I recently was quoted a price of $900 for one week for a cottage rental by a rental agency. After going back and forth by email about the pl...

Question

I recently was quoted a price of $900 for one week for a cottage rental by a rental agency. After going back and forth by email about the place regarding location, etc., I agreed to take it for the week at this price. When he came back to accept, he said that the owner of the property said that $900 was too low and that he wanted $1300. To compensate for this, the rental agency said that there was an error on their part and that he would reduce the cost to $1100.

Is there a legal way of saying, "you said the price was $900 and that is what we are going to pay."??

Answer

Call me at 810-227-7200 so I can help advise you.

Jules N. Fiani

Answer

No. The rental agency most likely was not legally able to bind the owner of the property to a price or terms of rental, therefore, your emals between you and the rental agency do not constitute a contract between you and the owner.

Vacation rentals are very much like MLS properties listed for sale. These are NOT offers to rent or sell at a specific price, but rather an INVITATION to submit offers to the owners. The owners can decide not to rent or sell for any reason, so long as it is not a discriminatory reason against a protected class.

This means that owners can raise their price anytime, and unless you can prove that you are a member of a protected class, AND that they refused to rent to you because of your status, then you should just move on to a different rental property.