can a land lord keep my deposit if I never moved in, never signed lease because house not ready yet?

Question

I have a receipt showing I paid the deposit, but lease was never signed because the house is still being worked on. House was not going to be ready until middle of september. Landlord will not give back $500 deposit and hung up on me and will not answer phone calls

Answer 1

Judge Judy.com....########

Answer 2

There is no right answer here, this is going to be dependent upon where you live. Quite frankly, without a signed contract it would be difficult to enter into a lease or something lease-like.

If the land-lord claims you have entered into a lease, some states/towns require he notify you of the back where you deposit is kept and it needs to be interest baring. If you are not given this information, in most cases you can request it back immediately, even if you are actively renting from that person. If he doesn't return it upon your request, he can be subject to tripple damages.

Another way to handle this is to see if your state has what is called a "Demand Letter". For example, Mass has a 30 Day Demand letter. You wirte a letter to the land-lord stating you want your money back because he has no legal reason to hold it (no lease signed). He has 30 days to respond, if he doesn't respond or a court determins his response was bad/invalid, he again is liable for tripple damages.

Some communities even require a renters permit, call your local housing athority to see if he has one, most likely no since the place isn't built. Without this document, your lease is invalid and can be broken (the land lord might claim verbal contract, but again, see above about notification of the deposit. Keep all conversations written, no need to call him again. You need a paper trail to recover your lose.

Good luck.

Answer 3

No. No. No. If you did not sign a lease and there was no legal agreement to rent the property, then no, the landlord cannot keep the deposit. You will need to go to small claims court in your state to get the mpney back, if the landlord is not willing to return it voluntarily. Suggest you call or write the landlord and advise him that he is about to be sued, and if, in fact, there no lease in place, and if he doesn't pay you, he's either an idiot or in love with Judge Wapner.

Answer 4

I've lived in several rental houses and worked for two apartment rental offices.

Where I'd start is call the local Real Estate Board of Ethics, then the local Better Business Bureau and report his actions so they'll have it on file for future clients of his, then call the local Housing Authority for legal advice, then if that doesn't work, look in the yellow pages for a local Real Estate Attorney and see if they'll allow you a free consultation. After all that, if no luck, take a chance and call a local TV station. They love making jerks like him hung out to dry so everybody can see what a creep he is.

Answer 5

I don't understand why you would pay a deposit without signing a lease first. If your john hancock is not on any legal binding documents there's no reason for him to keep the money. You can file a lawsuit in small claims court requesting the money to be refunded.

Answer 6

No. There are conditions under which the landlord CAN keep it, but you haven't state anything here that would support such a conclusion. Go see an attorney so that you can get your deposit back. The landlord obviously will not respond to you. The landlord will probably respond to your attorney and/or a summons & complaint.

Answer 7

This is an Australian answer. There are government funded tenant advisory centres and tribunals - called different things in each state. Do you have a Department of Fair Trading in your state? That's your starting point. Get some free advice over the phone.

Answer 8

Yes they can, by you not moving in, that kept potential renters from getting into that apartment/house. Thus the landlord can keep it for lost money during your indecision to move in.