Yet Another Landlord/Tennant Question

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

Correct, however the period of rental hasn't come into effect yet. There aren't any arrears of rent.

In that post I was speaking more to Photon's example where the rental period had already come into effect and the tenant had taken possession.

In the OP's example, the tenant is still liable for November's rent because they didn't provide sufficient notice to terminate the agreement for October 31st. Of course the landlord is also required to mitigate their losses by attempting to rent the unit to someone else for November.

Like I said above, the landlord might not be able to unilaterally keep the deposit, but they can absolutely get a judgement against the tenant for any losses they incur for November.

[Frank MetaMusil]

Originally Posted by opendoor

In that post I was speaking more to Photon's example where the rental period had already come into effect and the tenant had taken possession.

In the OP's example, the tenant is still liable for November's rent because they didn't provide sufficient notice to terminate the agreement for October 31st. Of course the landlord is also required to mitigate their losses by attempting to rent the unit to someone else for November.

Like I said above, the landlord might not be able to unilaterally keep the deposit, but they can absolutely get a judgement against the tenant for any losses they incur for November.

When you get down to the bolts of it, if there's no paperwork at all, technically the landlord could just say "what money?"

The landlord can't double dip if there's already an existing tenant. He can't keep 2 damage deposits for the same property, nor can 2 agreements for the same property be in force at the same time.

[photon]

Yeah if the landlord is double dipping (and I've seen them do it) definitely report them.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

When you get down to the bolts of it, if there's no paperwork at all, technically the landlord could just say "what money?"

Unless the tenant paid by cheque or got a receipt. But yeah, when there's no paperwork it's harder to prove what was actually going on.

The landlord can't double dip if there's already an existing tenant. He can't keep 2 damage deposits for the same property, nor can 2 agreements for the same property be in force at the same time.

Well obviously. If the landlord doesn't incur any losses (i.e he rents to someone else for November) then he's not owed anything. And if he doesn't take reasonable efforts to mitigate his losses by attempting to rent it out, then he's also not going to be owed anything either. But if he does make a good faith attempt to find a suitable tenant and still loses rental income as a result of this, then the OP's friend is likely going to be liable for those losses.

[normtwofinger]

Update: Landlord 'has said' he will return the deposit. The rental continued to be advertised this whole time, so there is no issue of relisting it. My friend did pay the deposit by cheque, so they do have proof of paying it.