Need Legal Help - Housing
 

Hey all! I need to make sure I'm in the right before I proceed because my situation looks like it might be approaching court.

Ok, back in May of this year, I found an apartment that I was interested in renting. It's in the basement of a family home and, though it's tiny (up to 200 square foot studio), utilities were included so I thought it was ok.

I made arrangements with the homeowner to come over and meet and talk more about it. I took two friends with me to check it out (to act as witnesses). As we sat and talked, the apartment sounded fine. The plan was for the current tenant of the apartment to immediately start looking for a new place, as he was trying to get out of the lease, and for me to move in no later than September 1st, as in next month. I told the homeowner that, if the tenant were looking for a place and absolutely couldn't find anything right away, I had somewhat of a safety net until December, so it would be ok to extend the deadline a few weeks. I just needed to be updated on the progress. I paid a hold deposit by check (which I have a copy of) in an amount nearing $1000. I did not, however, sign any type of lease.

So, I have since asked both of my witnesses to tell me what they heard me say and, without prompting, they both said I was VERY clear in stating that I wanted to be moved in by September 1st. And here's the problem.

I called the homeowner on June 14th to find out how the apartment search was going. At that time, she acted like I was insane and said that I told her I didn't need the apartment until December so she had decided not to tell the tenant to move until mid-August or later. I was like :eek:. So, I corrected her and said I had very clearly stated that I wanted the apartment by September 1st. There was still time. So, she said that she would talk to the tenant and get back to me with an update.

At this point, I lost all faith, so I started looking for another place. I found a few leads (and my fiance's brothers are looking as well - thanks Ques!) but it's hard to find affordable housing around here. I'm still looking.

In the meantime, I never heard back from the homeowner, so I finally called her on August 7th but she wouldn't pick up. I ended up leaving a message saying that the whole thing sounded suspect and that I was now looking for a place closer to my work anyway. I want the money back by October 15th at the latest. (I didn't want her to be able to say that I had made an unreasonable request.) Then I figured she'd try to wriggle out of it saying she never got the message, so I sent a certified letter as a follow-up to the phone message stating the exact same information. I sent it on August 14 and received the confirmation receipt on August 15th WITH A SIGNATURE proving that the letter was delivered.

I STILL haven't heard anything back and now it's August 19th. So, my plan is to go about my business and, if I haven't received the money by October 15th, I'll take her to civil court.

So, I have two questions. First, is there any reason that I shouldn't get my money back? And, if so, second, is there any reason I would lose in civil court?

Did you pay these people $1000 without getting anything in writing???????? I know you said you didn't sign a lease, but didn't you get anything in writing? That's going to make things much more dificult here. Never give people money for ANYTHING without getting something in writing.

I don't know the laws of your state and this isn't my area of law, but my best quick and dirty guess is that you could probably get your money back, but I don't think you'll be able to enforce the verbal lease that you two had. But that wouldn't be the smartest thing to do anyhow.

This is difficult because it's a he-said-she-said type deal. Good luck! Maybe someone with a similar experience will be able to help you out.

I don't know. I've given hold deposits to apartment complexes in Georgia prior to signing a lease so they wouldn't rent the apartment out from under me. The deposit switched over to security once I signed the lease. We didn't have a "verbal lease" per se. So, I wouldn't want to try to go after that. I want to get as far away as possible!

You only need to get money BACK once money is given. You gave them a check. I would suggest that you place a stop payment on it. If your check has already been cashed, that's EXTRA shady (and wrong) considering that the homeowner thought you didn't need the place until December.

May I ask where you live? $1000 is ULTRA expensive, considering it's a 200 sq.ft. basement apt. Do you have use of other parts of the house or are all things that you need included in the basement? Did you research to see if this basement is up to code in terms of being rented out?

PLEASE DO NOT enter into agreements without getting something in writing, ESPECIALLY where large sums of money is being exchanged. Unless you just have money to lose, don't turn it over without protecting yourself. Especially in situations such as real estate/rentals, you MUST have a document to protect yourself, or else you find yourself in sticky situations like this one.

Contact your attorney, if you have one, or legal aid to discuss your problem. From the facts given, I don't see you having a problem with getting your money back, but since I don't know the laws of your state, I can't be certain.

GOOD LUCK!!!!

Thanks to you both, Dani and RD, for your advice!

RD - It was much more informal than a normal housing arrangement because the homeowner used my seminary to find a tenant. In general, people who use the seminary have an extra room or a basement to rent out and they want a Christian grad student to live there because (I guess) they figure we're honest and quiet. I've never heard of anyone having such crazy issues with the homeowners in this area. I live in "metro" NYC and the housing around here is ridiculous. The rent for this particular basement included all utilities, so rent is a bit higher for such a small space.

I can't find even a small studio around here for less than $900 (before utilities). :( It's really awful! Everything under $900 is in a private home.

I have an update... my fiance called the homeowner from his own phone and she finally picked up. I have found out the she wasn't planning on refunding the money because I had "inconvenienced" her. But, surprise surprise, she already has a new tenant in the wings!!!

BTW - I just called one of my witnesses today to reconfirm, one more time, that I wasn't just remembering what I wanted to remember and she said that the homeowner DEFINITELY stated that she would have the tenant immediately begin looking for housing (back in May) and that the intended deadline would be the beginning of September. So, basically, the homeowner is all out lying.

P.S. The apartment takes up only a portion of the basement and tenants do not have use of any other part of the house. The rest of the basement is sectioned off and is used by the family for storage and laundry. AND, the apartment tenants DO NOT have use of the laundry room. Ain't that foul! LOL! But, it wasn't a problem for me at the time because I know that washers/dryers are very expensive to fix if anything goes wrong. I truly am a reasonable person.

Oh and, no, I didn't check to see if the basement was to code. The thing is, it is SO hard to find rental properties around here that you really have to take whatever you can find. Anyway, this type of arrangement is set up all the time for the seminary grad students so I really was hoping for the best. That was simply foolish on my part. Never again!

Praying that you will get your money back and that you won't have to go to court. But if you do have to go to court, I don't see a problem in you getting the money you paid back - as it was a deposit and that only. There may be a problem with not having any documents signed, but God grants us favor in all situations. God will deal justly with the individual who, basically, used you.

The shadylord has cashed the check and thinks of you as a "inconvenience". You should contact the Dept. of Housing as well as inform your seminary that this person is not reputable. From your description, shadylord sounds like they could use a visit from a housing inspector so they can be brought up to date on codes and possible fines.

I pray you get your money back.

I would also bet a lot of money that the home is not properly zoned to have tenants in addition to the family.

The best thing you can do is make sure the "landlord" gets caught so that s/he can't screw over anyone else.

That, I will definintely do. I'll wait until I get my money back, which may require some time in court. But, I'm not going to let her off the hook. Thanks for all the responses!