Rent deposit refund?

Suff

Hi,

I have just signed a rent agreement for a period of 12 months. Paying the usual; a deposit (1 months rent) and a month's in advance. However, after staying in the property for 5 days, I am not comfortable in it. I understand that I have to give the landlord a 4 weeks notice of the termination of the rental agreement. Anyway my question and I would really appreciate some advice on this:

Can I request the deposits or a % of it back since I only rented the apartment for 1 month?

Thanks

testicle

Suff wrote: »

Hi,

I have just signed a rent agreement for a period of 12 months. Paying the usual; a deposit (1 months rent) and a month's in advance. However, after staying in the property for 5 days, I am not comfortable in it. I understand that I have to give the landlord a 4 weeks notice of the termination of the rental agreement. Anyway my question and I would really appreciate some advice on this:

Can I request the deposits or a % of it back since I only rented the apartment for 1 month?

Thanks

No, you signed a legal document. You will lose your deposit, and be liable for the remaining months of your tenancy. You could try reassigning it, but that's about it.

Suff

Ok, so I've lost the deposit but I am not liable for the remainder of the contract, that would be ridiculous; to pay the remaining 11 months.

What do you mean by reassigning it?

Yawns

Legally you are liable for the contractual payments unless you have a break lease clause in your lease. However it can prove difficult for the landlords to chase you up for it and most don't bother.

However to avoid all of this simply do the right thing. Be honest. Ring the landlord or meet them and explain the situation. You will have to lose the deposit but they should be happy enough in that the place should still be clean and able to move tenants in if priced right.

zulfikarMD

Suff wrote: »

Hi,

I have just signed a rent agreement for a period of 12 months. Paying the usual; a deposit (1 months rent) and a month's in advance. However, after staying in the property for 5 days, I am not comfortable in it. I understand that I have to give the landlord a 4 weeks notice of the termination of the rental agreement. Anyway my question and I would really appreciate some advice on this:

Can I request the deposits or a % of it back since I only rented the apartment for 1 month?

Thanks

why would you want to leave the house in 5 days after signing a lease with LandLord/Estate Agent? Are you sharing or with family? have you discussed whatever issues you have with your landlord/Estate Agent?

Suff

Yawns wrote: »

However to avoid all of this simply do the right thing. Be honest. Ring the landlord or meet them and explain the situation. You will have to lose the deposit but they should be happy enough in that the place should still be clean and able to move tenants in if priced right.

Sure, I will meet up and explain the situation to the landlord. The place is perfect now, after I've spent 5 hours cleaning it!

I don't think he'll have any problem finding tenants for it, since its still up on Daft, oddly enough.

Suff

zulfikarMD wrote: »

why would you want to leave the house in 5 days after signing a lease with LandLord/Estate Agent? Are you sharing or with family? have you discussed whatever issues you have with your landlord/Estate Agent?

No I'm not sharing, to be honest I've just relocated from Dublin up to the north of the country for a job. I did research the market for good properties, and had viewed few apartments earlier last month but none were as good as the one I had my eye on, but it wasn't available back then.

I started my job this Monday so I couldn't relocate without having secured a place to stay. Anyway, after living in the apartment for 5 days, I found it cold, difficult to heat and way too big for myself. To add to it, I got a call from the landlord of the property that I had my eye on previously stating that it's available now. Of course I was annoyed, if only he'd notified me on Friday I wouldn't been in this situation.

djimi

If you are only there 5 days then you might get lucky with the landlord; if he had other tenants lined up for the place then he should be able to fill it again within the week meaning he wont lose out on rent. If he is a kind soul he might even let you keep your deposit as he will effectively be getting two full months rent for the place this month assuming he can fill it quickly (whatever about eh deposit you certainly wont be getting the months rent back). Best thing to do is to talk to the landlord and take it from there.

fasttalkerchat

Suff wrote: »

Ok, so I've lost the deposit but I am not liable for the remainder of the contract, that would be ridiculous; to pay the remaining 11 months.

What do you mean by reassigning it?

Technically and legally you are although I don't think this has been followed up on.
Out of common decency you should tell the LL that you are leaving and if he/is sympathetic they may give you the deposit when they find someone to rent to.