If a potential tenant has paid 1st months rent and decided not to move do they get their money back?
I’m a landlord and a potential tenant who wanted to move deciding to not move and told me 2 weeks later. Do I have to give their money back? I was left with no tenant now I’m having trouble paying my mortgage.
Related articles:
- When you rent an apartment and have paid 1st and last months rent, do you get your last months money back? Hi do the people that rent apartments in Massachusetts (not sure if the state matters) and pay first and last, were very good tenants, no damages, good people and...
- Is it legal for an agent to hold back rent from a landlord if the tenant has paid it? Is it legal for a renal agent to hold one year’s rent from my tenant? I am a landlord and because my tenants are from overseas they have required...
- Can I get my 1st months rent and deposit back? Here is the deal, I paid deposit and decided to pay 1st months rent as well. We have a receipt for this. Come the day before we were scheduled...
- In NC is the tenant liable for back rent if the landlord does not provide a way to sent the rent money? The landlord is going through divorce and has failed after many requests to offer a way to make rent payments. Are we liable for back rent if there is...
- Can I take a tenant to small claims to recover back rent? The tenant has not paid rent for may or June. She wants her security deposit back. I had a back up in the basement that the plumbing company has...
June 14th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
No. Keep their money. It is your compensation for keeping the property off the market.
June 17th, 2009 at 4:44 am
Was there an agreement signed? If so, they should realize that they are out the money. If there was no agreement, keep half of it!
June 18th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
I don’t know, but it seems like something to add to the lease agreement for next time. Most places will put a hold on a property for a fee. Most lease agreements state that the person is responsible for their entire lease agreement. If she signed for a year and told you two weeks later she wasn’t moving in, she might owe you for the next 11 months though she isn’t living there. At the least, I have to give 60 days notice. Legally, I’m pretty sure the apartment complex has to try to fill the unit with a new tenant, but until they do that I am responsible. …I think, so long as I am still within my lease term. I would talk to a lawyer and work up an iron clad contract, so that next time she’ll know her responsibilities and you’ll know yours.
June 19th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
No.
They paid the first months rent - not a deposit or holding fee - rent. Paying rent means that they agreed to move in.
At the very least, they are month to month tenants with an oral lease.
If you wanted to be strictly legal, you could hold them liable for the rent through the required Notice to Terminate period per your state’s landlord/tenant laws, which would likely bea second month.
No. You do not return their money. You keep it because you have no tenant due to their failure to move in.
If you were to find a tenant mid month, you would be legally required to return 1/2 of their rent, since you cannot collect rent for the same rental from two different parties.
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:35 am
Depends on your State laws.
Was a lease signed?
If so, you are good to go.
A signed lease would make them a lease breaker.
In my State, they would owe for the time I held it off the market.
June 24th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
If you have a lease signed, not only are they responsible for the first months rent but they are responsible for the rent until you get a new tenant to replace them.
Now if you did not have a lease signed you may have a problem.
Good Luck!