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My tenant signed two leases with a fake name. Give deposit back after he was jailed for fraud/forgery and abandoned my house two months ago?
When my tenant first moved in he gave us the $1,400 deposit. The lease says that it is a security deposit and it can be used to secure his obligations in the lease.
Here is what's confusing...
The lease was signed May 2013 and ended April 31st, 2014. He gave us a $1,400 deposit in cash. He signed the name under a fake name: Tom, His real name is Dick, and he put the utilities under then name of Harry.
We signed a new lease in May 2014 as "Tom" and its ending April 31st, 2015. There was no mention of the deposit from the previous lease. So instead of just renewing, we signed a completely new lease.
I do know that he committed fraud by signing a fake name (Tom) So do I really have any obligation to send money back to someone who breached the lease the day he moved in? If he took me to court, will a judge really enforce a fraudulent contract? Especially when he was arrested for fraud, false identification and forgery?
Is far as I'm concerned I have no idea who this Dick is, because I never met him, his name is not on my lease, and Dick did not rent my house. A fraud did. I would assume that if I get summoned to court with a lawsuit from Dick, my contract with Tom wouldn't even matter.
Finally, the people asking for the deposit are the girl that cleaned the house and she wants us to call his brother in California. To legally send "Tom" back an accounting of deductions and deposit, it will need to be sent to the Jail.
3 Answers
- Little PrincessLv 76 years ago
Just because different names were used on the lease doesn't entitle you to keep the deposit. If your state allows you to use the security deposit to cover unpaid rent (in some states it's illegal to, regardless of what the tenant agrees to in the lease), then you can use it as to pay against any unpaid rent.
Unless this cleaning lady is authorized to direct where the deposit gets returned to, you're not required to adhere to them. In fact, doing so might end up costing you more money if he comes back claiming he never authorized you to send the deposit to someone else. If she is authorized to direct where his deposit is sent to, you'll need a copy of that authorization from him. It would need to be signed by him in a signature that sufficiently matches the signature used on the original lease. If the signatures don't match, then there could be complications.
- Michael ELv 76 years ago
After cleaning charges etc. you do owe your tenant (what ever the name he uses) the remainder of the deposit.
I wouldn't get into a "give it to her so she can pay off him and give the the rest" type arrangement.
Figure out how much you owe the tenant and ask the tenant where to mail the check.
I'm speaking morally and practically, rather than legally. The law might come to a different conclusion, but you provided housing, he payed the rent. Fake name or not, he kept his end of the bargain, you should keep yours.
- Brother HesekielLv 76 years ago
You owe Tom the $1,400 security deposit back, so make out a check to Tom and ask him where to mail it. If Tom is an undercover agent for the US government, he'll find a way to cash it. You won't be dealing with the maid or the brother, unless you have a notarized power of attorney from Tom in hand.
End of story.
Source(s): An immigrant from Europe, I live on the American Rivera and work as an attorney in Santa Barbara, California.
