Withdrawing lease offer - Posted by Mark H
Posted by Mark H on August 18, 2003 at 15:23:11:
I own a condo that I have been renting out. I advertised the property specifying a one year lease was required.
I had two seperate applications, and both seemed to be equally qualified. One couple had better credit (albeit with limited history) but were working as consultants with no guarantees of continued employment. The other couple had longer tenancies and stable job histories. For lack of any other way to choose, I figured on taking the ones with the higher FICO scores.
When I phoned the couple I had decided on I spoke to the guy. I told him it wasn’t an easy decision, but that the place was theirs if they wanted it. Then he blind-sided me. He explained that they were going to take an extended trip next summer, and asked if they would be able to sub-let. I said- no way would I allow that. He then asked if we could shorten the lease term. He also mentioned that he may be going back to graduate school next fall.
None of this had been bought up earlier. I told him that I was not necessarily withdrawing the offer, but that it did change everything and I needed to think about it over the weekend.
I had a decision to make, and I thought about it very hard. When I finally reached that decision late Sunday it was to rent it to the other couple. My primary aim is to find a stable long-term tenant. I believe I made the right choice.
This morning, on my way to work, he called me. I told him what I had decided to do. It got pretty ugly after that, with him accusing me of lying to him, and telling me that this wasn’t the end of it and that he would be suing me! He said that when I told him I needed to think about it he thought that meant I was only going to come up with a compromise plan to work out the lease issues. I tried to explain to him that I was not interested in modifying the terms, and that I had tried to make a decision that I believed would be best for me.
Someone was going to be disappointed. Certainly once he started accusing me of lying and making inferences about what kind of a person I am I don’t know if he expects me to change my mind and rent to him instead.
Should I be concerned? I collected refundable deposits from both parties, although I never deposited them. No leases were signed, and I don’t believe I did anything wrong. In the same phone call where I offered the premises to this guy, he surprised me with pertinent details that would have affected my initial decision, and I advised him that it changed everything and I needed to think about it.
Now I feel like a criminal!