Legal Question in Discrimination Law in Maryland

My husband and I contracted a Property Management company to find a tenant for me. His fee was the security deposit of $2,500 and a $100 monthly fee to collect the rent for us. He called on Saturday to state he found a tenant and they would be signing the lease on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. I stated to him I thought he should hold off until Monday because my job situation hasn't changed and I didn't know if I could move forward with moving out. He said he didn't think he should wait because they could find something else. I said I will not sign the lease until Monday when I had a better perspective of my job situation. He said ok, but he would not tell the tenants. Monday I got off work really late and didn't call until first thing Tuesday morning. He wasn't available so I sent an email stating things didn't work out at my company and we couldn't move out. He stated that he got the tenants to sign and it's now their property and or they can take me to court and a judge will probably grant them 2 months rent out of the deal and that he was not going to pay them back their money. I later received another email stating the tenants only paid him $1,250 (half of the deposit) and would pay the remaining balance when they received the keys and that I should send the balance of $1,250 to him and $1,250 to the potential tenant.

His agreement states that the deposit amount or 1st month's rent and $100 monthly fee will be paid upon executing the agreement between the tenant and the landlord. We never signed the lease so it wasn't executed. The second part is about termination of the property management agreement. It states upon termination he is to receive all management fees which would have occurred through the end of the agreement. No where in the agreement does it list "management fee." Where it states we are to pay $100 per month it says compensation not management fee. He feels he was our agent acting on our behalf and it's not necessary for me to sign the lease it was executed when he acted on my behalf. Please advise, thank you.


Asked on 10/19/10, 10:55 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Phillip M. Cook Cook Legal Services, LLC

The answer to your question depends entirely upon the terms of the contract you signed with the property manager. It sounds like he's taking a pretty hard line with you, but I cannot say whether you are in the right or wrong without reading the contract. If you would like my assistance reviewing the contract and discussing your rights/options, please feel free to contact me directly.

Best of luck.******The above is for informational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client privilege.********

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Answered on 10/24/10, 5:31 pm


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