We asked him to let us put the deposit down, he told us it wasn't necessary we could do it when the time gets closer. We called him a couple more time in March to reassure him we wanted the property and we would be ready to take it by the 1st.
On the 28th of March we meet with him at the unit, we were expecting to give the deposit and 1st month’s rent. We were surprised when he told us he didn’t know we wanted the property and he said he needed to talk to the landlord first.
So we waited a couple more days and I got a call from him, he had some questions about the shop I wanted to open. And he asked me to explain to the landlord exactly what my needs are. I answered the landlords questions then he told me he would call me back.
A little later he called and said there was another woman who wanted that site, he wanted me to look at some more units. Regretfully, I agreed to take a look but my wife and I were bamboozled over what was happening. We tried to be bigger so we told him we understood and we would try to make one of the other units work.
This morning my wife got a call from him where he offered the unit we originally wanted if we would pay $200.00 more per month.
We are in the small town of Longview Texas and commercial units are hard to find, not to mention that I already filed my doing-business-as name and state taxes and I registered them with the address I was expecting to get.
I am very upset about this whole thing but I have to think about my future, should I continue playing ball with these guys or run like hell?
Suggestion:
I would call him back, and explain it like this. He told you it was available, asked you to take it on the first of April saying that the place could not be held until the 15th. Ok, so you wait. You tried to pay the deposit to secure your rental of the unit which he declined. And told you "wait until it gets closer to that date". Then he meets you at the property, on the 1st to tell you that it is not available. So then he says another woman wants it, and then offers it to you yet again…for $200 more per month? I would tell him you would take it for $100 less than what they were originally asking to begin with personally. This guy is most likely going to keep playing games with you. You should ask for sure why the other woman backed out that wanted it, assuming there even was one at all. Sounds like they are trying to play the game of get us much as you possibly can out of it. While you are explaining it to him, letting him know the run around he has put you through with this place, also point out how very unprofessional, and how his work has been anything but ethical during all of this. Because it sounds like he has been anything but professional about it. Even try contacting the agency he works for and speaking with one of his superiors. While there may not be a contract, nobody should play games with you like this, disappoint you the way he has, then ask for more money, etc.
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There is no contract until it is signed, delivered, and there is consideration (something of value changes hands, like the deposit). Did you tell him that you already filed other papers with that address? You should have used a PO Box for that when you did not even have a firm commitment.