We sgined a lease for a house, planned to move in but the landlord said he has changed his mind and cannot let us move in... what compensation can we get?

Depends on what losses/expenses you incurred.

Hi scottgem... thanks for your kind reply...
We flew to dallas 2 weeks ago from chicago and signed the lease on a house.
Since then the landlord says he can't rent it to us as his circumstances have changed... lost his job etc
We are now driving with our furniture to dallas and will arrive there Thursday... can we claim for our expenses, costs of renting a higher priced house if we cannot find anything suitable.. costs of additional expenses with the new house?. our original flight costs? Or...

What is the general take on our position?
Again... many thanks for you help.

Ok, the lease was signed and you vacated and embarked for Dallas thinking you had a rental. In that case, then yes, you would have a cause of action against the landlord.

However, what expenses you can claim may bear on the circumstances of your move. If you are moving because of a job transfer and had to move ANYWAY, then you might not be able to claim very much. Basically you would havet to sue only for the EXTRA expenses incurred due to the cancellation. Storage expenses, cost of temp housing, etc.

Hello hink:

WHATEVER your losses are, you can claim...

You were going to move anyway, so his breach didn't cost you anything extra. Can you get the difference between his rent and a higher priced one if that's what you find?? Nahhhh. And, if you try to inflate your claim, you may not get what you're entitled to.

You'll probably be able to get hotel rent, storage for your stuff, and the cost of restaurant's. Maybe some misc stuff too. That's about all.

If he doesn't willingly pay these expenses (and he won't), you're going to have to sue him in small claims court. THEN you'll have to collect and that's a whole different matter.

excon

Many thanks...
Is there a limit to the extent of our claim... say $5k in small claims court, or is there unlimited claims?
Thanks again

If you use small claims court there will be a limit, Limits vary per jurisdiction.