WEST END TOWNHOMES

I met with Carleigh to discuss reserving a townhome for my wife and me to move into mid-March. I explained that we were interested in the place, but did not want to sign a binding lease and fully commit to moving in. I stressed this to Carleigh 3 times during the meeting and each time, she assured me that if we paid the deposit of $500 that the unit would be tentatively held for us. I emphasized I did not want to sign a lease, but only risk the deposit to hold a unit. She confirmed this. I also made sure to specifically ask that if, for any reason, we decided to not follow through with moving in that our only loss would be the $500 deposit. Carleigh confirmed this as well. I ended up signing what she had provided. On 1/21/2020, I called Carleigh to inform her we were no longer wishing to move into West End Townhomes due to financial issues to which she said okay. I followed up with a text (as this is the only method of communication with West End that is in writing) reiterating that we would not move in and that I understand that we are forfeiting the $500 deposit as agreed upon. She did not respond for 1.5 weeks. Finally, I tried to reach out to get confirmation. After another week, I was able to get ahold of her. She told me I had actually signed a binding lease. I contested and said she assured me I was only risking the deposit. She agreed and said she would write a termination notice to sign. Again, it became exceedingly difficult to communicate with her. I would try to call and text, but was almost always ignored and not followed up with. After another week, she said the termination would be sent by the end of the day. It was not. The next day she promised it would sent by 1500. It was not. Carleigh lied to me and manipulated my lack of leasing knowledge to "trick" me into signing a lease. She blatantly used deceptive business tactics to trap me into a contract and paying a deposit. I kept all records of communication and have recordings of most interactions to support my claims.
Product_Or_Service: Townhome Lease