, the landlord agreed to rent me the apartment and asked me to come after a couple of days to his office to sign the lease (he told he is OOO and can only do it after a couple of days). However, a day after agreeing to it he did another open house and told me that they have found another tenant willing to pay a higher price and move in immediately. I have everything in written in emails/texts.
Has anyone faced this before and do I have any rights in the state of California to help me in this situation?
Unless you had a hold deposit or a security deposit and signed lease unfortunately you have no legal standing for a claim. It's really up to the LL and the level of their integrity.
The problem is that LLs get a LOT of people who say they want it and never show. For example
I got call from a guy coming to Ca. He called me and said he was flying in. Called when he landed and literally asked if he can come by first thing. I actually called my boss and left work early. Went home showered shaved changed went down there. Called the guy got VM. Told him I was there. Waited waited waited. Guy never showed. I finally texted and called him again 1-1.5 hrs later from our appointment time. No answer. He texts back. Thanks found a place.
That was the last time I made ANY effort to go on someone else's schedule. It's not that I don't care. I'm just not going to play stupid games. i give people 15 minute windows. If they do not call i don't even bother.
If they call and are running late I reschedule. I'm not going to play anyone's stupid games
You have emails. So what? My email account is chock full of emails from people wanting me to hold this or that for them, because they are on their way, and they never show up. Easily 90% of the people who say they are on their way so please hold it for them never show up. There is absolutely nothing I can do about it.
Did you sign a lease? Pay a deposit to hold the place for you? No one will hold an apartment for you because you sent them an email that says you want it.
The landlord doesn't have to hold a place on your email say-so and hope you turn up when you are supposed to. What you have is the social equivalent of "Let's do lunch sometime"
In future, if you want a rental held for you, you must get a deposit placed on it and a contract that says it is yours.
Incidentally, not your question, but an email is not a legal document.
I am the OP and I agree with whatever you said. However, in this case a small difference is that I was ready to _sign_ the lease and pay the deposit but the landlord did not want to do it and told me that let's do it once he is back. Little did I know, that he was just biding time on his end to find a better price for his house.
Looks like the landlord had you as a backup option. It sucks to be in that position but there isn't anything you can do about it. You could have been aggressive about getting response back saying you wouldn't be interested if he didn't get back to you in certain number of hours. It happens all the time. If you want to get their attention you have to lure them with a higher bid or a more impressive offer. People are greedy..
I am the OP and I agree with whatever you said. However, in this case a small difference is that I was ready to _sign_ the lease and pay the deposit but the landlord did not want to do it and told me that let's do it once he is back. Little did I know, that he was just biding time on his end to find a better price for his house.
Being ready to sign and actually signing are two different things.
This is no different than if you agreed to rent, put down a holding deposit and then failed to meet their rental criteria after they ran the credit/background check. They found a more qualified tenant..it happens. You didn't lose any money on the deal like you would have if you failed to qualify.
Lesson learned? Meet the landlord in person, ask to put down a holding deposit while the credit/background check is done and when approved, sign the lease.
Wondering the same thing. Sue for what. There was nothing illegal done. I have plenty of people "READY" to rent RIGHT NOW IM ON MY WAY and never hear back.
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