Renting Legal Question...

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screwrealestate_IHB

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So in the continuing saga of my miserable dealings with real estate, I have a question if anyone can answer ASAP. My wife and I want to move to save some $$ since we are paying $2100 in Costa mesa for a 3/2 townhouse. We found on WestSideRentals a 2/2.5 townhouse with big garage in Deerfield, Irvine for $1650. It is in OK shape, no AC and with kind of a crappy old stove/oven and some random issues. It is a very good price for the area and after applying, she accepted us and took a $1500 dollar deposit. The last tenants kinda trashed the place and she is probably annoyed for having to fix some things like new carpet, some mold in a shower, a new screen door, and etc. After giving the deposit and going over some of the things we wanted done, that she said she would do, she started to get greedy with the rent after getting some more calls. She said she had the impression that we were very needy tenants and that she wouldnt want us changing anything and it might be better going somewhere. Basically after accepting us, taking our deposit, us giving our moveout notice, and 1 week away from moving the lady is getting greedy and saying maybe we are not the best tenants. <strong>Interpretation: Getting greedy for more money!</strong>

So....



1) Can she really just refuse us after giving the deposit and for no actual reason other than to raise the rent on someone else?

2) I really like the low price and the area, so is there any legal action I can threaten?



THANKS!!!
 
I think she is worried because even when she was saying this and saying how the price was good, she said she had to honor the price. She actually works at a law firm I think in some capacity so maybe she is worried about something...
 
Did you give her money without signing a lease? If so why?



If you really want to move in, you may need professional legal help, which will set you back more than you save.



If she balks are fixing obvious deficiencies, mold (must be remediated by law) and worn carpet, she will be a bad landlord, so my advice would be to steer clear. If you do walk and there really is a mold problem, I would report here to the proper housing authorities and also send her a letter that you did that. Landlords have responsibilities too.
 
She is taking care of the stuff that was agreed upon. She actually took care of the mold by a handyman ripping off all the wallpaper, sanding, and painting the wall over the shower which I saw. The worn downstairs carpet will be replaced and it was just upstairs carpet that will clean OK and doesn't need replacing. As far as the deposit, she gave me a signed reciept with her information and said she was going to draft the new lease for the weekend when we sign and get the key. Things are so fast nowadays with I just wanted to reserve the place and assumed everything was fine. In my past with approximately 8 rentals I never had any issues with this kind of thing, but then again, I am in the freaking state of California now...



I always knew it is always a tradeoff between threatening legal action and the $ required to carry through with it. Hopefully this thing just works out and if she delays any more then screw it. I will just ask her for the contact information of the best Real Estate Attorney in her office and like you said, mail a letter to the authorities and her HOA....



And the reason why I care so much about all this is that my wife is 7 months pregnant and we gave our notice already. To scramble and find a 2/2 upstairs/downstairs townhome with garage in a nice area for less than $1700 in a week is no small feat!
 
screwrealestate: it is not good to start off a 12 month lease on a bad note. ask her to give you your deposit back plus some fees for backing out. call it your rental agent fee. plus your wife is prego. so why stress her out even more. you can get some nice place in HB for that less. you should check out charter in irvine. it is about 1700 dollar and the girl juliette who works there is really nice and they offer like 1k off move in special to help with the first month.
 
She just called back and said we were OK and we could sign the lease Friday morning. I will keep looking tomorrow but I am close to out of time and we are picky. We want a garage for all the bikes and surfboards, an upstairs/downstairs from past noise problems, a nice patio, a hot tub, a nice area, and to be cheaper than the $2100 I pay now. I can get a nice place if I pay for it but if my dumb ass ever wants to save some cash to get ahead I gotta start saving more. Thanks for the advice and I will see how it goes tomorrow if I can find someplace better. She has owned the place for a long time, had the last tenants for 3 years without checking on them much, and in all of our first dealings was very nice. Greed just got the better of her and maybe she had a chat with a legal friend about her risk of backing out of the contract after accepting the deposit. No matter how you look at it, this freaking expensive Orange County thing blows!



Thanks for the advice and I'll let you know if anything else comes up...
 
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