Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I verbally agreed to rent a house to a family, signed a retainer for the deposit which will be the security deposit upon move in - agreeing to hold the unit until the 1st of the month - the problem is the neighbors now want to move out if the new family moves in - due to teenage kids from the new family who bully the teenage kid from the family that is already there -- can i opt out and refund the deposit to the new family and return all $'s or am I bound to accept them due to that document,, they were scheduled to come in 2 days ago w/ the signed contract which they have posession of but is not yet signed by the landlord

Tell the future tenants that there have been issues not related to them regarding the apartment availability and that, combined with the missed move in date, has made you reconsider and willing to fully refund the retainer until the issue has been solved. See what they say. If, in fact, you want them as tenants, tell the complaining tenants that if they move out, it must be subject to the lease conditions. In the end, you may have to decide who to keep.

Posted by Matthew M, IL on Tuesday, September 22, 2009