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Landlord cancels lease for no reason?
I signed a lease on a 4 bedroom house, with a rent of $1400 per month.
We added a provision in the lease stating that a $1000 deposit would be paid to hold the property until my husbands first pay from his new job came in. His pay is from an international company, so sometimes the pay takes a few days to come in. We informed the landlord his pay wasn't in yet, and she said she understood about international funds, she had run into that issue before. She said as long as we gave her copies of ID, a letter of employment, and a deposit, she would hold the house until mid November.
We had a tenative move in date of Oct 31, in case hubbys pay came in in time. I also sent her a certified cheque for a months rent, as a deposit to hold the house, as agreed upon.
I had talked to her last weekend, and told her we were sending her the deposit cheque, and were still waiting on my husbands pay. She said again, she needed a deposit, and then it would be fine until hubbys pay came in. She also left a voicemail Wendesday saying the cheque MUST be certified to be cashable immediately.
The next day I sent her the cheque (confirmation of delivery, trackable, insured). I immediately emailed her the tracking info.
I checked my email when I came home. There was an email from her from before I sent the cheque--- something to this effect---
You have not delivered upon any promises for payment of moving in. I have decided not to rent the house, and will not be moving. You will need to find something else, Any cheques you have sent to me will be redirected back to you, and as I did not sign the lease you did, it is not valid. This is disappointing as I thought you were legit. Please consider this a notice to have no further contact with me, do not send any more money, this deal is off. I wish you luck.
(*keep in mind this is THREE DAYS before we were due to take posession of it).
We had been in very close contact the past 2 weeks, she was well informed on us waiting for hubbys pay, and she got a certified cheque deposit. We had movers booked, schools booked for kids, mail redirected, everything set up, and now we haven't got a place to go. On top of that, we have sold our house, closing date of November 10. We thought we had bases covered, apparently not.
can a landlord do this? Just cancel a lease before we take posession, even though she totally agreed to hold off on us moving in with a deposit, which we provided for her. I'm confused as to how a landlord can just say "Ah, I changed my mind and won't be moving out now." We are kind of screwed. Also, I have noticed where we live there are such shitty landlords, who demand unrealistic things (half year rent upfront, 3 cosignors, copies of each family members ID, police checks, etc.). There doesn't seem to be any way to really fight landlords or to say no to demands without being screwed around by a landlord (this is the second time a deal has fallen through with us the past month- once because of the reasons I gave re: cosignors, ID, 6 months rent upfront, etc) and now this with the lady landlord. Also, one landlord started calling us 20 times a day screaming at us he wanted money immediately and we had told him we were interested, and then not interested, and he was "going to get what was due to him"... It's not like we are looking at crappy ghetto low rent houses, we are looking at up to $2000 a month rent, nice houses in nice areas. What is up with crappy landlords?!
I should add- we did pay a month rent deposit, as well as post dated cheques as she asked for. We did everything she asked of us- send ID, filled out an application, she checked our credit, signed a lease, etc. We even sent her references, proof of employment.
7 Answers
- LandlordLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
As she pointed out, you do NOT have a lease. She did not sign it, so it does not exist. You can not fight about something that does not exist.
She backed out because you were not performing. Your whole deal is shady and it sounds like she figured that one out. Because she never signed the lease it is not being canceled at all, it never was in effect.
- kittyktLv 51 decade ago
Yes, she can cancel the lease, to have a valid contract both parties must agree. Since she didn't sign the contract she has a right to change her mind.
I am not saying you are not a legitimate tenant, but there are a lot of scams right now that deal specifically with "international funds". Why would you expect a perfect stranger to trust your promise that the money will be there? Did you expect to move in yesterday with no deposit paid? Any landlord that allows tenants to move in without paying the deposit first needs to get out of the rental business.
Try to put yourself in her position and maybe you will see she was not being unreasonable.
P.S. I really hope you didn't do an address change before you actually moved in - that is a huge mistake.
- 1 decade ago
This could be a scam that she is working on a number of people, eg taking deposits and then turning round and changing her mind. She pockets the deposit and then moves on to the next victim.
You should have a tenancy agreement, a written contract between both parties which should have a clause stating how much notice is required to terminate by either party.
Sounds also like she has changed her mind because perhaps the house she was going to buy fell through, either way she has left you high and dry and out of pocket. Cancel the cheque s and walk away fins some where else.
If you have a written contract signed by both parties you could sue her for breach of contract and claim your removal costs incurred.Landlords want there money on time to pay the mortgage on the property otherwise it costs them money, in todays climate they are keen to get people in the property because they do not want the property empty its costing them money then.
Source(s): Rented and leased loads of properties in the past, key is the contract. No contract walk away if the terms are not reasonable. Read it before you sign it very important ! - ErikaLv 45 years ago
with out a lease for a particular term, the two social gathering can in basic terms supply suitable word of reason to vacate. Landlord didnt might desire to even supply a reason. he's supplying you with 60 days word that's needed in case you have lived there extra effective than a year. that may no longer an eviction. If a landlord evicts a tenant it may in basic terms be for violation of a lease because of the fact the tenant could oftentimes be entitled to stay for the size.
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- 1 decade ago
Unfortunately there isn't much to protect tenants from landlords, there are a few rules in place, but most of the time the landlords will get away with it. My mom had her damage deposit taken from one place when she moved out, the landlord said it was because the carpets werent cleaned. Which was a lie as i personally spent hours cleaning them with a steam cleaner.
As for the landlord doing that, i dont really know for sure. If they signed the lease and you have a copy of it with their signature on it then probably not. But i cant say for sure.
- NietzscheanLv 61 decade ago
You should file a complaint against the landlord for false verbal agreement. Use the Rental Protection Agency, as they will assign an agent directly to your case to investigate the issue completely and take action immediately.
Source(s): I've used their services before and they worked FAST - Laura SLv 41 decade ago
If she didn't sign the lease then there is nothing you can do. I hope you can find a good landlord, I am unaware of their existence as well.
