Deposit collected but lease not signed...should I be concerned?
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OK - my neuroses got the best of me and I contacted her again - she apologized and said she's sending the lease tonight. We'll see, but I guess at this point, I'd rather lose the place than not insist on a lease.
I wouldn't want to rent from her. Your entire tenancy will go like this. This is when people are on their best behavior, when they're trying to cement a deal. It will go downhill from here.
What you could do is say you want your deposit back, as the terms of the agreement are not clear and she broke her agreement to provide clear terms of her offer within the time agreed-upon.
At this point, you don't have a contract. You can't have a contract unless there is a "meeting of the minds," which means the terms are clear to both parties, and both parties agree.
So, use the law back at her. She'll get that. If she tries to bully you with law, just say, "Well, I'll have to run it by an attorney, then. I think, though, that it would be best if you just return my deposit immediately." And keep just saying that, no matter how she tries to bully you. Write it down, if you need to. Then, just keep reading it back to her.
Being in this woman's backyard will not be fun. Keep looking.
I wouldn't want to rent from her. Your entire tenancy will go like this. This is when people are on their best behavior, when they're trying to cement a deal. It will go downhill from here.
What you could do is say you want your deposit back, as the terms of the agreement are not clear and she broke her agreement to provide clear terms of her offer within the time agreed-upon.
At this point, you don't have a contract. You can't have a contract unless there is a "meeting of the minds," which means the terms are clear to both parties, and both parties agree.
So, use the law back at her. She'll get that. If she tries to bully you with law, just say, "Well, I'll have to run it by an attorney, then. I think, though, that it would be best if you just return my deposit immediately." And keep just saying that, no matter how she tries to bully you. Write it down, if you need to. Then, just keep reading it back to her.
Being in this woman's backyard will not be fun. Keep looking.
I agree, largely b/c I've dealt with these overly busy, constantly unavailable landlords. Not worth it. I think being an attorney, she wouldn't wanna mess with not returning the deposit, so that's one thing the OP has going for them. I'm glad you at least have the receipt in case you have to go to small clalms court but I doubt it. You'll just have to be strong enough to withstanding her bullying. Lawyers are indeed curt -- and pushy,
I found a great guest house that is about a five minute walk to my work, it has everything I need, all utilities are included and the price is amazing. After viewing the apartment last Thursday, I told the landlord I wanted to rent the place and she agreed to meet me on the following Saturday to sign the lease and get the deposit. On Saturday, she told me that she forgot the lease at work but that she could come by and get the deposit and I could just have her sign a statement saying I had received it and that she would get me the lease as soon as she got a chance. Despite my really wanting something more binding in writing, I agreed. However, by Monday (yesterday), I started to get a little concerned about not having a lease in place and needing to make arrangements to move in less than 2 weeks.
I texted the landlord yesterday and asked when I might be able to sign the lease, trying to phrase it as nicely as possible and she texted back rather curtly "I'll try to get it to you tonight" - this seemed curt to me as all her previous texts had been pretty nice. Now here it is the next day and she still hasn't emailed me the lease. On top of that, the ad is still posted on Craigslist.
She's a very busy professional from what she's told me, working upwards of 12 hours a day, so I get that she's got a lot going on and maybe this isn't her top priority even though it's mine right now. And since it's a guest house situation and not a more formal tenant/landlord situation, I suppose I should be a little more relaxed about everything and just let it happen. I just don't know if I should be freaked out at this point or not, especially with the ad still posted on Craigslist. When I had to sublet an apartment in the past, I got tons of responses so I can't imagine just leaving the ad up, but maybe it is easier for her to do that than to deal with the responses for all I know.
Part of my concern is I don't want to ruin a great opportunity by being too pushy. She already seemed a little annoyed that I asked about the lease yesterday. If I ask again, I'm worried she will say forget it. I know I do tend to get worked up over things maybe more than other people so I don't want to shoot myself in the foot.
What is everyone's take on this?
Ok so
You gave a deposit
Signed a statement that you received the lease
And you have no copy of the lease.
You don’t leave a ad running. When I sell something or the house is leased (signed and deposit) I immediately remove the ad as I no longer want to field calls. I can always renew the ad if it falls through. (Anyone looking at moving within a few days the ad was down I wouldn’t take anyway as it takes time to do background checks.)
It takes me a few hours to do a lease. About 1 minute to email it if need be. When I meet with a person I have ALL my paperwork and (hold on, breaking news) I have TWO exact copies of the leases with me.
The deposit and first month rent has to either CLEAR my account before you take possession or has to be cash. After that I do online banking. I’m attempting to completely break away from checks or money orders. My last tenant was late with the rent every month. Got tired of constantly getting the oh man I forgot. I’ll send it today. The dude usually called at 11pm t9 tell me he forgot.
So now I strongly prefer online payment. So no more it’s in the mail or the post office must of lost it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe500
Well, because there were several people in line behind me who wanted the place. It's called competition and capitalism adjusterjack
How do you know that?
Last edited by Electrician4you; 01-28-2018 at 09:10 AM..
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