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Lesson learned...next tim make a written lease and make a statement that sec. deposit will be non refundable if the person doesn't move in at all. It will be refundable upon moving in and moving out in the same conditions and make picture for your self to have proof of how the condition of the room/rental is in on the move in date.
I don't know the law in your state but I would keep at least a part of the full deposit for kepping the rental off the market...but make sure you check with your State laws.
Can anyone help me out with this please? Someone who never moved in but allowed me to deposit their check as security now wants their money back.
I placed an ad to rent out a room in my house (houseshare) for the 1st of July. Someone who responded came over, liked it then wrote a check to my name and we agreed she could move in on the 15th. (BTW: There's no written or signed document in this situation. All done verbally and by email.)
Two days later, she emails and writes she can't move in now til the 15th of Aug but would pay for the 1 month in between to keep it reserved. Also writes that she's good and ok with the now-revised payment schedule in addition to the fact that I deposited the check. So far, so good.
Two weeks later she writes she can't move in at all due to "financial problems" and could I re-run the ad to find a new renter plus return the full deposit.
I've re-run the ad several times but obviously missed out on ideal timing for July 1 move-in because of her, and now nobody's around during summer vacation. I've ignored the issue about refunding the deposit and I still have nobody in there even after making good-faith efforts to re-advertise and now she threatens to take me to small claims and dock my credit score.
Is a private house owner obligated to refund a deposit if the renter decides to change her mind offering some lame excuse? She claims financial probs yet drives a brand new car. We have nothing in writing spelling out whether a deposit is refundable or not.
I've kept all emails she wrote me where she agreed to rules and payment schedule.
Aren't vacation rentals between private parties also in the same kind of boat when there's nothing in writing?
Thanks for your help.
I think what you are doing is stealing her money. Since they never took possion of the apt. This is why you have people sign a lease at the time of taking their money.
I think what you are doing is stealing her money. Since they never took possion of the apt. This is why you have people sign a lease at the time of taking their money.
When you write someone a check to secure a room, apt, house you are telling that person to hold and reserve it so nobody else takes it. That's universally understood by everyone. I did that for her and she reneged and backed out - that's where she failed.
She should've asked me all the "what if's" while she was writing me the check - after that, it was too late. She never should have given her money to me without knowing the full consequences.
She GAVE me the money - I didn't rob or STEAL anything from her.
When you write someone a check to secure a room, apt, house you are telling that person to hold and reserve it so nobody else takes it. That's universally understood by everyone. I did that for her and she reneged and backed out - that's where she failed.
She should've asked me all the "what if's" while she was writing me the check - after that, it was too late. She never should have given her money to me without knowing the full consequences.
She GAVE me the money - I didn't rob or STEAL anything from her.
She never took possion of the apt there for it was still yours to rent you are stealing that womens money
No you should have told her all the what ifs you are a thief and I feel bad for you if you dont give this women her money back you will lose a lot more then a room for rent. Heck you must be collecting bad karma doing things like this to others and why she isnt renting the room and why you cant get the room rented. Karma is a beep
You are stealing bottom line. She didnt sign a contract she didnt sign jack and she never took possion of the apt. Giving you a check to hold doesnt mean jack/
Give that women her money back. Lol @ you think she just gave you money
She never took possion of the apt there for it was still yours to rent you are stealing that womens money
No you should have told her all the what ifs you are a thief and I feel bad for you if you dont give this women her money back you will lose a lot more then a room for rent. Heck you must be collecting bad karma doing things like this to others and why she isnt renting the room and why you cant get the room rented. Karma is a beep
You are stealing bottom line. She didnt sign a contract she didnt sign jack and she never took possion of the apt. Giving you a check to hold doesnt mean jack/
Give that women her money back. Lol @ you think she just gave you money
No shortage of opinions on various levels...
As mentioned, there is no requirement for rental agreements 1 year or less in duration to be in writing... the statute of fraud requires rentals over 1 year to be written... at least that is the way it works in my home State of California.
So... in simple terms... there is no need to sign anything
A contract requires consideration and performance based on a meeting of the minds...
If one party provides consideration as evidenced by tendering a valid check and the other party performs by removing the unit from the market because there is no longer a unit available for rent... what more is needed?
In this case we also have traceable funds and e-mail records to provide a "Trail"
I think it bears repeating... not all rental agreements/leases are required to be written... at least in California...
Agreed each party should make a good faith effort to mitigate losses... the fact remains an apartment was no longer available because money was paid to make it no longer available... moving in or not is only a small part of the equation to the extent it should eliminate the possibility of tenant caused damages to the apartment being an issue.
As always...the only opinion that counts is that from a lawyer paid to represent you, no matter what you read here.
She never took possion of the apt there for it was still yours to rent you are stealing that womens money
No you should have told her all the what ifs you are a thief and I feel bad for you if you dont give this women her money back you will lose a lot more then a room for rent. Heck you must be collecting bad karma doing things like this to others and why she isnt renting the room and why you cant get the room rented. Karma is a beep
You are stealing bottom line. She didnt sign a contract she didnt sign jack and she never took possion of the apt. Giving you a check to hold doesnt mean jack/
Give that women her money back. Lol @ you think she just gave you money
so that gives the woman the right to jerk around the OP? I agree w/ the OP here. by handing the OP the check, she gave the OP permission to take the room off the market and basically promised to move in. the fact that she changed her mind shouldn't negatively impact the OP. otherwise, you'd have a bunch of jerks out there putting down deposits on places then demanding them back when they had no desire to move to a location in the first place. there are a lot of situations where you don't get your money back for backing out of a decision.
