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I went to seee a prospect home that i will like to rent in the future, we had a verbal agreetment that i will pay the first month rent in next week and i wrote a check to landlord as a deposit. After yesterday i changed my mind because my mother is looking to invest in a peroperty in Chino( yep! it the perserve) and im going to live in there. I without letting her know stopped the check, and flake because seeing her again will make me hard to walk way(she is the sale KIND OF persoN!) This morning I recived a voice mail from her saying that she is absolutely pissed of me canceld the check that she is going the sue me!! I do not know that if she was just trying to scare me or she has the intention of doing so, but here are some of the thing that I know.
1. I called the bank this morning and they said the check I issued has not been deposited yet, but there is 3 reasons that a check can not be deposit/cashed- Signature, stoped payment, and insuficient fund.
2. I did not write anything on the paper just yet. The only thing i wrote was the check with- amount, signature, and the word "deposit" on it.
3. Was it legal for her the cash or deposit my check before we even sign an agreement?
this is my first post, but i really found this site informative and is absolutely useful when buying or investing realesate.
thanks guys!
I don't blame her for being upset..! You should have been man enough to call her and tell you changed your mind. You were underhanded to say the least. If you aren't sure you want the house, make up your mind before you write a deposit check. You are required to have a good reason to put a "Stop Payment" on a check. You didn't have a good reason, and the bank shouldn't have accepted it. You can't go around writing checks when ever you want, and then stop payment if you change you mind later. A mature adult doesn't act like that.
Of course it's legal for her to deposit the check. It was for deposit in good faith, so she could hold the home for you. She wanted to find out if you were a serious renter or not, and she sure found out what your character is..! She is a business person, and she encountered a child who couldn't face her when you changed your mind. You wasted her time and whatever efforts she had to go through.
In the future, know what you want before buying, and if you do change your mind, do it like a man, not a coward..! If you continue to do business in this manner, you are going to make a lot of enemies in your life time.
Then again, there are probably some weasel landlords who would cash a deposit check in that situation, then rent the house to someone else since you didn't sign anything with them. Or rent the house to someone else without depositing the check (which is the reverse of your situation).
I doubt it's going to be worth her while to sue you, and there's nothing you can do at this point (or ever) to prevent someone from sueing you (you can sue for any reason, doesn't mean you can WIN). So I would just ignore her and be more honest, courteous, courageous, and responsible in the future. Actually, you should call her up and apologize for being so devious.
Until you get a summons or something official or in writing, I wouldn't trouble yourself worrying about empty threats.
I went to seee a prospect home that i will like to rent in the future, we had a verbal agreetment that i will pay the first month rent in next week and i wrote a check to landlord as a deposit. After yesterday i changed my mind because my mother is looking to invest in a peroperty in Chino( yep! it the perserve) and im going to live in there. I without letting her know stopped the check2. I did not write anything on the paper just yet. The only thing i wrote was the check with- amount, signature, and the word "deposit" on it.
3. Was it legal for her the cash or deposit my check before we even sign an agreement?
this is my first post, but i really found this site informative and is absolutely useful when buying or investing realesate.
thanks guys!
Welcome to City-Data.com and to the Renting Forum... lots of members willing to answer questions.
The first thing to know in California is about Oral Agreements and Renting...
Here is a short excerpt from the California Department of Consumer Affairs on the subject...
Oral Rental Agreements
In an oral rental agreement, you and the landlord agree orally (not in writing) that you will rent the rental unit. In addition, you agree to pay a specified rent for a specified period of time - for example, a week or a month. This kind of rental agreement is legally binding on both you and the landlord, even though it is not in writing.
It's anyone's call as to whether she will pursue this or not... My best guess you will have a difficult time in Small Claims Court if she is of the persistent nature.
As sponger42 said... you will know if she plans to do anything about it if she has you served.
I'm not saying you should do this... but I would call her and apologize and say you got in over your head and leave it at that...
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