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Tenant’s Rights When Lease Falls Through Before Signing

Can a landlord change his or her mind after a deposit is paid but before a lease is signed? Security deposit refunds are often a matter of state law or even city ordinances. As such, the rights conferred by security deposits (and rights to recover security deposits) vary greatly all over the United States. Generally, however, if you give a security deposit for an apartment that you don’t ever take possession of or sign a lease for, then you are entitled to have the entire deposit returned.

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Can Extreme Hardship Stop an Eviction?

A landlord does NOT need to take the extreme hardship of a tenant into account in filing for eviction; and the courts will also not consider it in determining whether or not (or when) to grant eviction.

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Constructive Eviction

Constructive eviction describes the forced move out of a tenant from his rental that was made uninhabitable for reasons within the control of the landlord. To claim constructive eviction, thereby relieving the tenant from the obligation to pay rent to the landlord, the tenant must serve the landlord with written notice of the constructive eviction and provide the landlord with a reasonable amount of time to cure the defects.

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Weighing the Pros and Cons of Renters Insurance

It’s tempting to think that you don’t need renters’ insurance, especially if you have a small apartment or don’t have many possessions. But do you really not own that much? Think about how much you’d have to spend to replace everything if it was lost in a fire, including the essentials like clothes or dishes.

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The Tenant’s Responsibility for Rental Property Maintenance

Often, a lease will contain a provision stating that a tenant shall not ‘commit waste’ with respect to the rental property, but what is a tenant’s responsibility with respect to maintenance of the property? The tenant has the responsibility to keep the rental property clean, to properly dispose of trash, and shall not deliberately or negligently allow damage to the property, all of which would be considered ‘waste.’

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