Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Massachusetts
Rent Deposit
My daughter and her roommates were moving and put a deposit down on an apartment around Boston. Within a couple of days they decided that they were not going to be able to rent that apartment. The landlord refused to return the deposit to the girls. Is that legal?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Rent Deposit
It depends on whether there was anything in writing. If there was a written application for the apartment, it may have said that the deposit was non-refundable. There is nothing particularly wrong about such things, as deposits are intended to compensate the landlord for the income that would be lost as a result of your daughters not taking the apartment and him having to find another tenant. You could try suing in small claims court, but if the landlord contested it, I would say that it is only 50-50 that you would win. Best wishes.
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