I had a lease agreement written for a great couple that I've been working with for a couple of months now.  There were a few credit issues, but nothing recently and most of it was medical due to the fact that they had a very sick child.  The security deposit on the house was 2 months rent plus a pet deposit which brought the total to move in to $7,100!  The security was $4,400 plus $500 for the dog, and then of course the $2,200 for the first months rent.  My clients income was more than enough to cover the monthly rent and their intention was to purchase the home in a years time.

After all of the paperwork was signed they were all set to move in on May 1st... until the agent e-mailed me a list of addendum's that had never been discussed.  Everything was pretty standard except for the line that stated that the owner would be allowed to store personal boxes and belongings in the basement for an undetermined amount of time.  The addendum did not list the items or disclose the date at which they would be removed.

My clients felt that for the amount of money that they had invested in this rental that their new home should not be used as a storage unit, and I agreed.  Initially we had discussed that because they had wanted to take possession earlier than the homeowner was willing to move out, that if it could be arranged that she could come back and get the things that she couldn't move before they moved in... and by come back, we meant within a week or two.

When I asked the agent to remove that line from the addendum's, she said that her owner didn't want to pay to rent a storage unit and that she wanted to leave a corner of the basement filled with boxes until August 1st.  My clients said no way, and the homeowner refused to take the items from the home.  She said that she was already losing money on the house by having to rent it for $2,200 per month.  Um... too bad, not our problem.

I have no idea why this woman chose to rent out her house well before she was ready or wiling to move out, and why she refused to take her things with her?! 

Just when I thought I'd found a solution to slow real estate sales, I discovered one of the many bumps in the road for renters. My clients chose to take their security deposit back and find another property.

We are back to the drawing board...  but I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and I just know that we'll find the place they were meant to call home tomorrow!  Wish us luck.