Need advice/suggestions/legal advice

[Acid Rush]

I need any advice/suggestions from people who were in this situation. This is kind of a long story, so please bear with me.


My friends (a couple) recently moved here in Calgary. When they initially relocated here, they stayed with the girl's sister. Now, they wanted to move out of the sister's house since they all ready have gotten stable jobs. To make the long story short, they were able to find an apartment. It's not actually an apartment but a house where they will be renting a room. As an act of good faith, they gave the first month's deposit (not sure of the amount, $400-600, I think) to the person in charge of the house. But unfortunately, they backed out within one week of giving the money because there were a lot of people all ready renting/staying at the house. The house has 3 rooms plus the basement but only 1 full bath and 1/2 bath. There will be 6 people (or more I think) in the house if they were to stay there.

Now here is my question, is the person in charge of the house required to give back the first month's deposit? How much should be given back? If he does not give back some amount or the full amount, is there a way to "convince" him to give it back? I don't think the guy is willing to give back the money so I'm thinking of ways to make him give back the money.

Thank you for your responses.

[troutman]

228-1722 (Lawyer Referral - ask for landlord/tenant lawyer) - free consult

Or, speak to AB Gov't - I think it is called Residential Tenancy branch

[MelBridgeman]

I am no expert, but isn't the point of the deposit to hold the place...so if you do back out...its compensation for the landlord

[malcolmk14]

If they agreed with the landlord in the tenancy agreement what would happen to the deposit before they moved in, then this is binding. If the agreement didn't mention what would happen, the landlord can claim the sum as rent that he's lost.

If an accounting of the funds isn't provided within 10 days, your friend may try legally to get the money back. A judge will decide if he gets to keep the money.

Your best bet is just trying to negotiate something with the landlord, explain the situation, and try and recover some of the money. If that doesn't work, arbitration or court action would be the next step.

[Traditional_Ale]

The landlord is not required to give it back.

If he doesn't however, he is a real @$$hole.

[Acid Rush]

It's not actually a security deposit. It's the first month's rent and they agreed that there were only supposed to be 5 people to rent the house but the landlord wanted to rent it out more. I guess more people renting, more money and they did back out within one week of giving the money. Are they entitled to an amount? Let's say equivalent to one week's rent?

[malcolmk14]

Did they sign a tenancy agreement?

[ken0042]

I like Troutman's suggestion of calling a lawyer. When a lawyer suggests you should speak to a lawyer........ it's usually good advice.

However in my completely un-qualified opinion I would say that unless your friends can prove the landlord breached the contract, the may be out of luck. And by proof I mean something like a written lease.

If I enter into a rental agreement and back out; the landlord is allowed to subtract any money that they are out; assuming that they made a reasonable effort to rent out the place; ie things like ads in the paper; online rental sites, etc.

edit- just to add; things they could "do" to make them pay it back include them getting a call from a gov't run landlord/tenant agency- as well as a call from a lawyer might scare them enough too.

[photon]

If it's the first month's rent (i.e. there's no security deposit), then they paid for the month's rent. If they want to "move out" (i.e. not move in) then they have to give 1 month's notice.

If there's other circumstances like the landlord changing the living arrangements after they agreed (allowing more people to live there than they represented to the tenant) then that might mitigate things in a court. EDIT: Though if those things aren't actually mentioned in a contract, it might be hard to prove. Courts do tend to side with the tenants however.

If the guy's running things on the edges of the law then he might want to avoid court though so the best bet is to try to come to an agreement. Offer to split it down the middle.

[metal_geek]

I think the city of calgary fire department has recently taken issue with multiple tenants in a single house.

I'd gently remind him that you may have to phone the city and speak to them about the zoning and fire regulations. Tell him you may have grounds to move out if its not up to code. Of course if he just gives you the money back you wouldn't have to call them to find out..

(after you get your money back, call the city anyway, maybe it keeps 3 or 4 people from burning to death)