Need Advice

[bustapooh]

What a wonderful website!

I am seeking advice in what might become a lawsuit with my landlord.

Through a friend, I managed to find a coop apartment to sublet for one year. The landlady promised we could move in before July 1 and we submitted a lease to the coop board for approval. We tried to move in on June 26th, found someone living in the apartment who told us he was living there through the summer.

We began to search and found a new apartment. The landlady promising to return our deposit and first month because of the inconvenience. The check she gave me however bounced and now she has decided not to repay us our first month and deposit.

Our lease was never approved by the coop board as we withdrew our application.

I'm seeking advice - do i have a case to retrieve the deposit and first month from this woman? It seems we had some case not to take the apartment as we were denied entrance into the apartment on the move in date. Plus we never got our lease approved by the board.

Can anyone offer thoughts on our situation?

Thanks

[Brooklyn Babe]

Absolutely! Sue her in small claims (if under $3K) for breach of contract and failure to provide service/ goods. Sounds like a slam dunk case.

[rentguy]

You might also try contacting the co-op board in her building and informing them of what has happened. They might not have any authority to do anything, but one call from the co-op board to the person holding your money might get it returned without you having to go to court.

[Cranky Tenant]

Ditto. You should also confirm whether or not this person was authorized to lease the apartment.