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Can a landlord claim "lost rental damages" when a holding deposit agreement was signed even if an apt is being renovated?
Anonymous2 views1 answers
We decided to put a deposit down on an apartment (apt) when we discussed with the apt manager in an oral agreement that we would not lose anything but the deposit. We made the mistake of trusting the apt manager and, without reading, signed an agreement that states we would pay "1/30 of mo rental each day it is off the market." Once we knew we would not move in to the apt, we let the apt manager know. A few weeks later we found that besides the deposit, we were being charged for days off market. The apartment was not move-in ready and required significant renovation that took until the day we cancelled. Can they legally claim "lost rental damages?"
If I understand you right, the deposit you put down was non-refundable regardless, right? The only thing in dispute then is whether you can be charged the per-day rental fee each day it is off the market.
My gut tells me that they can't claim the per-day rental damages since the apartment was not move-in ready during the period it was allegedly off the market. In other words, there was no way the manager was going to be be able to get rent for the apartment during that time anyway so he wasn't really losing any rent by taking the apartment off the market and holding it for you.
The thing that has me concerned is that you signed the contract that says you would pay for rent each day it is off the market. The manager could use that against you and say that by signing it, you agreed to pay the rental damages you are now disputing. The fact that you trusted the apartment manager and didn't read the agreement isn't going to help you.
Is the manager wanting you to pay the per-day rent and you haven't? If so, then if you refuse to pay, he might sue you. Then you'd have to argue something like yes, I signed the contract agreeing to pay the per-day rent, but the intent of that provision is to protect the manager from the rent he loses when he takes a unit off the market and holds it for a prospective tenant. If he didn't charge this per-day rent, he might take a bunch of apartments off the market for people who then end up cancelling.
However, in your particular case, your particular apartment wasn't even on the market due to those renovations so the manager would have lost rent anyway. Thus, the contract provision for the per-day rent shouldn't apply.
This argument is stronger if your apartment was the only one (or one of a handful) that were undergoing renovation while all of the other apartments were ready to be rented immediately.
Hope that helps.
Andy
