Deposit Refund if I changed mind?

[sewrun]

I filled out and signed a rental application on Thursday and gave them a security deposit and an application fee. At the time, I didn't really want to give them a deposit until I'd talked to my boyfriend about my moving out (he didn't know about my plans). She told me that would be ok, but I'd have to give one to her later if I was accepted. I figured I'd save time and just give her the check.

Thursday afternoon, the agent called me and told me my application was accepted and I could move in on July 1st. I told her I wouldn't be able to move in that soon, but understood I would have to begin paying rent as of that date because they would only hold the apartment 2 weeks.

After talking with my boyfriend on Sunday, we decided to try to work things out and I would stay.

I called the agent on Monday morning and told her I would not be needing the apartment after all. When she called back she asked me if I was sure because she was not allowed to return my deposit. I called later and left a message as I never received a copy of the agreement and someone told me there was a 3 day "cooling off period".

She faxed me a copy of the agreement and it does read "I hereby deposit with owner/agent $550 as a fee to hold the unit off the market pending approval. If approved and the contemplated lease is entered into, the unit deposit shall be credited to the required security deposit. If applicant is approved by fails to enter into the contemplated lease, the rental fee will be forfeited to the owner as liquidated damages. The unit fee is refunded if the applicant is not approved. Keys will be furnished only after the lease and all other documents have been signed and deposits paid. This application is preliminary only and does not obligate owner or owner's agent to execute a lease or deliver possession of premises."

Is that binding and should I just accept my losses or do I have any chance of getting my deposit back?

[ohiolandlord]

I don't think they can keep your deposit as "liquidated damages" - they can keep whatever amounts to their actual damages. So if they can prove they lost another renter because they were holding your apartment for one day then they would have actual damages. If they rent it out during the 2 weeks they were claiming to hold the apartment - they probably wouldn't have any damages and would have to return your deposit. Can you stop payment on the check?

[ohiolandlord]

who was the landlord?

[sewrun]

They already cashed the check - obviously didn't waste any time.

[sewrun]

Rylee Property Management

[eewillison]

In Ohio, a promise to lease in a rental application which does not give the specifics of the rental terms (such as the location of the apartment unit, the monthly rent, the duration of the lease, etc.) is not enforceable.

The Eighth District Court of Appeals in the case of White v. Boyd 1993 Ohio App. LEXIS 5660 (November 24, 1993) Montgomery App. No. 13757, unreported, found that these clauses are unconscionable. The case said:

"Under these circumstances, we agree with the referee's conclusion that there was never a valid, binding, or enforceable lease agreement between the parties, even though the application signed by the Boyds contained their agreement "to sign a lease or rental agreement" on approval of the application. If no terms of the lease agreement, other than the monthly rental, were discussed with the Boyds, as the referee found upon conflicting evidence, then their open-ended agreement to sign a lease upon approval of the application was not supported by sufficient consideration, was unconscionable, and was, therefore, unenforceable. If we were to hold otherwise, then a landlord receiving such an application could require the applicants to sign a lease having a perpetual term and many onerous undertakings, none of which had been previously disclosed to the tenants." Id. at 7-8