On August 27th, 2024, I signed a lease with Middletown Property Group (MTPG) for a unit in Garrett, Indiana. The listing was on Zillow and while the property didn’t look fantastic, it seemed livable, was within my budget, and was in a good location for where I was about to start working. I was also unable to tour the property before signing the lease (learned my lesson on that one) because at the time I lived nearly 4 hours from Garrett. While texting with a representative I was able to work out a move-in date of August 30th. Myself and MTPG agreed to the date and I paid the security deposit ($400), prorated August rent (~$140), and September rent ($846). While I didn’t need to pay September rent to move in, that rent was due just a few days after the required first-month rent (August) and security deposit, so I went ahead and paid it as well, thinking I was going to be living there.
Upon arrival to the unit on August 30th not only did I find the property to be dilapidated (siding falling off the building, bowed exterior walls, second-story porches held up by 2x4s, gaps in windows, and the laundry room light didn’t work) and the biggest issue, no one was there to let me into the unit. So, I called MTPG, no answer. After talking with family who were there, we decided it was best for me not to live there anyway. So, I called another place I had been in contact with and have since signed a lease and moved in. We made multiple calls that day to MTPG trying to reach someone and all we got was a recording asking to leave a message and they would call back. Later in the day (still August 30) we stopped at the property again and still no one was there. Over the next few days my parents and I called numerous times, but no answers.
Around September 9th I was finally able to get ahold of a representative. After explaining the situation to them and telling them I wanted to terminate the lease because they would not let me move in, the representative told me to send an email to the company stating why I wanted to terminate the lease. I did, explaining what happened and stating that I wanted to terminate the lease because they had made no attempt to let me move in, the lease stated that they had 30 days to give me access to the property and the termination fee was 3 months rent. I asked that they let me terminate early using payments received as the early termination fee. For about a week I received no contact from MTPG and have only once been contacted by them, every other time I initiated contact. I was able to contact MTPG on Sept. 12th and spoke to a different representative, again explaining the situation. She said she would pass it on to my area manager.
I was never contacted by MTPG until today. Sept. 24th. I was sent a Final Disposition Letter stating that my lease was terminated and that my security deposit of $400 was being returned minus $30 for an “early termination fee”. My question is, is there any way I can go about getting the remaining ~$1000 I paid to them for the apartment I was never give access to, returned to me from MTPG? I never officially moved into the unit, but I made multiple attempts to, and they never attempted to contact me about moving in. I have taken a few contract law classes and this seems to be a case of breach of contract since they never gave me access to the property that I had signed a lease for and paid rent for.
I understand that I made some errors throughout this saga and have definitely learned from them but I would like my money back.
