My friends and I were looking to rent a place that they manage. When I went to them to apply i passed but the other 2 people didnt. They then said that I could sign the lease myself and they basically rent from me. Which i agreed to. They then call me while i am in indiana on friday and tell me i can have the place they just need my security deposity because someone else is interested and has applied and paid their deposit the only thing they were waiting on was their rental records.
I send one of my roommates up there to pay the deposit for me with a check of his so that we can get the place. They tell him thanks and I can come sign the lease monday when they reopen. Then they call me back after business hours to tell me they gave it to someone else even though we had all of our stuff in first. Is this legal? or can I demand my application fees back at the least?

10/22/2007 9:48:01 AM

If you are a NC STATE student you are entitled to free legal consulation.
Do it

10/22/2007 9:59:50 AM

Of course you can demand your application fees back. They might not be legally responsible for refunding them, but it would take a sketchy business to screw you over twice like that. If they won't give a refund then you're probably better off for the fact that you're not stuck renting from them and you'd be justified in giving them some bad press for it.

10/22/2007 11:03:43 AM

10/22/2007 11:48:31 AM

I was under the distinct impression that once a security deposit has been paid, they are required to hold the property for you for a certain length of time. All of the places I looked at told me that if I paid the deposit they wouldn't be able to rent it to anybody else while I took care of the rest.

10/22/2007 12:36:56 PM

well i already wouldn't want to live in a place that is screwing me over and I don't even live there yet. I think it's pretty lame to STILL want to fight to live there.

Try to get your money back. Go to the office, ask for the manager.

If that doesn't work and you feel still wronged, go talk to a lawyer.

Move on to another place.

10/22/2007 12:55:16 PM

Quote :

"tell me i can have the place they just need my security deposity because someone else is interested and has applied and paid their deposit the only thing they were waiting on was their rental records."

am i reading this right? they called you and said that someone else has already paid a deposit for the same place you are trying to rent? and then you decide to pay the deposit on the same place?

10/22/2007 1:58:59 PM

Quote :

"They then call me while i am in indiana on friday and tell me i can have the place they just need my security deposity because someone else is interested and has applied and paid their deposit the only thing they were waiting on was their rental records"

not sure why they'd tell you you could have the place if someone else already paid.

10/22/2007 4:38:04 PM

http://www.wral.com/5onyourside/

You can always try this. Even if they don't run with it they'll usually at least call Wilson to ask for their side of the story, which might rattle them up a bit.

10/22/2007 5:26:57 PM

nooo see they never told us that we had to pay the deposit to hold the place. and they called me and said we had the place all i had to do was pay the deposit but i was in indiana so i sent my roommate to pay it which they said if i had it paid before the other person had their rental records in i would get the place. as for wanting to live there i just want the money back from the application fees that is all.

10/22/2007 6:56:15 PM

Oh, if the other guy got all their stuff in before you paid the deposit that's an entirely different story. Until you have a deposit down its first-come, first served.

You won't be getting the fees back. At least if you want to rent one of their other properties they'll already have it all on file.

10/23/2007 1:10:44 AM