Hi everyone --
I have a question. I was intending on renting my house out and one of my mother's work colleagues inquired if her daughter and son-in-law could rent it from me. After thinking about it I thought it might work and so I told them I'd like to cover my mortgage at least and the work colleague said there was no way they could afford that much and went on and on about how it would be better because I knew them etc. Unfortunately I am not the best at looking out for myself and thought 'Well, I do know them and they won't hurt the house so maybe it's better to have 90% of my mortgage paid than have it all and have my house damaged."
So, I said (and emailed) that I had decided to rent it for the price the price they could afford but I didn't know when due to some rennovations. From the start I had a bad feeling about it but instead of listening to myself I let myself be talked into it. They came to the house to see it and loved it (it's a cute place and big for their kids). We never signed anything at that point or even discussed security deposits etc. because I was doing some rennovation and wasn't sure exactly when it would be done and ready to rent (I was hoping to get it done within the month at that time). O MOVE IN DATE was ever determined. I had alluded to sometime in the early summer but I did not ever promise anything.
Truly, the only thing we ever talked about was what the price would be when I rented it.
They wrote me this week and told me they wanted to give notice and move in on the first of next month. I wrote them back and told them the rennovations are taking longer than expected and it would be longer. I also found out during this time that I have to notify my HOA and go through them and I don't even want to get started on doing that until the rennovations are done, etc.
I also found out during this time that they had been stopping by the house a lot and going in and talking to my workers. This made me very uneasy for many reasons and honestly, it pissed me off. I feel they should ask to come over as they haven't even signed a contract or talked about anything further than what I would charge when I rented it. Also, I have an owner occupied loan and I was told today that I may have to refinance the house into a different loan if it becomes known it is being rented. I can't afford to refinance it into a higher rate -- especially considering I will only be getting a portion of the mortgage if I'm forced to go through with this.
They wrote again and are pushing for a date that they can give notice. I don't have a date to give them because I honestly don't know. At this point I'm just sorry I ever thought about renting the house. I would rather sell it than go through this mess and feel like I'm going to be forced to rent to people it turns out I don't even like because they're getting snippy and pushy with me when nothing was promised other than a price. They are acting like it's theirs before they're even in it or have signed a thing and it's made me very stressed to say the least.
I know I went about this completely wrong but I just have a bad feeling it's going to go even more wrong if I don't get out of it. Because this was someone my mom knew, I didn't get an application or credit check (their parents said they would help them pay the rent). At this point we have absolutely nothing in writing and I know they haven't given notice yet.
Do I still have any rights? Can I change my mind about renting it to them? Is there any way I can get out of this? If I can't get out of it can I force them to fill out an application and check their credit and have their parents co-sign the lease?
Any suggestions or advice on what to do would be greatly appreciated. No need to tell me how stupid I've been. Believe me...I KNOW. I just thought because nothing was ever determined completely, that there may be a way to disentangle myself. I can't give them a firm date because of some of the work and other factors so how long am I legally able to put off giving a move in date if none was ever promised???? Can I put if off forvever?
Thank you for your help.
I have a question. I was intending on renting my house out and one of my mother's work colleagues inquired if her daughter and son-in-law could rent it from me. After thinking about it I thought it might work and so I told them I'd like to cover my mortgage at least and the work colleague said there was no way they could afford that much and went on and on about how it would be better because I knew them etc. Unfortunately I am not the best at looking out for myself and thought 'Well, I do know them and they won't hurt the house so maybe it's better to have 90% of my mortgage paid than have it all and have my house damaged."
So, I said (and emailed) that I had decided to rent it for the price the price they could afford but I didn't know when due to some rennovations. From the start I had a bad feeling about it but instead of listening to myself I let myself be talked into it. They came to the house to see it and loved it (it's a cute place and big for their kids). We never signed anything at that point or even discussed security deposits etc. because I was doing some rennovation and wasn't sure exactly when it would be done and ready to rent (I was hoping to get it done within the month at that time). O MOVE IN DATE was ever determined. I had alluded to sometime in the early summer but I did not ever promise anything.
Truly, the only thing we ever talked about was what the price would be when I rented it.
They wrote me this week and told me they wanted to give notice and move in on the first of next month. I wrote them back and told them the rennovations are taking longer than expected and it would be longer. I also found out during this time that I have to notify my HOA and go through them and I don't even want to get started on doing that until the rennovations are done, etc.
I also found out during this time that they had been stopping by the house a lot and going in and talking to my workers. This made me very uneasy for many reasons and honestly, it pissed me off. I feel they should ask to come over as they haven't even signed a contract or talked about anything further than what I would charge when I rented it. Also, I have an owner occupied loan and I was told today that I may have to refinance the house into a different loan if it becomes known it is being rented. I can't afford to refinance it into a higher rate -- especially considering I will only be getting a portion of the mortgage if I'm forced to go through with this.
They wrote again and are pushing for a date that they can give notice. I don't have a date to give them because I honestly don't know. At this point I'm just sorry I ever thought about renting the house. I would rather sell it than go through this mess and feel like I'm going to be forced to rent to people it turns out I don't even like because they're getting snippy and pushy with me when nothing was promised other than a price. They are acting like it's theirs before they're even in it or have signed a thing and it's made me very stressed to say the least.
I know I went about this completely wrong but I just have a bad feeling it's going to go even more wrong if I don't get out of it. Because this was someone my mom knew, I didn't get an application or credit check (their parents said they would help them pay the rent). At this point we have absolutely nothing in writing and I know they haven't given notice yet.
Do I still have any rights? Can I change my mind about renting it to them? Is there any way I can get out of this? If I can't get out of it can I force them to fill out an application and check their credit and have their parents co-sign the lease?
Any suggestions or advice on what to do would be greatly appreciated. No need to tell me how stupid I've been. Believe me...I KNOW. I just thought because nothing was ever determined completely, that there may be a way to disentangle myself. I can't give them a firm date because of some of the work and other factors so how long am I legally able to put off giving a move in date if none was ever promised???? Can I put if off forvever?
Thank you for your help.
