No, this isn't my Halloween costume.
But it is an apt representation of how I felt a couple of hours ago when a listing agent for a rental property for which my clients had signed a lease called to say her owner was now unhappy with the negotiated terms of the lease and was refusing to sign.
Sigh. No, scratch "sigh" and make that "slow burn."
They were to have moved in this coming Monday, with their 2 school age children and 6 month old infant. To make matters worse, they are staying with family several states away, waiting for the lease to be signed.
This military family has been living overseas for the past three years and arrived in town recently to secure a rental. They would have liked a short term rental, as they plan to buy once they had have time to get to know the area a bit, but since nothing meeting their needs was available, they opted for a one year lease.
The listing agent asked if the tenants would stay in the property until the owner was ready to put it on the market for sale in 16 months. At my client's instruction, I told her no, my clients were not interested in anything but the 12 month lease.
That would be the 12 month lease listed as the term in the MLS listing.
The 12 month lease clearly spelled out on the application we submitted several days ago.
The 12 month lease that should be no surprise to anyone.
Tonight, she calls and says her owner is "mad" because if my clients move out a year from now, that leaves him with an empty house; he doesn't want to put it on the market until the following spring so he wants my clients to fill his void.
Since the lease was supposed to have been in force yesterday, but as of tonight, the landlord is refusing to sign, my clients are moving on to another property. They decided they didn't want an unstable landlord for the next 12 months.
(I hope I don't bring down any bad karma hoping the house stays vacant for a few more months).
Comments(42)