Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Virginia
real state lease
I had talked to a realtor about leasing a condo from her. My situation was that I was in a BK process and my home was going for foreclosure. I just was not sure when the foreclosure date was going to take place. I had given her 1 months security deposit and 1st month rent for her to deposit it to the realty account. She drafted a lease contract for a condo, to which I never signed and I told her that I had to wait untill I knew my foreclosure date. Well she assumed and in a way was pushing me to rent one of the two condos she was managing. Well I called today to try to get my money back since we never agreed or signed a lease agreement, but no whe tells me that she gave my money to the owner of one of the properties she was forcing me to rent. I asked why she did that, and she simply said that it was because I had taken the condo out of the market, but on the other hand I never signed anything. Can she take the money? She also mention that it has been slow for the past two month and there was no income coming into her household. So now I am wondering where my money really went. Do I have a case to get my money back? I feel she was using the fact that I was filing BK iin order for me to have no options.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: real state lease
There are other facts to be clarified in this situation such as whether or not this aborted rental was covered under the Virginia Residential Landlord Tenant Act and whether in fact you had orally agreed to actually rent the unit(even if you did not sign the lease) as evidenced by your tendering to the realtor the first month's rent as well as the security deposit. These facts would seem to support the idea that there probably was at least an oral agreement that you would rent the unit
but, of course, there could be other facts which you haven't mentioned in your question which would tend to discount such an agreement.
You may therefore wish to discuss the matter with an attorney to make a more definitive determination and to assist you in deciding whether you may wish to file a case in a Virginia Small Claims Court to recover at least part of your loss.
Re: real state lease
More facts are needed to give you a complete answer. The fact that the real estate agent "gave" the security deposit and first month's rent to the landlord ,with no notice to you, is perplexing. This may be corrected by a phone call and perhaps your BK attorney (if you had one) can help. If not, you may want to consult with an attorney.
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