We recently had to rent our house at the urging of our Listing agent as we could not carry 2 mortgages any longer. We used her "services", did not have a leasing agreement with her (as idiots, we assumed we would be working under the listing agreement). The renters moved in August 1, paid first month to the Listing agent, the security and last month checks were made to us and have bounced and we cannot get payment. September rent was finally paid 16 days late after numerous calls, but he will no longer return our calls re: collection of these 2 checks. Tenants have been in since August 1.
Since this, we have found out that the listing agent did not call / check any of the references on the lease application.
My questions:
1)although we do not have a leasing agreement with the realtor, does the payment of the 1st month rent imply an agreement?
2) can we start the eviction process even though the rent has been paid for September?
Thank you.
Editor's response
Assuming you had a written agreement requiring the deposit and last month's rent, you can definitely start the eviction process, because the tenant is in violation of the terms.
I am not really sure of the facts re the agent. You say you did not have a written agreement with her, but did you have an oral agreement (that required her to check references)? If so, then clearly you can try to recover the fee paid to her. If not, you might still argue that there was an implied agreement, based on--for example--accepted practices in industry, that she would check references. Start with a demand letter requesting the refund and copied to the agent's supervising broker, if there is one. If that does not work, depending on the amount in question, you will probably want to go to small claims court. There, as in any court, your challenge (the burden will be on you) will be proving that there was an agreement and that she did not honor its terms.