Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Virginia

I live in the state of VA and needed a place to live by Oct 1, 2011. My apartment lease ended Sep 30, 2011. I was looking for a shared place to cut down on my commute as well as my monthly expenses. I found a shared place in Alexandria, VA around the end of August. The house/share was advertised as a luxury bedroom with shared bath. Deposit amount was $400 which I paid. Rent was $950 per month. I met with the owner of the home on Sep 15th and presented him with a check in the amount of $950 which was to be held for my move-in date of October 1, 2011. The check was actually cashed on 9/23/11. A lease agreement document was sent via email that I read and did not agree to and had planned to discuss on Oct 1, 2011. On Saturday, Oct 1, 2011, I decided that I would just not be comfortable staying with the owner who is male along with another male tenant. I am female. So I notified the owner that I had changed my mind on October 1, 2011.

Question � Am I entitled to receive the $950 rent amount? I understand that he is entitled to the deposit as he did take the rental off of the market, but I did not sign a lease and did not move in at all. The owner is stating that he will only send a pro-rated amount if he is able to lease the room to someone else for the month of October and if not he keeps both the $400 deposit and the $950 Oct rent.

Please advise.


Asked on 10/04/11, 2:08 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

More facts are necessary to respond such as whether the referenced written lease agreement was in fact preceded by an oral agreement that made your lease obligations contingent on your receipt and approval of the written lease

and your first month's rent refundable if there was no such approval.

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Answered on 10/04/11, 8:25 pm


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