Odd request from landlord

[Ed Banfield]

Looking for an apartment in MD for my daughter, we decided on one on September 30, we did not need it until November 1.  Real estate company sent forms to fill out for credit reference and all that, took a few days, came back fine.  Knowing we needed the place for November 1, the owner requested $1000 to compensate him for the fact that he could not rent it out for October (rent is $2250/month.)  Should we be penalized because we looked early, were we supposed to wait until the end of the month to avoid this?  Does not sound right to me.