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02-13-2008, 05:02 PM
| | Junior Member | | Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 7
| | | oral contract for apartment
What is the name of your state? Michigan
A few weeks ago I viewed an apartment and informed the landlord that I wanted to sign a lease for that apartment for the upcoming fall. The landlord mentioned to me that another, slightly nicer, unit in the building was possibly going to become available. I told her that I didn't want to risk losing the first apartment in order to wait for the second one and I offered to sign a lease for the first apartment and have it switched over to the other apartment if it did become available. Rather than going through that process, she told me that I could give her $200 to hold the first apartment and that this agreement would basically carry the weight of a lease and no one else would be able to take it. I gave her the holding money and I have a receipt for it.
Many days later, she informed me that shortly after I had given her the holding money, the current tenant decided to renew his lease and that they will not be able to provide me with either of the apartments. In the meantime, I did not renew the lease on my current apartment, my current apartment has been leased out for the fall to a new tenant, and any apartment of equal quality and similar price in the area that I need to live in for school has been rented out.
Is there anything that I can do? I'm considering taking the rental company to small claims court and suing for the price difference that I will have to pay over the course of a year for a similar and still available apartment in the area.
ThanksWhat is the name of your state?  |
02-13-2008, 05:10 PM
| | Senior Member | | Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 13,083
| | | You are entitled to get your $200 back...heck, you might even get a few pennies in interest out of the deal!
Get real, you have over 6 months to look for an apartment...get cracking!
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02-13-2008, 05:20 PM
| | Member | | Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 173
| | | Are you currently working to pay the rent and other bills? From my college experience that is not the case with all students.
Have you considered getting a new / higher paying job? |
02-13-2008, 05:36 PM
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Posts: 7
| |
Yes I am and I do need to be able to walk to school because I do not have a car. There are a limited supply of decent apartments within this area that are within my price range and I have literally spent days and days looking for them. Also, in this area, it is very common for people to lease apartments in january for the following fall. With most of them now taken, I have no idea where to stay now.
I think most people have thought about getting better paying jobs.
I couldn't even sue for specific performance or anything? I guess it just doesnt seem right to me that they can legally enter into oral lease agreements and then back out because they'd rather rent to someone else and not even bother to tell me for a substantial amount of time. |
02-13-2008, 05:42 PM
| | Senior Member | | Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: CO
Posts: 12,708
| | ORAL does not mean LEGAL. How on earth can you PROVE what was said?? Yeah, you have a receipt for your $200. Great. But not a lease on an apartment, not a written contract of any kind. Nothing.
And, by the way, the LL didn't screw you around. An apartment that could be available was not because the tenant decided to renew their lease. They were there first. 
Take a "verbal contract" to court and bring your lunch. Quote:
Originally Posted by kelizabeth  Yes I am and I do need to be able to walk to school because I do not have a car. There are a limited supply of decent apartments within this area that are within my price range and I have literally spent days and days looking for them. Also, in this area, it is very common for people to lease apartments in january for the following fall. With most of them now taken, I have no idea where to stay now.
I think most people have thought about getting better paying jobs.
I couldn't even sue for specific performance or anything? I guess it just doesnt seem right to me that they can legally enter into oral lease agreements and then back out because they'd rather rent to someone else and not even bother to tell me for a substantial amount of time. |
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02-13-2008, 05:50 PM
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| |
Quote: |
And, by the way, the LL didn't screw you around. An apartment that could be available was not because the tenant decided to renew their lease. They were there first
| Actually, BTW, the landlord did screw me around. The tenant of the first apartment, the one that I said I wanted to lease for sure and that the landlord said that I would be able to lease with all certainty because I had provided the holding fee, had already been given a chance to renew the lease and had declined to do so. |
02-13-2008, 05:52 PM
| | Senior Member | | Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: CO
Posts: 12,708
| | Quote:
Originally Posted by kelizabeth Actually, BTW, the landlord did screw me around. The tenant of the first apartment, the one that I said I wanted to lease for sure and that the landlord said that I would be able to lease with all certainty because I had provided the holding fee, had already been given a chance to renew the lease and had declined to do so. | Said, said, said.
Court is all about prove, prove, prove.
Case closed.
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02-13-2008, 05:55 PM
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| | Thanks. Next time prove that you know how to read.  |
02-13-2008, 05:56 PM
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Posts: 12,708
| | Quote:
Originally Posted by kelizabeth Thanks. Next time prove that you know how to read. | Aren't you just a cute little puppy?
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02-13-2008, 06:10 PM
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What if I tape record a phone conversation proving that the holding actually was to hold the apartment for me to lease it |
02-13-2008, 06:13 PM
| | Senior Member | | Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: CO
Posts: 12,708
| | Quote:
Originally Posted by kelizabeth What if I tape record a phone conversation proving that the holding actually was to hold the apartment for me to lease it | Golly, gee. I'm too unedjamacated to know the answer to that. And too dumb to figger it out. You'll just have to figger it out all by your ownself.
Because, ya know, I clearly cannot read.  Quote:
Originally Posted by kelizabeth Thanks. Next time prove that you know how to read. |
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02-13-2008, 06:17 PM
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Posts: 7
| |
Quote: |
Golly, gee. I'm too unedjamacated to know the answer to that. And too dumb to figger it out. You'll just have to figger it out all by your ownself.
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Oh, well, fine. I probably wouldn't have taken your advice anyway.  |
02-13-2008, 06:20 PM
| | Senior Member | | Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: CO
Posts: 12,708
| | Quote:
Originally Posted by kelizabeth Oh, well, fine. I probably wouldn't have taken your advice anyway. | You should learn to keep your mouth shut. It'd serve you well in the future.
You don't have to take *my* advice. No, certainly not.
But IF I wasn't too dim to read, and IF I so happened to have the legal info you seek right here at my fingertips, and IF it's from a verifiable legal site (so it's not just me yapping), and IF you weren't so snotty, perhaps I would have passed it on.
But you were. So I won't. Because, ya know, I'm too dumb for the likes of you. 
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02-13-2008, 06:23 PM
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Posts: 2,461
| | | If I were your would be landlord, I would say yes I took 200.00 as a deposit for an apartment that might become available pending approval of the application The apartment did not become available, so I returned the cash.
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02-13-2008, 06:28 PM
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| | Quote:
Originally Posted by Alaska landlord If I were your would be landlord, I would say yes I took 200.00 as a deposit for an apartment that might become available pending approval of the application The apartment did not become available, so I returned the cash. | Easy there - that's not what the OP wants to hear
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The information I gave is based on my 7 seconds of research on Google. Review the information yourself to make an informed decision. Also, the information I posted may no longer be accurate.
Communication is KEY - 10 mins of talking now can save you months of headaches later!
Masterfully stating the obvious to the oblivious! (Thanks SP!)
Tell it like it is! | |
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