First day of lease period - tenant no show

[Erin N.]

I have a strange situation, and I'm not sure how I should proceed.  I have an executed lease with a tenant to start July 6 (yesterday) for 6 months.  He is coming from out of state and is here only temporarily.  He paid a security deposit equal to a full month of rent via Paypal, and our agreement is to pay the full first month's rent on arrival.  

I sent him an email on Sunday asking about his exact time of arrival.  I got no response.  I texted him yesterday and also left a VM.  I know that someone read my text because I used iMessage and it shows that it's been read.  I just sent another text, and it has also been read.  

What should I do?  My gut says that his plans changed, and he is ignoring me.  I would think that with an executed lease and money having changed hands, that I can't just ignore our rental contract and put the apartment back on the market.  He has not taken possession of the property, so I don't really know what process to follow to reclaim the apartment and re-rent it.  

Any thoughts are much appreciated!

Thanks!

[Mark Freeman]

@Erin N.  I'm not sure what you should do this time, but in the future I would handle this differently.  Take a non-refundable deposit that holds the property until July 6th. Let the lessee know that if a lease isn't signed and all monies paid in full by 9 pm July 6th, then the property goes back on the market.  I won't sign a lease or give a tenant keys until I have everything I need as far as money, personal information and credit checks etc., and signatures from all interested parties.