Thank you for your question. Verbal contracts are typically enforceable. Therefore, if you created a verbal contract, the landlord would be obligated to tender the apartment to you or face a breach of contract suit.However, the question in such a matter revolves around whether or not you had a contract. A contract requires:1. Offer - for instance, the landlord offers to rent you the apartment.2. Acceptance - for instance, the landlord offered the apartment and you accepted. 3. Mutual consideration - each party must give up something in exchange for something from the other party.Further, both parties must mutually agree to create the contract and its terms.It sounds like you have offer and acceptance. However, you may or may not have mutual consideration. For instance, you may have mutual consideration if the landlord agreed not to rent the apartment to anyone else if you agreed not to seek any other apartments. In other words, an exchange of promises between two parties can be consideration. However, if the landlord merely promised not to rent the apartment to anyone but you and you did not offer any consideration in return, you would not have a contract, as there would be no mutual consideration. The problem with verbal contracts is that they can be difficult to prove. If you have any documentation related to the agreement, you will want to present your attorney with that documentation.On the other hand, if the landlord merely made a promise and you relied on the promise to your detriment, you may have grounds to sue the landlord based on detrimental reliance. The elements of a detrimental reliance claim require that:1. A promise was made.2. You actually and reasonably relied on the promise.3. Your reliance on the promise was foreseeable.4. Relying on the promise damaged you.5. Enforcing the promise is the only way to avoid injustice.You will want to consult a local attorney so that he can evaluate the strength of your case using the above theories or any others he may be able to extract from the facts of your circumstances. If you need additional clarification of this response, please ask a follow-up question and I will be happy to clarify. Good luck, T _____________________________________ Please click the green Accept Button for each and every answer and leave Positive Feedback so that I receive credit for answering your question. Bonuses are greatly appreciated. I do not receive any payment at all from JustAnswer unless you click accept. Please remember: Feedback is left for me as an answerer. Please do not shoot the messenger. My control over the content of the answer is limited by the restraint of truth.
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Attorney
Licensed FL Attorney
the thing is that this is a hud apartment in hawaii and and the new manager was promissed a three bedroom apartment and theres only her and her husbend. when she got here she moved in to a 2 bedroom didnt like it moved to another 2 bed room and doesnt like it and now she wonts ours and said that she just wonts our apartment and there is other three bed rooms open but she doesnt wont it because its not on the top floor and is to noisey. and doesnt wont to bothered after work even though shes the property manager can she do that or is she abuseing her power as a manager
sorry so long
Abuse of power really isn't the issue there. If there was no contract for the rental and there's no detrimental reliance on a promise, there should be nothing wrong with the manager taking any open apartment for herself.The issue is likely to be whether a contract existed or whether you detrimentally relied on the landlord's promise to give you the apartment. It would be prudent to take this matter to a local attorney so that he can evaluate whether you might have formed an oral contract (as described above) and whether you might have detrimentally relied on a promise to an extent such that you might recover (also described above).Absent either of those, she should generally be able to rent the apartment freely (or rent it herself). You will want your attorney to evaluate whether an oral contract was created or whether you may have a detrimental reliance claim.Please be sure to click accept so that I receive credit for my time and my effort spent responding to you. Bonuses are always greatly appreciated. If you need additional clarification of this response, please ask a follow-up question and I will be happy to clarify. Good luck, T _____________________________________ Please click the green Accept Button for each and every answer and leave Positive Feedback so that I receive credit for answering your question. Bonuses are greatly appreciated. I do not receive any payment at all from JustAnswer unless you click accept. Please remember: Feedback is left for me as an answerer. Please do not shoot the messenger. My control over the content of the answer is limited by the restraint of truth.