We have signed a new lease on a house and mailed the lease back to the landlord with a deposit. She was originally selling the house, but decided not to sell the house since she found us as renters. However, the landlord delayed for three weeks on signing the lease and sending it back to us. It turns out that the landlord was simultaneously looking for new buyers for the house while arranging our lease. Alas, she found a buyer and decided she wants to sell the house and won't rent to us.

Can she do this?

Where? In general, yes. You did not have a valid lease IF she never signed the document and didn't cash the deposit check.

Was she negotiating in bad faith? Possibly. You can only sue for monetary damages. Do you have any?

I understand your upset but this sounds like the lease could have been a nightmare and you could have found yourself with a new landlord half way through.

We have signed a new lease on a house and mailed the lease back to the landlord with a deposit. ...

The contract might be considered binding.


You have an offer (the LL delivering the lease to OP.
You have an acceptance (the OP mailing it back to the LL, together with the check). If there were no changes, it's not a counter-offer, so it would have to be an acceptance.


Was the deposit check cashed?

Thank you for the responses...

AK lawyer - The deposit check was cashed. However, there were a few minor changes to the lease to tailor it to our situation ( the LL sent a lease from two years ago ) Do minor changes such as dates and typos count as changes?

JudyKayTee - We are in California. The LL cashed our deposit check, but has since sent another check for the same amount back to us after she told us she no longer wants to rent to us. (we did not yet cash her check) Technically, we do not have any monetary damages. However, this rental was for a 5 month lease for the ski season in Tahoe City. The LL lead us to believe for almost a month that we were locked into a lease and no longer needed to search for a new house. We are now scrambling to find another solution. However, selection is now limited and expensive.

Again, I appreciate your responses.

-J

I'll wait for AK and his expertise BUT in my eyes the day the check was cashed, there was a contract. I'm a property owner but in NY and I make very, very sure there's a lease we can both live with before I cash the check.

I make certain it's clear that there is NO agreement between us, bound by a check, unless there's an agreement between us...

I'll wait for AK and his expertise BUT in my eyes the day the check was cashed, there was a contract. ...

I tend to agree, however the matter of the small changes to the text of the lease could possibly be a fly in the ointment. I think they are probably not a problem, but you never know.

The change to the dates is the biggest worry. It could be argued that the LL intended this as a template and not the actual lease which he/she expected OP to sign. The LL's intent, and what he/she communicated to OP might require testimony to resolve.

Thanks you both so much again for your input!

Let us know what happens next - I'm curious and you may very well be able to help the next person with a similar problem.

Interesting legal problem, by the way.