Re: Real Estate Law - Condo Rentals
- From: nospam@xxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2006 15:34:18 GMT
On 29 Aug 2006, "NiftyPat@xxxxxxxxx" <NiftyPat@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I'm moving to . . . Virginia this week from New Jersey
in preparation for a new job. * * * I found an ad . . .
from a woman renting a condo . . . . To make a long
story short, I took the condo she was offering and
sent her a security deposit of $1200 (one month's rent).
* * * I have not signed a contract or lease yet.
We planned on doing the paperwork when I arrived on
Friday, but we obviously had a verbal agreement.
Your saying that it is obvious that you had an agreement begs the
question what your agreement was, a question about which you here
appear to provide two apparently insistent sets of facts -- i.e.,
depending on what may be that not her by you "long story" may be:
- that you and she agreed that her acceptance of your check
(did she cash it? if not, for how long has she retained it?)
established a landlord-tenant relationship, i.e., a lease
(though, if so, to commence when, exactly? for how long?
- information you obviously do not here provide)
or (but)
- that what you obviously agreed verbally is that, your having
given her what you term a "security deposit" notwithstanding,
you each will not have entered into a law-enforceable lease
unless/until you signed still another document (i.e., one in
addition to your check) which, unless/until signed, would not
constitute "a contract or lease".
[She telephoned me] today [to say] my condo is
not ready (as I said, it's a new building). She and
her husband have not closed yet on the condo,
when she told me that they were supposed to close
last weekend. She also advertised, and told me on
the phone, that the condo would be ready for
September 1. The main problem is, I was supposed
to move in this Friday, 2 days from now.
You appear to be suggesting (in this connection, too, don't say
explicitly) that, regardless what the advertisement had said, the
would-be landlord said to you in the "long story" parts of your
communications directly with one another that you should interpret
what actually is the offer to rent as contingent on an expectation,
i.e., a kind of "guesstimate" (not that she obviously verbally agreed
explicitly), that the apartment would be available for occupancy on or
after Sept. 1.
Alternatively, it is of course at least possible, though as noted very
far from clear in what you say in your posting/query, that she did
agree (i) that you and she have an effective lease, (ii) that its
possession commencement date shall be Sept. 1, and (iii) that you both
also relatedly agreed that time is of the essence in this latter
respect.
My furniture and possessions are already
on their way to northern Virginia via a moving
company.
You also do not say in your posting/query that your landlord or
would-be landlord knew (or, for that matter, in light of what you and
she said to one another as part of your long story, that she arguably
should have known) that you would be shipping your belongings (in
reliance on your not having "signed a contract or lease yet"?),
although in this respect, too, it is at least possible that she knew.
[A] friend, he told me that by law, she owes me at least
double the down payment (he said the amount varies by
state). Is this true?
Va.'s Landlord Tenant Act in its "[Landlord] Failure To Deliver
Possession" provision of § 55-248.22 of Ch. 13.2 of the Va. State Code
states:
"If the landlord willfully fails to deliver possession
of the dwelling unit to the tenant [assuming that
there is provably a lease therefor], rent abates until
possession is delivered and the tenant may
(i) terminate the rental agreement upon at least
five days' written notice to the landlord and upon
termination, the landlord shall return all prepaid rent
and security deposits; or
(ii) demand performance of the rental agreement
by the landlord.
If the tenant elects, he may file an action for
possession of the dwelling unit against the landlord
or any person wrongfully in possession and recover
the damages sustained by him. If a person's failure
to deliver possession is willful and not in good faith,
an aggrieved person may recover from that person
the actual damages sustained by him and reasonable
attorney's fees."
Also, see § 55-248.21.
If the situation changes [and if she does close on and
is able comparatively soon to deliver possession of the
premises], fine... then it was only an inconvenience for
a few days. But if I cannot move into the condo because
they haven't closed yet, as I said, do I have any recourse?
This will depend, first, on more specificity about what the
advertisement you saw say and greater factual clarity in all other
respects about what you say she and you obviously agreed and, second,
on how credible you are and practical you and she are about trying in
a mutually sensible way to resolve your would-be claim.
But for the reasons summarized above, there is not anyone who could
suggest a probably reliable answer to the "recourse:yes?/no? question
in terms of outcome (and timing) of litigation.
Thanks.
.
- References:
- Real Estate Law - Condo Rentals
- From: NiftyPat@xxxxxxxxx
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