beefycow wrote:Hi Everybody,
I'm currently in a situation with a very unprofessional landlord and her representing agent. Two weeks ago, on June 30, I paid a holding deposit and submitted a letter of intent to the owner and her agent for a
condo I was interested in renting. The offer was accepted by the owner, and she signed the letter of intent. After the acceptance, they became very unresponsive. It took them about 4 days to send me the Tenancy agreement, and after I sent them my proposed amendments, I never got a response back. It turns out that they were trying to market the apartment while holding onto my deposit. I showed up on the weekend to hopefully expedite the signing of the TA, but to my surprise, they had the nerves to have viewings right in front of me. The landlord's agent assured me that I would still have first priority, and told me that they were only doing this because they were afraid I wouldn't sign the agreement. I assume they found another tenant that had a higher offer, because they notified my representing agent a few days later that they will no longer be renting the apartment to me. I was shocked that they had the nerves to do such a thing after taking my holding deposit. I am even more shock now, because they refuse to return my deposit. The letter of intent in which the owner signed, clearly states that if terms of the tenancy agreement could not be agreed upon within 5 days, the holding deposit is to be returned immediately to the tenant. I am pretty sure what they did, and what they are currently doing, is illegal. What actions can I take on them? Do I have to have to bring this to a small claims court in order to get my deposit back? Is there anything else I can do to get the money back immediately since there is no doubt in the world that I am entitled to my refund?
Any help / advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
It's quite common for owners and agents to use that policy to protect their downside, or rather have their cake and want to eat it too. And let me guess - they told you the unit was in high demand and they want to ensure you secure your ideal condo??!! It sounds very similar to something that happened to us quite recently after we agreed in principle on a place. But there was no way that you should ever part with money on the basis of a letter of intent. It's not worth the paper its written on.
You should get the signed tenancy agreement first and also ask for a certificate of ownership to prove the same person on the tenancy does in fact own the unit.
If push comes to shove, the most you should ever part with would be $500 to give your indication that you are serious about renting the unit.
My advice, check the agent has a license, and get on the phone to him and tell him you'll report him to the Government and also his firm if he doesn't sort his sh*t out. If you can't get hold of him, or he dodges you, ask one of your friends to set up a viewing at the same unit or another condo he is trying to rent out, take your male friends with you and confront him and make him feel really uneasy!!
There are some pretty devious characters out there, and its amazing how the landscape changes if you are a foreigner. The
property boards are just for marketing so take anything you see with a pinch of salt. Ask some of your local friends to deal with them in the first instance to get prices and conditions, and then get introduced after that. The problem is, you'll often get so much bullsh*t from the agent and they like to blame the owners when things go wrong. Chances are, your agent was probably playing a clever game and negotiating with you and others, without the owner knowing, and trying to squeeze a few hundred extra dollars commission. I have had to walk away from a couple of units because of this, and the owners have got back in contact through another agent asking what went wrong and in complete surprise when I told them what the agents have said.
P.S. Can you PM me the name of the property and the agent? Your story sounds almost identical to mine!
