Last months rent paid in advance as deposit, one week later, changed mind wants money back????

Question

For 2 furnished rooms with private bath and entrance in private home with the first months rent to be paid on moving in. I already spent the money and now have to advertise all over to find someone else for the first of July. They asked for the money back yesterday the 23rd of June, last week of the month when the deposit was given in cash on the 16th of June. Am I obligated to give money back??? I told them if and when I can rent unit again I will give them the money back, in all fairness, but because it is now summer in one week and all the kids are off school for summer, I fear I will now be too late to find someone else as most people already have the rental units found for the summer as I live in a small tourist town.

Answer 1

Depends on what contract you gave them.

If it states they have to give notice to move out then you don't have to give the rent back for any notice period, just the deposit.

Answer 2

The whole idea of a deposit is the fact that it is a deposit. Generally speaking, you should not have to return the money. However, it would depend upon the wording in the contract/lease that was written for the apartment.

As a side note: The law in most states requires that any security deposit given to a landlord by a tenant must be put in a savings account and returned to the tenant with all earned interest if the apartment is released back to the landlord in good condition. Keep this in mind if you ever accept a security deposit.

Answer 3

If you have a written lease you could hard-rock your position and hold them accountable for the entire lease. If you don't have a written lease, they need to give you 30 days notice of intent to quit. Give them a pro-rata refund if you can let the place to someone else within 30 days. If not, give them nothing.

When you accepted their deposit you took the place off the market. They need to understand that they are breaking a contract (verbal month-to-month rental agreements are legal and enforceable contracts) and that there is a penalty for breaking a contract. Normally the penalty in this case would be a loss of any deposits paid, up to 30 days worth of rent.

Answer 4

As weatherman indicated, it depends on your contract. Let this be a lesson to you that if money is given to you as a 'deposit', that it is not money that should be spent. Rather, you need to put the money into a savings account so that when the deposit needs to be paid back, it will be available.