Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Louisiana

I gave a landlord $100 in earnest money to secure a rental house. The $100 would have converted into part of my security deposit after I signed the lease. After going home, I researched the neighborhood and found it was very crime-ridden. I contacted the landlord and explained that I no longer felt safe renting in that neighborhood, and asked for him not to cash my earnest money check. I did not sign anything and received no receipt; the sample lease he provided me did not say anything about earnest money. He himself had brought the idea of earnest money up on the spot, hinting that there were many interested persons in the property. He is refusing to return the earnest money now. This all happened within a 24-hour span. Can/should I stop payment on the earnest money?


Asked on 4/17/12, 10:27 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Adam Lambert The Law Office of Adam S. Lambert

You backed out of the contract, so he keeps the earnest money. That's what earnest money is. If you want to back out, you can do it without penalty or even cause, but you lose the earnest money.

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Answered on 5/13/12, 10:27 am


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