If I haven’t signed an apartment lease yet, am I still obligated to rent?
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If I haven’t signed an apartment lease yet, am I still obligated to rent?
I’ve paid application and administrative fees as well as first month’s rent for an apartment 5 days before my scheduled move in date. However, I have not yet signed a lease so am I still obligated to rent the apartment? If not, will I get my rent money back? By the way, all payments for this complex are paid on-line including the deposit. When I logged in to pay the deposit, the “amount due” was for the administrative and application fees hence the reason for paying those fees instead of the deposit.
Asked on February 5, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Arizona
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If you have only signed an application and paid the administrative fees for the application, but not the actual lease itself, you are not in a lease and are not bound to go forward with it. If you want to back out of the lease, you should be able to do so without any recourse.
If you back out of your intent to lease the unit at this point without having signed an actual lease, under the laws of your state you should be able to get the return of your entire deposit.
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