Before signing a year lease on a single family home, we had no communication with the landlord of the property (his choice). We had, what we thought to be a trusted, third party doing all of the paperwork for us. We had conveyed certain issues to the third party that we wanted the landlord to approve or at least, be aware of. When we would email/phone the third party concerning approval/disapproval of the landlord, the reply was always a generic, "everything is working out fine." We had no reason to doubt that. Now that we've been here for 4 months, the landlord has told us that he was unaware of one of the issues that we had communicated was an important one that he needed to know...one that if he disapproved, the lease would have never been signed. Any recourse? Any input is greatly appreciated!:dunno:
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deception?
- Thread Starter cjindel
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Gail_in_Georgia
Moderator
Ever get these requests in written form? Were these things added to the lease so you have documentation that all parties agreed to these changes?
Gail
Gail
We have the communication between us and the third party (a realty company) in email. I have them printed out.
The problem is that we have an issue with one of the carpets. The landlord used to live in this house and had 4 dogs. There is a smell of old dog pee in the dining room and living room carpets. We've brought this to the landlord's attention, both in writing and verbally. When we approached him about it the last time (in august), his reply was that he didn't know that we had 3 dogs. (the dog pee smell was documented our very first day down here.) We take extremely good care of our dogs...medicated as they should be for fleas/heartworms, clean, housebroken. Our pets were an issue that we had communicated to the third party as a very important issue...we had no desire to look at a house not willing to accept pets. We communicated several times to them about it (I have the dated email copies). So, either they never communicated to the landlord or he is lying. This is all coming to a head because we want something done with the carpet so that we can utilize the entire space for which we agreed to rent and for which we are paying monthly. The landlord says that he may consider doing something about it, but that he may want pet deposit from us. Our reply is that he cannot do that, since the original lease was not written to include a pet deposit. The lease was signed, as is, with the understanding that he had approved of our pets. Is this between the landlord and the third party or between all of us? Thank you!
The problem is that we have an issue with one of the carpets. The landlord used to live in this house and had 4 dogs. There is a smell of old dog pee in the dining room and living room carpets. We've brought this to the landlord's attention, both in writing and verbally. When we approached him about it the last time (in august), his reply was that he didn't know that we had 3 dogs. (the dog pee smell was documented our very first day down here.) We take extremely good care of our dogs...medicated as they should be for fleas/heartworms, clean, housebroken. Our pets were an issue that we had communicated to the third party as a very important issue...we had no desire to look at a house not willing to accept pets. We communicated several times to them about it (I have the dated email copies). So, either they never communicated to the landlord or he is lying. This is all coming to a head because we want something done with the carpet so that we can utilize the entire space for which we agreed to rent and for which we are paying monthly. The landlord says that he may consider doing something about it, but that he may want pet deposit from us. Our reply is that he cannot do that, since the original lease was not written to include a pet deposit. The lease was signed, as is, with the understanding that he had approved of our pets. Is this between the landlord and the third party or between all of us? Thank you!
Gail_in_Georgia
Moderator
I believe your concerns were addressed previously by jacksgal.
Gail
Gail
jharris352
New Member
It's really important that you identify this "third party." If this third party was your uncle Joe, then you are out of luck because he can't legally represent you in a lease negotiation anyway. There may be some exception where he can help family with a lease negotiation but the point is he is not licensed. If the third party is a licensed real estate agent then they can be held liable for problems they created by their malpractice.
You may need this because while your lease doesn't say anything about a pet deposit, your landlord can counter that it doesn't allow you to have pets either. Your assertion that it was an "understanding" is not valid because I'm sure the lease has a "Entirety of the Agreement" clause that states that the written lease is the entirety of the agreement and that no oral agreements shall be binding. So you are probably going to have to pay the pet deposit or break the lease.
He should fix the problem with the carpet either by cleaning the carpets or replacing them. If he fails to, you can clean the carpets, pay for it and deduct it from your rent next month as long as you give him the receipt.
If you had a Realtor negotiate the lease for you, he/she may be liable for your damages if you have to move or pay a pet deposit. Does that help?
You may need this because while your lease doesn't say anything about a pet deposit, your landlord can counter that it doesn't allow you to have pets either. Your assertion that it was an "understanding" is not valid because I'm sure the lease has a "Entirety of the Agreement" clause that states that the written lease is the entirety of the agreement and that no oral agreements shall be binding. So you are probably going to have to pay the pet deposit or break the lease.
He should fix the problem with the carpet either by cleaning the carpets or replacing them. If he fails to, you can clean the carpets, pay for it and deduct it from your rent next month as long as you give him the receipt.
If you had a Realtor negotiate the lease for you, he/she may be liable for your damages if you have to move or pay a pet deposit. Does that help?
The third party is a licensed real estate agent. We entrusted her with the information because, according to her, she was 'taking care of this' for our landlord. The landlord had no desire to contact us prior to moving in. If the real estate agent did not convey to the landlord everything that we conveyed to her, yet we were never told that anything that we conveyed to her was a problem with the landlord, is that a problem between us and the landlord or the real estate agent and landlord?
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