A co-worker of mine is asking about an issue his daughter is facing. She signed a lease for a townhome in Houston and put down a deposit. She went back the next day and received the keys so she could move in, however, this time it was during rush hour and the road noise from inside the home was super loud. So she requests to renege the contract before moving her stuff in. They allowed her to cancel but kept the deposit.

His question is if there are any laws that give any sort of grace period for reneging a contract and receiving back funds that were paid in advance?

Always do your homework. She learned the hard way.

Read her contract. I'm guessing no.

I have a coworker breaking a lease this week because her place was attempted broken into while she was home. Security is lax, gates don't work etc...

She has to give 60 days notice, even though she's moving out tomorrow. On top of 2 months of full payment the fee to break the lease is 85% of the remaining term.

This is but one reference point, she should probably be grateful she's only losing her deposit. And a lesson learned on scouting property.

Alaskan: With the large penalty your coworker is facing for moving out during the term of the lease, it might be worth reviewing how such a penalty might be reduced. Let me know if you would like to discuss.

I told her she could probably negotiate it down. She's not very confrontational, but I told her to ask and to pursue it. And to ask for their lawyer if the manager didn't have the ability to negotiate. Esp because the unit will be empty for 2 months.