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Updated about 9 years ago, 10/20/2015
Terminating lease before tenant moves in
Hello. I am looking for a legal advice. I own a multi unit property (North side of Chicago). My new tenant is scheduled to move in on November 1st. They have a signed lease from me which, unfortunately, I emailed them way too early.. We had an agreement they will pay security deposit and pre-pay 2 first months of rent upon lease signing because they fall into riskier tenant category. I received a security deposit and a half of first month rent and they said the other half is on its way. I sent them the lease. I never received the other half. My other mistake was I never specified these terms explicitly in the lease. It was agreed upon over emails. A few days ago, they emailed me stating the balance will be paid with cash when they get the keys. I do not accept cash and those are not the terms that were agreed upon. So, I am trying to figure out my options before they move in. My preference would be to terminate the lease and refund whatever I received from them and move on. Do I have sufficient reasons to terminate the lease? Do I have a sufficient reasons to keep their security deposit if lease is terminated since I have been waiting for over a month for their balance to be paid? In the worst case, if I can't terminate the lease immediately, can I refuse them keys and/or terminate the lease on the spot if I don't get the full payment on or before the move-in date? Thank you.