Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Massachusetts
Verbal lease agreement broken
At the end of April we had a verbal agreement to rent a home in Massachusetts for a year. We agreed to start renting June 15 2007. I was faxed an application for the realtor May 1 and then a copy of the lease about May 10th. The landlord did have this house for sale prior to our rental agreement. We mailed in the deposits and first months rent to the realtor, as well as our signed lease copy. Now 10 days before we are supposed to move in... this landlord has his realtor call ours and tell us that he has sold the house and will not honor the lease. He never signed his copy of the lease or cash our checks. We had gotten out of our current lease a month early to move into the new home in June. Our current landlord has now sold this home and is closing on July 2nd. Everything for this move has been done: registering children for school, moving company reserved and coming in 10 days, getting out of our lease early...etc...everything that goes with a move. My oldest daughter is scheduled to attend school on June 18th in this new town. Is this guy able to do that to someone he's had a verbal agreement with...we have both done this through our own realtors? We declined other rentals in the area. We are homeless now as of June 30th.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Verbal lease agreement broken
This is a potentially complicated and very fact specific question.
It is doubtful that you would be able to move into the apartment building that you had planned to move into. And most likely, you wouldn't want him or her as a landlord now anyway.
However, you may be entitled to money which would compensate you for your reliance on your landlord's promise (penalties you paid your current landlord to break the lease, the cost of a motel because you had no place to live, registration fees for your child's school, etc.) You may even be entitled to attorneys fees and triple damages under the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Laws.
Like I said, you may have a valid case against your landlord, but it is not a simple one.
Please feel free to contact me if you would like to pursue the matter further or if you would like a consultation.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
