Threatened about being sued

[weirman]

I have a condominium that I am renting out. A prospective tenant came to look at it and loved it. He had a deposit of $1000 somewhere else that if he canceled he would lose. He told me he was going to cancel it and the money because he loved my apartment so much.

I gave him a rental application to fill out and get back to me and a lease to take home and look over, at that point, right in front of me he called to cancel the lease on the place he had the deposit on....

He got back to me the next day saying he didnt like the lease and he needed some things changed.

We went back and forth for a few days and in the meantime I got another qualified tenant to fill out an application, sign the lease and give a deposit - none of which this guy did...

I told him it had been rented and there is a signed lease...

last night he left me a voicemail at 11pm telling me I made him lose $1000 and he is going to sue me. His lawyer will contact me. My guess is he is bluffing but I'm not too sure.

Any ideas, thoughts, feedback on this matter?

[Debbie]

OH MY GODDESS!

Read my responses in blue....

I have a condominium that I am renting out. A prospective tenant came to look at it and loved it. He had a deposit of $1000 somewhere else that if he canceled he would lose. He told me he was going to cancel it and the money because he loved my apartment so much.

That happened two of our collegues within the last 8 months, right here in Springfield, Illinois

I gave him a rental application to fill out and get back to me and a lease to take home (NEVER, EVER give the unsigned lease to ANY potential tenants because you are giving away your power) and look over, at that point, right in front of me he called to cancel the lease on the place he had the deposit on....

Uh,uh--yeah, right. I'm sure he spoke with the ex-potential landlord over the phone or did he? Same thing "happened" to two of my collegues in the past 8 months.

He got back to me the next day saying he didnt like the lease and he needed some things changed.

No, he didn't "need" to change anything. Let me give you Aldo's rules:
1) Landlord is in charge
2) Tenant is not

That applies the same thing to Potental Landlord/Potential Tenant

We went back and forth for a few days and in the meantime I got another qualified tenant to fill out an application, sign the lease and give a deposit - none of which this guy did...

I told him it had been rented and there is a signed lease...

last night he left me a voicemail at 11pm telling me I made him lose $1000 and he is going to sue me. His lawyer will contact me. My guess is he is bluffing but I'm not too sure.

Yeah, sure. You MADE him lose the money. You MADE him pick up the phone as well as MADE him perform in front of you that he cancelled the deposit with another potential Landlord. Yep. You really MADE him do it and you're the smoking devil! :SM013:

Any ideas, thoughts, feedback on this matter?

While I understand that you're in a position to feel nervous, honestly, you're fine.

If I were in your shoes, I'd ignore him. I'd even ignore any phone call from an "attorney" (they don't call, they send letter).

He's bluffing big time and he's taking advantage of your nervousness. You are his "victim". Time to shed that victim skin off and ignore him. Do not speak with him. Do not respond to him. Do nothing with him.

Based on what you told us, you are fine. Nothing to worry about. Seriously!

BTW---Welcome to the Magic Bullets Fambly!

[weirman]

Thank you for easing my mind on this. I was extremely nervous that I would get sued. I'll keep you posted if anything arises from this.

[ZNICK]

The above advice is good. The bottom line, is unless you signed that lease, I wouldn't worry about it.

Z

[taekwondodo]

This sounds like a scam...

[Beck]

Weirman, Look at it this way. If no one is threatening to sue you, you're not doing enough! So, I'd say you are doing all right.

[weirman]

So, just an update.....
nothing has happened.

[Debbie]

So, just an update.....
nothing has happened.

Have a little faith in yourself. You've experienced it and you'll know that the next time someone threatens to sue you for some ridiculous excuse, you can simply ignore them.

You're doing fine.