Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Virginia
Tenant signed leased and never showed back up
My husband and I have a rental property. We accepted the application of a man, he met us to go over the lease, signed it, and left to go get the deposit. He did not return when expected and later we reached him by phone. He said that he was waiting for a check to clear. We have not heard from him since and he does not return calls. He was to move in today. Can we void the lease and is he liable for the rent? Our logic is that he did sign the lease. He cost us other potential tenants, as there were 4 other applicants. Our lease stipulates that the tenant can provide written notice of early termination at any time but, the tenant then owes a fee equivilant to 2 months rent. We own 2 rental properties and I don't thin we come under the Landlord/Tenant Act. What are our options? Thank you for your time.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Tenant signed leased and never showed back up
You mentioned that the would-be renter went to go
get the deposit but never paid it.
I assume that there was a reason for paying a
deposit, such as the lease explicitly requires
the payment of a deposit.
I would look very carefully at the lease to see
if the deposit was required as part of the lease.
If the lease requires payment of a deposit, then
the lease has not really started if the condition
of paying a deposit has not been met. Therefore, you would have NO obligations to him, if he did not activate (in effect) the lease by paying the deposit. But this depends on exactly how the lease talks about the deposit.
The more difficult question is if you can sue
for rent for the lost time. That is quite
likely, but it would probably require you to go
through some legal proceedings. So if you want
the freedom to quickly lease the apartment to
someone else instead, the easier way is to treat
it like the lease has never started because the
deposit was never paid.
Re: Tenant signed leased and never showed back up
It is ifficult to answer without reading the lease. If the lease is not effective without the deposit, there was no lease & you could have rented to one of the other interested parties. If he induced you to keep the apartment for him & you lost other prospects, you might have a claim. You say he was to move in today, but you do not say when he promised to return with the deposit.
If you wish to discuss this further, I can be reached at 703-915-1401.
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