QUESTION
Can a person sue a landlord for not choosing them as a tenant despite verbal negotiations?
Asked on Dec 03rd, 2011 on Landlord and Tenant Law - Utah
More details to this question:
Person A is a landlord. Person B is looking for a house to rent. Person B calls Person A and wants to rent a house. A verbal negotiation was made that Person B would be able to rent the house if they had money. Person B claims to have money and Person A verbally agrees to rent it out to them (no paperwork was signed or money exchanged). However, Person B, the would-be tenant, continued to extend the date that they would have the money. Person A, the landlord, gets tired and rents the house out to someone else. Person B says they will sue for backing out of a verbal negotiation. Does person B have a case?
1 ANSWER
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First, all contracts for real estate must be in writing, including leases of over one year in length. Second, simply negotiating a contract does not require either party to agree to the terms of the negotiations. They are simply negotiations. No legally binding agreement exists until a contract/lease for real estate is signed by both parties.
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Answered on Dec 05th, 2011 at 12:42 PM