Legal question- people rented my place, paid in advance, spent the night, then stopped payment on check..?

Whitley Leopold: Yes they are liable. Even if it was just a verbal agreement for renting out your place, once they signed a check and handed it over they were done! A check is a written contract to pay the specific amount to the person on the check! This means you can go to court and sue them for the check amount, plus any bank fees, plus any rent you may be out from them canceling your lease without notice. What this means is that if Bob and Sue promised to rent for a year, but left after a night without notice and no real reason for it, the landlord may be entitled to the entire years worth of rent as long as the landlord can prove that he/she took the time and energy to find a new tenant and couldn't find one. If the landlord could get someone in the apartment within, say, two months, then Bob and Sue are still liable for the rent owed until then. Bob and Sue rent Jan 1st, leave Jan 1st. New renters start in March, Bob and Sue still liable for Feb. etc. You can also go! after Bob and Sue for any costs associated with advertising to get new tenants to replace them, like a newspaper ad, because you wouldn't have had that cost had they not broken their lease contract with you. As for being "inconvenienced", no. You are only entitled to being made "whole" as if they had kept their promise of the lease agreement plus any associated costs due to their breaking of the lease (bank fees, ads, new tenant costs, etc.)Good luck!...Show more