Is this legal? (Apartment rent)

Question

I'm not sure if this is what my apartment complex that I just signed the lease for is going to do, but in my head this is what I see playing out from the letter they sent me....It says the rent is due the first day of my move in month, but the move in date is one the 21st, so what Im not sure about is whether they will expect me to pay again on august 1st of 2009, causing me to pay for 13 months of rent when Im only on lease for 12. It seems like it would be double dipping since they are collecting rent from 2 different tenants for one month of rent. Its a college apartment complex, so I ask because it would be easy for them to get away with scams like this since people come and go every year anyways. And they did call it rent, not a deposit, ruling out me getting that money back.

Answer 1

It should be pro rated... check into it.

Answer 2

If I'm not mistaken, it's actually a flat fee for the year -- they want a good bit at the beginning, you could look at it like a down payment, and then the monthly "rent" is calculated to divide the balance up into equal installments.

Answer 3

If that's what it says and you signed it, so be it.

Answer 4

Well, I recommend that you wait it out and see what happens. If your landlord tries to spring extra rent on you, then tell him "I'm not going to pay this rent, and if you try to make you I'll take you to court about it." That makes most people back down lol.