Dead Buff Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Scenario: I rent out a townhouse. The potential occupants are real nice, but, as usual, short on funds. They however mention that they are looking for a long term lease. So me, being nice (my thread, don't argue that point), offer them an ±11% discount on the rent if they lease for at least 3 years. Everyone is happy..... FF to 13 months later. They phone and say they are moving out by end of the month. After a lot of stress I find new ocupants...good for me... The previous occupants however have the cheek to want their deposit back! The contract was/is a 3 year contract with 3 month notice period after 3 years with a penalty clause that states the occupants have to pay the discount per month stayed in one lump sum if they move out before the 3 years are over. Because I'm such a nice guy I'm only keeping the deposit (which is less than half of the penalties) instead of claiming the penalties and the deposit. Now I am the a$$hole who is not nice to them. It's people like that, that make me hate myself for not being and arrogant slime-bag who would sue the last living cent from them.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Boudrie Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Be sure to send them a certified letter with a bill for the balance. Even if you don't collect, this will strengthen your defense if they start complaining to various state agencies about failure to refund the deposit (and make them less likley to do so, since they will be concerned about a counter-claim). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhgtyre Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 My dad is the owner of several rental properties ranging from the really poor pay by the week properties to very nice rental homes. Over the years he has gotten shafted by more tenants than I care to think of. The biggest a-holes are usually the ones in the nicer neighborhoods. The poor folks will do anything to pay because their next stop is homelessness if my dad kicks em out, which he rarely does, but the more well to do usually have a fallback plan so they don't care if they screw you. This isn't based on surveys or statistics just an observation made over about 30 years of watching my dad run various properties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Yes, if you have a signed contract in place, be sure to follow up with the formalities of a paper trail and bills for unpaid whatever. Just keep the paper trail going to substantiate YOUR professionalism and sense of responsibilty. Even if you don't collect all that you're owed, you'll have jumped thru all the proper formal hoops and appeared as the professional rather than the flaky landlord. Be firm. If you don't, YOU'LL end up looking like the doofus... which you're not, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precision40 Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Keep the deposit and tell them to have a nice day. If their not willing to live up to their contract, then F'm. At least they called and said they were leaving instead of simply dissapearing in the middle of the night like alot of renters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FNC80 Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Now I am the a$$hole who is not nice to them. Remember those two girls in Colorado that were being nice to their neighbors by baking them cookies? You never know who you're dealing with. Lots of good advice here. Best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Posted February 24, 2005 Share Posted February 24, 2005 I don't remember the two girls, what happened? In my town the deposit is as good as gone once you give it. We rented for years (while renting out our home in Colorado) and I could never get thing one repaired and had to go to court to get a deposit back on a place I left cleaner than when I moved in. Got half of the deposit 8 months later. College towns suck that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidwiz Posted February 24, 2005 Share Posted February 24, 2005 Before hanging onto the deposit, I would check to see what your state's laws are on rental deposits. Try doing an internet search on "<your state> landlord law" or "<your state> landlord tenant law". If you need any offline assistance, please feel free to ask. At the very least, if they left before the lease was up, I would send them a certified, return receipt requested letter informing them that they are in breach of the lease, and that they owe "x" amount of dollars. -David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FNC80 Posted February 24, 2005 Share Posted February 24, 2005 I don't remember the two girls, what happened? About a month or so ago in CO, these two girls baked some cookies to distribute to neighbors. They put it on a plate and covered it with a red paper heart. They distributed them at night, leaving the plates on the porch and ringing the doorbell. This one neighbor lady had an anxiety attack, thinking there were prowlers or bad folks around. She had to go to the emergency room. She sued the 17 and 16 year olds and was awarded a judgement of $900. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewRacer Posted February 24, 2005 Share Posted February 24, 2005 I don't remember the two girls, what happened? About a month or so ago in CO, these two girls baked some cookies to distribute to neighbors. They put it on a plate and covered it with a red paper heart. They distributed them at night, leaving the plates on the porch and ringing the doorbell. This one neighbor lady had an anxiety attack, thinking there were prowlers or bad folks around. She had to go to the emergency room. She sued the 17 and 16 year olds and was awarded a judgement of $900. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3024575 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted February 24, 2005 Share Posted February 24, 2005 Too many lawyers ....too many stupid people Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 What he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singlestack Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 No good deed goes unpunished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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