I agree a contract should have been signed, just for the sake of a paper trail, but IMHO, if you verbally agree to move in and you back out, you lose out on your deposit. it was your decision to move out and it's not fair to the OP to lose out on a month's worth of rent b/c someone flip flopped on a decision. renting out a room is a PITA as it is, and the last thing anyone wants to deal w/ are people who basically worth your time and in this case, can cost you money
Eevee and Ultra, thanks for being the voices of reason here. In nearby NYC, there is something called the Housing Court which is subsidized by the NYC Housing Dept. It has coordinators on staff to help counsel on probelms like this. They aren't lawyers but the general consensus over there is that if someone puts down a security deposit (even without it being in writing) it is clearly intended for the purpose of holding that spot. Otherwise like eevee said, everyone would be recklessly and irresponsibly walking out with no penalty. Houseshares and roommmates often do not even have written agreements among each other - it's usually verbal.
The onus then falls on the reneging renter/housemate to prove that the money is due back to her. Oftentimes the actions (ie: check written to owner) speak for themselves and a trail of emails serve as additional support. So she'd have to claim I held a gun to her head or made her write the check against her will or something absurd like that which I obviously didn't do!
A neighbor of mine told me to no longer pick up the phone or reply to the renter's calls or letters and instead wait to receive a letter from small claims. Otherwise the continued dialog could be used against me.
so that gives the woman the right to jerk around the OP? I agree w/ the OP here. by handing the OP the check, she gave the OP permission to take the room off the market and basically promised to move in. the fact that she changed her mind shouldn't negatively impact the OP. otherwise, you'd have a bunch of jerks out there putting down deposits on places then demanding them back when they had no desire to move to a location in the first place. there are a lot of situations where you don't get your money back for backing out of a decision.
I agree a contract should have been signed, just for the sake of a paper trail, but IMHO, if you verbally agree to move in and you back out, you lose out on your deposit. it was your decision to move out and it's not fair to the OP to lose out on a month's worth of rent b/c someone flip flopped on a decision. renting out a room is a PITA as it is, and the last thing anyone wants to deal w/ are people who basically worth your time and in this case, can cost you money
Jerk around in todays economy seriously.
People have jobs one day and then the next they dont and didnt have a clue it was coming. Lets be real here.
The women never took the apt she was never givin the keys. She never signed a lease. She gave a check to hold the apt in the hopes of taking it
The right thing to do is give the women back her money because you are stealing it if you dont.
This is why you have a person put something in writing when you take someones cash.
This women can say she didnt write this email and you are going to end up spending more money then its worth to get someone in a civil matter to get her computer and prove she wrote that.
As mentioned, there is no requirement for rental agreements 1 year or less in duration to be in writing... the statute of fraud requires rentals over 1 year to be written... at least that is the way it works in my home State of California.
So... in simple terms... there is no need to sign anything
A contract requires consideration and performance based on a meeting of the minds...
If one party provides consideration as evidenced by tendering a valid check and the other party performs by removing the unit from the market because there is no longer a unit available for rent... what more is needed?
In this case we also have traceable funds and e-mail records to provide a "Trail"
I think it bears repeating... not all rental agreements/leases are required to be written... at least in California...
Agreed each party should make a good faith effort to mitigate losses... the fact remains an apartment was no longer available because money was paid to make it no longer available... moving in or not is only a small part of the equation to the extent it should eliminate the possibility of tenant caused damages to the apartment being an issue.
As always...the only opinion that counts is that from a lawyer paid to represent you, no matter what you read here.
Who is going to pay and make this women give up her computer to prove she wrote this email? This would be civil not criminal. So who is going to force her to give up her computer and who is going to pay the tab for someone to search her hard drive?
That apt was able to be rented at any givin time because the women never actually took the apt by taking the keys to the place.
That apt was able to be rented at any givin time because the women never actually took the apt by taking the keys to the place.
have you ever rented a room out before? the fact that the OP received money meant that she could take the room off the market. if I was renting out a room and kept ads up for it even after receiving money for it, it would really look like I was running a scam, receiving multiple deposits for the same room. having been on the other side of this (ie, the one looking for a room to rent), I'd be HIGHLY suspicious if I saw the ad I responded to, the ad for a room I put down a deposit for, still running online. that's the whole point of giving a deposit, it's a way of sealing the deal and taking the room off market, a way of showing the other person that you're serious about this room. for me, having someone put down a deposit is a surer sign of commitment than just having them sign a lease. of course, I would make sure all of these things are done at one (ie, the roommate signs the lease and puts down a deposit the same day she receives the key). a mistake on the OP's part, but it shouldn't mean she should lose out on rent money when the room was off the market. and as many have said here already, in many locations, verbally agreeing to something is just as legit as signing a lease
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