Serious Question about townhouse rental!!!?

Question

here in Los Angeles. very nicely furnished, 2 bed, 3 bath, plus garage townhouse for $1100 / month (~100 for util).

question: Are these actions normal from my potential landlord?

(A) He wants me to move in 2 weeks. I can only move in until 4. he says lets compromise and make it 3. but that'd mean i'd be paying a week's salary for *both* my current place and their place! I told him this, but he said it's b/c of their mortgage and doesn't want to lose out on the "rental time." (e.g. a week goes by without cash coming in).

(B) Since it's their townhouse, he and his fiancee reserve the right to crash the house. Ok no problem with that. however, when I ask him to at least tell me *when* they will visit, he remarks, "Well, it's our house. Why should we give you a head's up?"

Does this sound fishy? sounds too good to be true for me, and i want to e-mail and withdraw. haven't paid or signed anything, so hopefully that's ok too?

THANKS FOR YOUR ADVICE!!!H

Answer 1

Sounds very fishy.  Sounds like they're in trouble too.  When did they buy the house?  You need a WRITTEN lease that gives you exclusive use of the property.  And NO he can't stay... he's your landlord, not your kin.  

Dang there's been a lot of this.  What I think is happening is people are in big mortgage trouble so they rent their houses out, then trick their tenants into letting the landlord stay for essentially, free, because they're falling behind on their mortgage.

That's crazy!  Avoid renting from people, rent from managed property groups (i.e. a real apartment).

Answer 2

If it's THEIR townhouse then tell them to move into it and leave the potential renters alone with their ignorance.  If their renting it out instead of living in it they obviously have a home somewhere and can rent a hotel if they come to the area where this townhouse is located.

If you do end up renting from them they still have to give you 24 hr notice of when they will be showing up.

Answer 3

Oh my gosh!  Run away if you haven't signed anything yet.  Those people sound completely uneducated and have no business being landlords.

Answer 4

Ok buddy, you posted this SAME question twice.

It is NOT a fishy situation.

You are renting a ROOM and NOT the entire townhouse..therefore he can come and go as he pleases.  They don't owe you a heads up unless you are renting the ENTIRE unit...and that isn't what's available honey.

Second, a landlord can stipulate any move-in date that they darn well please and charge you for it...if you can't move in or don't want to pay then don't rent the freakin' room!!!!!  It's that simple!!!  He doesn't have to cater to your lease!

Yes, you can withdraw if you haven't paid or signed.

Answer 5

the crash there; where he can stay at your place--is out

landish.

find a real estate company with a buyer's agent to rep you in

rentals.

DO NOT let landlord's needs over power your own.

say "thanks, and no thanks!

available to help further