Tenant terminates lease before moving in : ezLandlordForms

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Everardo M

started a topic over 12 years ago

I have a question.....Tenant decides that she wants to rent the unit so i tell the other people that the unit is no longer available. 5 days later she called stating that she no longer wanted to move in. I told her to think about it because i had alrady told the other people that the unit was no longer avilable. She said she was going to think about it and let me know later. 45 minutes later she called me again and stated that she thought about and she decided that she does want to move in after all. 3 days later on 07/21/11 she sign the 1 yr contract and gave $850.00 for securty deposit. on 07/24/11 she called me stating that she no longer want to move in after all that to find someone esle to rent the unit. I told her once again to think about it but she refused and insisted for me to rent the unit to someone else and that she was willing to pay the rent for the month of AUGUST. on 07/26/11 i called her stating that their was some one that came to see the unit but they were not interested but that some one else was going to come see it tomorrow. So then she said that she decided to move in after all. at that point i dont know what to do . I told her she is just playing games and that someone else is going to see the unit. she said she is stilll entile to the lease because she did not give me a written notice. Im affraid to say yes to her and no to the other people and what if she changes her mind agian. so my question is do i still have to give her notice? or can someone tell me what i should do? THANK YOU SO MUCH. OH ALSO SHE SAID SHE WAS GOING TO USE THE DEPOSIT TO USE IT TOWARDS THE AUGUST RENT WHEN THE CONTRACT CLEARLY SAYS THAT SHE CAN NOT USE THE DEPOSIT TOWARDS THE RENT

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Cheryl M

said over 12 years ago

I believe that is they have signed the contract to take possession of the apartment on a specific date, and they back out, then you can charge for re-advertising and lost rents until it is re-rented. If you cancel the contract, you would have to give back the full deposit. If they are just short of paying the full deposit, then they are in breach of contract and I would not give them the keys until they are paid in full.

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Linda C

said over 12 years ago

750 dollar deposit given 2250 short 1 day before lease date does security deposit have to be returned

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Eric D

said over 12 years ago

You have a heck of indecisive tenant. You do have a signed contract so you can't just cancel the lease and tell her no (even if that would be your better bet. I have just a few questions that may help the issue.
1) Has she paid the first months rent along with the security deposit - in most leases they need to pay both to take control of the apartment. If she has not, then she needs to do that, or I would refuse to give her the keys as she has not fulfilled her portion of the contract.
2) In relation with above, has she received keys to the location? If so, she may be deemed to have taken possession of the apartment and she is correct that she has not given written notification so you can't really show and rent the apartment.
3) Do not let her use any portion of the security deposit for rent - that's always a bad sign, especially if she wants to do it from the start!