refund of rental deposit

good day to you.im Ronwaldo SuXXXXXX,residing in Caloocan city. i badly needed your advice regarding my problem..here's the story: nagrent po ako ng place para sa softdrink dealer nun feb.8,2010,i gave 1 month advance & 2 months deposit(total of 21,000).after 1 week of stay eh nagsign na po ako ng lease of contract & then gave it back to them kasi hndi pa po notaryado.after a week eh nakikita ko po na hindi kikita yung bussiness so i decided na aalis na sa date na feb 28,2010. so i let them know my plans.nakiusap po ako na makuha yung 2 months deposit pero pumayag sila na ibalik lang eh yung 1 month dep if meron na pong magrent sa kanila.so nung pagkaalis po namin eh pinarenovate na nila yung place and now eh may nagrerent na pong bago sa kanila(AS-AP Medical Clinic) but up to now eh hindi nila maibigay yung napagusapan namin,puro na lang po sila promises.They didn't even gave me a copy of contract kasi paalis na nga din po kami noon.i remember na may nakalagay sa contract na "deposit may be refunded after 2 months upon termination of contract",i doubt kung napanotaryohan din po nila yung contract.
Here's my question po:

1.valid pa po ba yung contract namin since hndi ko alam kung napanotaryuhan nila,wala silang binigay na copy,& may nagrerent na po bago sa kanila?

2.tama po ba sabi nila na forfeited na po yung deposit ko kasi 1 month lang ako nagstay eh may contract daw po kami for 1 year?
3.kung ilalapit ko po sa small claims court eh meron po ba silang isasampang kaso laban sa akin?

Sana po atty eh matulungan nyo po ako sa aking problem.
More power to you & God Bless

yes, contract is valid even without notarization or copy returned to you as long as you signed it.

if you cannot prove your verbal agreement, the written contract will stand.

based on your narrative, i don't believe the can make a counter claim against you. i agree that the small claims court is your best remedy.

thank you so much sir for your reply..im just a little confused.is it possible na valid pa din yung contract namin even if meron na nagrerent sa dati nmin inuupahan?, i mean considered terminated na po ba yung contract namin nung time na pinarent na po nila sa clinic yung place? I heard na nagsign na po sila ng contract nung clinic.im just afraid po kasi na baka kasuhan nila ako ng breach of contract if ever na ilapit ko po sa small claims court ang aking problem.

thank you again for your help atty.
God Bless

what i meant was at the time you entered into the contract, it was valid. notarization was not necessary to make it valid and binding.

indeed it was terminated, but not by renting it out to someone else, but when you terminated it by leaving. under the contract, your deposit is forfeited.

but you claim that there was a verbal agreement changing the contract. that is valid also, but the difficulty is proving that the verbal contract existed. if you can, then you have a valid cause of action.

indeed, you breached the contract, but you already paid the penalty by forfeiting the deposit or part of it. good luck.

thank you so much po atty for your help & advice, it was a great help.now i understand my situation.

keep up the good work,im glad there is someone like you who is willng to help others in need.

God Bless you