What is the name of your state? Michigan
My wife and I recently signed a lease agreement on a Friday Afternoon at 4pm. The lease was to rent a townhouse for 1 year at $900 mo rent. I also gave them a personal check for $900 for a deposit. My wife and I currently own a home and are selling it - so the lease agreement was contingent upon us closing the home (though no date was referenced on the lease contingency). Prior to signing the lease we verbally agreed with the wife of the couple that would have been our landlords that if anything happend to affect the closing of our home or anything else within the next couple weeks then we would be entitled to a full refund of the deposit.
After having time to think about it more - along with a better rental option coming up over the weekend - I informed the Landlord of the lease agreement that we had changed our minds via email on the following Monday evening and a subsequent letter sent the following morning (Tuesday). I was surprised when I talked with the lady on Tuesday morning when she said that was fine, but they would keep the $900 deposit. I immediately put a stop payment on the check and the proceeded to WD the money out of the bank. They have since issued a letter to us stating that they would refund the deposit only in the event that the could validate that our house didn't close per our contingency. I am not sure if they are aware that I put a stop payment on the check or not.
Since there was no date on the contingency and since we had a verbal agreement that two weeks out notice was still good in order to get the deposit back - are we liable for anything? I don't believe we have caused them any harm in their ability to rent to someone else - we're only talking the equivalent of 1 business day.
I offered to pro-rate the deposit for their time and consideration in the amount of $100 even - but they did not accept...
My wife and I recently signed a lease agreement on a Friday Afternoon at 4pm. The lease was to rent a townhouse for 1 year at $900 mo rent. I also gave them a personal check for $900 for a deposit. My wife and I currently own a home and are selling it - so the lease agreement was contingent upon us closing the home (though no date was referenced on the lease contingency). Prior to signing the lease we verbally agreed with the wife of the couple that would have been our landlords that if anything happend to affect the closing of our home or anything else within the next couple weeks then we would be entitled to a full refund of the deposit.
After having time to think about it more - along with a better rental option coming up over the weekend - I informed the Landlord of the lease agreement that we had changed our minds via email on the following Monday evening and a subsequent letter sent the following morning (Tuesday). I was surprised when I talked with the lady on Tuesday morning when she said that was fine, but they would keep the $900 deposit. I immediately put a stop payment on the check and the proceeded to WD the money out of the bank. They have since issued a letter to us stating that they would refund the deposit only in the event that the could validate that our house didn't close per our contingency. I am not sure if they are aware that I put a stop payment on the check or not.
Since there was no date on the contingency and since we had a verbal agreement that two weeks out notice was still good in order to get the deposit back - are we liable for anything? I don't believe we have caused them any harm in their ability to rent to someone else - we're only talking the equivalent of 1 business day.
I offered to pro-rate the deposit for their time and consideration in the amount of $100 even - but they did not accept...