[xcited]

My Tenant Signed A Lease Beginning Feb 15 ,asked For Early Move In On Feb 10 , I Agreed Without Charging Her For Extra Days.we Met At The House On Feb 7. She Signed Lease Gave Funds And I Had Her Inspect The House For Repairs Knowing We Were Still Working On The House. Her List Wes Very Detailed, And We Had Previously Talked About Her Painting 2 Rooms And Me Changing The Wallpaper In 1 Bath. She Wanted To Know If All Could Be Completed Before Her Sat. Move , I Told Her We Would Do Our Best To Complete All Items. On Fri She Was To Have Utilities Turned On. The Gas Could Not Be Turned On Until Mon. And She Forgot About Water. So Here We Are No Heat Or Water. She Tried To Blame Me --i Stopped That Idea Immediately. She Is Worried About Movers On Sat. And Even Though We Had No Heat My Crew Stayed All Night Working With One Small Heater. I Scheduled A Maid Service For Sat But They Refused To Work Without Heat Or Hot Water. So My Crew And I Cleaned Which Put Me Behind On Painting. She Came By Sat. To Paint Her Room And Was Upset That We Were Not On Schedule. I Explained About The Maids And The Cold Conditions We Had Worked During The Night, But For Some Reason She Could Not See The Problem The Utilities Caused,and That Most Landlords Would Have Refused To Do Anything Without Utilities. On Sat Morning She Rescheduled Movers To Mon. Sun She Came To The House Gave Me A Letter Stating She Was Not Moving In Because I Breached The Lease By Not Completing All Items On The List. None Of The Remaining Items Were Critical To Her Moving In. She Wants Her Deposit And Rent Check Refunded. She Took Possession On Sat When I Gave Her A Key And She Had Moved A Few Things Into The House. The Lease Was Not Revised To Show Early Move In But I Did Agree By Email.when She Gave Me The Letter I Did Tell Her It Was Best She Did Not Want To Stay Since We Were Not Agreeing On Anything. I Was Not Sure Legally What To Do So I Told Her I Would Refund Her Money. Is She Due A Refund Of Any Money? I Have To Find A New Renter !

[landlord advocate]

All this is going to depend on the date on the lease and what you have put in writing, either in the lease or by email. If the tenant signed a lease, gave you a deposit and first month's rent and didn't move in, I would say the landlord would keep at the very least the "earnest money a/k/a security deposit". However, it sounds as though you have made commitments outside of the lease and the property was not ready for occupancy. I wish I had a better time line so that I could sort this out. Do you know that allowing her to move her items into the property before the lease date made you responsible for her possessions? Not a good idea. There isn't anything wrong with allowing her to move in early without charge, but you needed to adjust the lease date to the date her items were moved in.

The items that were not completed on time: Were they sensitive enough that living there would be compromised? Would they have caused a health problem? "The remaining items were critical to her moving in".

She sounds like a real winner. Maybe this was the best thing that could have happened. Did you talk to her prior landlords? The way she is treating you is probably the way she treated former landlords. Her decision may well have been a blessing.

Screen your tenants carefully. Talk to past landlords (the current may lie to get rid of a bad tenant, former landlords have no reason not to tell you the truth). Don't rush in without knowing all the details. Rental season is beginning. The number and quality of the tenant will be improving shortly.

[ScottGem]

You should not have made any promises without consulting with counsel. She may be able to hold you to those promises.

You made a good faith effort to have the apartment ready early. The apartment was livable at that time, though work still needed to be done. I don't see a breach of contract here, at least not on your part.