I paid a $1300 deposit on an apartment, with an oral agreement to move in. changed my mind. What should I do??

Question

Roommate and I found an apartment and were "phased" by how great the neighborhood was. We jumped too fast. We started realizing the apt didnt have some features we wanted and it was old, etc. We did sign checks over for $1300 total deposit but there is NO lease and there is no receipt. The landlord did tell me on the phone that this deposit is not refundable if we change our mind. well we did, and now, is there a way to get the money back? It was considered first months rent. Isnt there a grace period to move out? Help!

I have decided not to take the apartment and have one day left to stop payment on the check because of the holiday weekend. I absolutely need my security deposit back, can't stand to lose $1300. I understand there is no such thing as an non-refundable security deposit? The only thing put in writing was a non-formal document the landlord scribbled out, I signed, and - she then called it first months rent instead of a 'security deposit' - however, the first months rent was supposed to be pro-rated because she said it would take a week to paint it. There also was a verbal agreement on the phone that it was "not refundable" - however, there is no official lease or lease terms and I feel the landlord is a non-responsive type. I just don't want this apartment but need my deposit back. Can she legally keep that money??

Answer 1

very stupid move.. the only thing you an do now is stop payment on the check.. hopefully he has not cashed it yet.. when shelling out that kind of money.. DO NOT make oral agreements. good luck

Answer 2

Kiss your $1,300 goodbye. You had an agreement, even though it was only verbal. If you try to take it to court, the judge is likely to see it as reasonable that you had committed to rent the unit.

When you gave the landlord the deposit to hold the unit he took it off the market and therefore gave up the chance to rent it to someone else. He has expenses he needs to cover whether you move in or not and now has no tenant.

At best, you may be entitled to a prorated refund if the landlord places a new tenant within whatever period of time that $1,300 would cover. Assuming that it was one month's rent and the landlord takes 3 weeks to find and place a new tenant you might be entitled to 1/4 of your deposit or about $325.00

A couple of folks suggested stopping payment on the check(s). Don't even think of that! It's illegal! You gave the landlord the checks to hold the property. He kept to his end of the bargain by not renting to anyone else. If you have any dispute now you'll have to take it to court and let the judge decide.

Answer 3

First of all you should sign the lease or some sort of paper saying that you are moving in to this place and you are giving him $1300 deposit to move in. Now you don't have any prove to show that you give him that much money. I dont' know how much is the rent per month. Normally you pay the rent first in advance to move in for a month based on a contract.
For example: If you move in on the first and now you are not planing to stayin there you can move out after 30 days.
If you sign the contract with somebody you can't leave the place unless you stay there for that period of time cause the remaining month bill can hurt your credit really bad. I am sure you don't wanna do that.
It's all depend if it's a private owner how far he can go to get his money. If it's an appt place they turn every thing in to collection.
Next time I hope try to sign some sort of document so you can have a prove sayin that you give him that much money and you are moving in to this place.
Good Luck!!