Backing out of a deal without paying the deposit
Question
Shalom.
A woman who rents out evening dresses agreed with them on a set of four dresses, and she told them that she does not reserve the dresses until a deposit is paid. In practice they did not have the money and took her account details.
The renter relied on them having transferred the money and began making the required alterations, and after some time it turned out that they had made an arrangement with another rental place and also did not pay the deposit there. Are they obligated to pay her or not?
Answer
Shalom u’vracha.
Since the renters were told that she does not reserve the dresses before a deposit is paid, they likewise did not obligate themselves to pay as long as they had not paid the deposit. Her mistake in thinking that they had paid is a loss that she caused to herself.
Source
It should be explained that in renting dresses there are two separate transactions: rental of movable property (the dress itself) and hiring of workers (for the alterations). In the hiring of workers, the kinyan (formal acquisition of the obligation) takes effect through the beginning of the work: once the seamstress began to sew relying on what the renters told her, this would obligate them to pay. Regarding the rental of the dress itself, one must examine by which form of kinyan it can be acquired.
If there is a deposit, it takes effect as a kinyan kesef (even though money does not acquire movable property, the Shulchan Aruch in siman 198 states that in rental it does acquire, since the concern of “your wheat burned in the attic” does not apply). Seemingly, in this case, since the seamstress worked relying on the agreement she had with them, they should have to pay her for her work. Nevertheless, in practice they are exempt, because the two transactions were made together, and regarding both it was stated that the agreement would not be finalized until the deposit was paid. Therefore, the payment for the work, too, was not undertaken on the basis of the renters’ words, since from their perspective the agreement had not been concluded.
