My wife saw an add on the Internet for a brand new townhouse just being built we signed a 3 year lease with the guy who posted the add, We had also given him a $200 deposit. Now the guy who is buying the house has not closed "has not yet received the keys himself yet" does this make it an illegal contract. The guy is about to rent us a place he doesn't even own Location
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Ottawa Ontario, Canada

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Nope, he can't enter into a contract to rent property he doesn't own yet.

So how do we get out of it? He already has three years worth of post dated cheques and our deposit...

First you gave him three years of checks, ( are you crazy) no one asks for that. I would say crook just because of that.

But you will need to first close that bank account, so he can not get any money. Remember he can merely submit the checks even if post dated and normally the banks will just pay them,

You will notify him that he had no legal standing to rent property he did not own or have a legal right to rent.
And that it is not available to move in on the date they promised you.

It's weird because he claims to be a police officer, and I just find it hard to believe that he's a crook. We signed the fixed term lease because he discounted the rent by 25 bucks a month for that reason...

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Originally Posted by DK2009

Now the guy who is buying the house has not closed "has not yet received the keys himself yet" does this make it an illegal contract.

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Hello DK:

It could be argued that with a signed purchase and sale agreement in his pocket, that he DOES control the real estate... In any case, once he closes, if he does, and you back out, he'll KEEP your deposit and sue you.

I'm NOT saying he'd win. I'm just not as positive as my fellow experts are, that he'd lose. Oh, I agree... He made a VERY GOOD deal for himself. But, that's not illegal.

excon

It isn't weird it is a scam.

Well he may or may not be a police officer, but I was one for years and will tell you that just being a police office does not make him honest, and unless you know him, on duty, he may be lying about that also.

Don't ever give people post dated checks,

Ok, but honestly what now?? I really don't know where to start! We have been checking our bank account, and he still has not cashed our deposit cheque yet...

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Originally Posted by DK2009

I really don't know where to start!

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Hello again, DK:

Instead of CHECKING your account, the next time you call, STOP payment on the deposit check, and/or ALL of the checks you wrote. Course, if your bank charges $20 per check to stop payment, and you gave him, what, 72 of 'em? That's a bunch of money...

excon

Thanks everyone for your feedback we appreciate it !

The 3 years of postdated checks is weird all right. It suggests that this is a confidence game of some sort. But I don't know that he can't rent out a house that he expects to own. If, when the time comes, he has title, he will be able to perform his part of the rental contract.

Agreed, if he has a valid contract for sale, with a scheduled closing date prior to your move in date, then the contract may be legal. If you back out now, you may forfeit your deposit.

However, I'd be inclined to do so. I have never heard of this post dated check scenario and it sends warning signals to me.