no $ exchanged for lease

[puglover]

i offered a lease to a girl who signed lease but never gave me money. we decided to move into home instead of leasing it. we never received money from the renter so we told her home was unavailable. we never provided her copy of lease as no money had been exchanged, she is now threatening to sue us, but she has no copy of a lease, we shredded it, and she never gave us any downpayment. should we be worried? can she sue us for breach of contract if she 1) never had a copy of lease and 2) never gave us a security deposit or rent? I hate being threatened. She really has nothing from us in writing...please help.

 

[presutin]

As you stated, she signed a lease contract but, since you never cancelled the lease, it is still enforceable because there is a verbal contract in place. You see, just shredding it, does not make the lease go away. You need to communicate, in writing, that the lease has been terminated. That is the basis for any landlord/tenant law in any state. Since she didn't pay you any security deposit, she needs to prove to the courts what damages she incurred because of your decision to not rent her the property. If she can prove that she is homeless or lost her job because of that, she can sue you; but she cannot just threaten you without a cause.