Just went through a very interesting experience. Sarah and I are looking for a larger home to rent and began the process to lease a local house that we felt was a good fit. The representative we were working with seemed great and the home was owned by a corporation (not an individual). After paying $35 cash for a application fee we were approved for the house within 24 hours. However, the representative said they will require a security deposit of double our monthly rent, plus the first months rent. For a home in southern California... do the math. But nonetheless we loved the house and thought it might be okay to move forward. I asked him to explain why they felt this was required and we discussed the details thoroughly. We verbally began to discuss some details that would be part of our agreement to lease. When I requested that we put a few things in writing that he had verbally expressed--especially concerning the security deposit. Well, his response was We dont modify contracts for every single tenant. Hmmmm OK. I told him Id need to talk to my wife and make sure we both felt comfortable moving forward. When I was off the phone, I sent an email to him asking for a sample contract that we could look over. Within 20 minutes he called me to say... We feel too much time has been wasted on your application process. We have decided that we are going to sell the home. Yikes... So glad it didnt work out! Take a look at this statement from the State of California Department of Consumer affairs Dont feel rushed into signing. Make sure that you understand everything that youre agreeing to by signing the rental agreement or lease. If you dont understand something, ask the landlord to explain it to you ..... Dont sign a rental agreement or a lease if you think that its terms are unfair. If a term doesnt fit your needs, try to negotiate a more suitable term (for example, a smaller security deposit or a lower late fee). Its important that any agreed-upon change in terms be included in the rental agreement or lease that both you and the landlord sign. If you and the landlord agree to change a term, the change can be made in handwriting in the rental agreement or lease. Both of you should then initial or sign in the area immediately next to the change to show your approval of the change. Or, the document can be retyped with the new term included in it. Check out the full article here: dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/when-rent.shtml
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 00:18:48 +0000
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