Rental deposit question

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NickyJ

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Hi peeps, advice on the below scenario please?

Sannie rents a house from Karen, pays pro-rata rent and full deposit from 22 March. Sannie requests a contract from Karen to sign, Karen does not provide this. So no signed contract. Then due to unfortunate circumstances Sannie can't afford the rent anymore and gives Karen notice on 10 May. Karen then says Sannie will lose her deposit if a new tenant cannot be found for end of May. So Sannie advertises the house, and one of the interested parties advices her that according to the owner the house has been rented out already. So Sannie enquires from Karen because now she can get her deposit back. Karen says the people may only move in 1 July, which means Sannie still loses her deposit. So there are people who want to take the place for end of May, but Karen chooses to take people for end of June. What is Sannie to do?
 
Karen is in the wrong because she gave Sannie the job of finding a replacement tenant and then didn't give Sannie a chance to do the job given. So first, explain this nicely to Karen, but then Karen will become difficult, at which point you have to deflate all her tires and call it a day.
 
3WA said:
Karen is in the wrong because she gave Sannie the job of finding a replacement tenant and then didn't give Sannie a chance to do the job given. So first, explain this nicely to Karen, but then Karen will become difficult, at which point you have to deflate all her tires and call it a day.
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Sannie would love to. However R9k vs deflated tires doesn't seem fair.
 
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Should not have moved without a contract. A contract protects both parties.
Is the agreement you mention in writing?

Are you "asking for a friend?"
 
NickyJ said:
Sannie would love to. However R9k vs deflated tires doesn't seem fair.
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For R9k, I would say Small Claims Court, with solid proof that Sannie had a tenant to replace them without any vacancy or loss of income to Karen
 
NickyJ said:
Sannie would love to. However R9k vs deflated tires doesn't seem fair.
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Keep everything in writing, if you think you have a case you simply take it to small claims court. Make your intentions to do this clear to Karen, only after you have enough evidence in writing (whatsapp/email etc).
 
Keegan89 said:
Should not have moved without a contract. A contract protects both parties.
Is the agreement you mention in writing?

Are you "asking for a friend?"
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Sannie should not have, you're right. But Sannie also has a naïve tendency to trust people too much. Karen seemed really nice and Sannie was desperate as she had time contraints on the previous property she had to vacate due to the owner selling.

Yep, "asking for a friend." :)
 
Sannie's biggest mistake was not signing a contract first before any money leaves her bank account. Spank Sannie!

But, Sannie has rights, and so does Sannie's slithery slimy landlord. Sannie has to give 20 business day notice. Sannie must also get her deposit back with interest.

Do everything in writing and nothing verbally, including notice of cancellation.

Also, Sannie must not hesitate to contact the Rental Housing Tribunal for her area.
 
Also Sannie's landlord is dof. It would be better for stupid slithery slimy Karen Poephol to have a tenant lined up and moving in early. So when Sannie moves out after her 20 business day notice, she does not have to advertise only then.

What an idiot Karen is. She is a typical drol like the agents.
 
3WA said:
For R9k, I would say Small Claims Court, with solid proof that Sannie had a tenant to replace them without any vacancy or loss of income to Karen
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Won't work. Who says the tenant that Sannie got was suitable?
 
RedViking said:
Sannie's biggest mistake was not signing a contract first before any money leaves her bank account. Spank Sannie!

But, Sannie has rights, and so does Sannie's slithery slimy landlord. Sannie has to give 20 business day notice. Sannie must also get her deposit back with interest.

Do everything in writing and nothing verbally, including notice of cancellation.

Also, Sannie must not hesitate to contact the Rental Housing Tribunal for her area.
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I've had numerous fights with Sannie about her not thinking things through and trusting people too much. Sannie just does not listen.
So Sannie gave notice on the 10th. That's 20 days then, correct?
 
2 mistakes made here. 1) Paying monies over without a signed contract. 2) Somebody "seemed nice". Never trust anyone based on them being "nice". Nice people turn into the lowest dogshyte very often, and are "nice" because they need something from you.
 
Stonemason said:
Won't work. Who says the tenant that Sannie got was suitable?
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That's for them to argue out at the small claims court. But yes, obviously if the prospective tenant is a meth addict with two pet cats, Sannie's case is weakened.
 
The Darkness said:
2 mistakes made here. 1) Paying monies over without a signed contract. 2) Somebody "seemed nice". Never trust anyone based on them being "nice". Nice people turn into the lowest dogshyte very often, and are "nice" because they need something from you.
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Sannie acknowledges her mistake. She has a signed contract for her new place.
 
NickyJ said:
Explain?
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Contract or not, Sannie understands that a lease is 12 months and if they decide to cancel it early then they maybe charged a fair amount by the landlord or the landlord can withhold the entire deposit. What Sannie needs to do is find someone to takeover or transfer the lease to.
 
A lack of a written contract hurts the landlord way more than it hurts the tenant (Sannie). There is no basis on which the landlord can withhold the deposit because where is it written what the terms of the lease are.

There's obviously no signed inventory check either which means the landlord can't claim for any damages because there is zero proof of what the state of the property was in when the tenant moved in.

All in all Sannie is in a much stronger position than Karen. And frankly any landlord who rents out their property without doing the proper checks and contracts deserves the pain coming to them.
 
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