QUESTION
Can I get my holding deposit back on a APT?
Asked on Jan 17th, 2018 on General Practice - Texas
More details to this question:
I put a holding deposit on a apartment either late December 2017 or around the 1st of January 2018. The move in date was pushed back from the 12th to 16th of January due to cleaning multiple units. A family member and I decided on the day they were finally going to allow us to move in to cancel. We didn't sign the lease or pay anything other than the holding fee. The office manager explained how we were pre leasing that time so they couldn't refund. The people who were there had to be out by the 1st. Though we "pre leased" the apartment it wasn't ready until the 16th when we decided to cancel.
1 ANSWER
If the landlord had decided to rent the apartment to someone else for more money, would you not have claimed that it had breached the terms of your holding deposit agreement? WIthout knowing the exact terms of the contract you entered into, it seems as if you paid the landlord a certain amount to "hold" the apartment and not rent to anyone else, and it complied with the agreement. You have to live up to your end as well. Otherwise, what is the purpose of the holding deposit? As far as the fact that the apartment wasn't ready when it was supposed to be, you lost nothing from that since you didn't want to move in anyway, so I don't think it is a basis to renege on the holding agreement.
Answered on Jan 17th, 2018 at 12:33 PM