Advice - Landlord claiming additional damage 3 months after moving out? (rental, attorney)

[heinous]

So I just moved out of a house, and the landlord deducted over $2000 from my $5000 deposit. She gave me a list of the repairs, many of which weren't necessary, and all of which were way overpriced. I went back and asked her for receipts, and she gave me a bunch of hand-written receipts, some of which were obviously falsified. None of the phone numbers on the receipts were for businesses. Some didn't even work. I then sent her a letter requesting $1500 back, going into detail on each item. Some of them I wouldn't pay for because they weren't necessary (e.g., she claimed the carpet was stained and had to be cleaned, but I had the carpet cleaned before I moved out, and it was spotless). Some of them were way overpriced, so I got quotes from licensed and bonded providers for the work and agreed to pay those amounts. I told her that if she didn't return payment, I would take her to court. She also did not send me the receipts until 40 days after I moved out.

She didn't respond, even after I contacted her twice about this, so I had her served with court papers last week. She then sent me a letter saying that she discovered additional damage recently, and while she hasn't had it repaired, she estimated that it would cost $3000. She claims I "drilled holes all over the outside and inside of the house to run cables," which is completely untrue. There were already cable drops in all the rooms, and we just hooked up to those. She says that if I don't pay, she will countersue.

Can she even claim this almost 3 months after I moved out? At this point, someone else has been living in the house for 3 months, so how can she legally lay this on me? Can she just take pictures of some holes in her walls to use as proof? And it's awfully coincidental that she just happened to bring this up right after she got served. It must be a bluff on her part to try to get me to drop the suit.

She's a business owner, and I know she's been sued before, so she's more experienced at this. I've never done this before. At this point, I'm mostly going through with the suit because I feel it's the right thing to do and that she shouldn't be allowed to get away with unethical behavior. I know that she probably won't pay up even if I win. But if somehow I'm out another $3000 because of it, then maybe I should just drop it.

Any opinions/advice would be much appreciated!

[SandyCo]

Contact an attorney who is well versed in such matters. I agree that what she's doing is unethical, and how can she prove that any damage is actually from three months ago? However, since I'm not an attorney, I can't offer legal advice. You can probably get a referral through a housing agency. Best of luck, and I'd love to know the outcome of this. I'm probably facing the same fun and games when I move out, because my landlord is cheap, and will do anything in his power to keep me from seeing a dime of my security deposit!

[nclora]

NOLO press ( a publisher of legal how to books) publishes a good book on Landlord Tenant issues. Google NOLO Press and I think it will take you to the site. Anyway, I believe that Landlords are required to substantiate repairs and return unused deposit under 30 days from the date you move out or last day of rental agreement. Small claims court is the right thing to do in your position and I think as long as you document everything and stick to the issues you may do ok.

As far as future goes, I would always request a walk through with the landlord after cleaning, ask that they go over anything that they find fault with, give you the chance to take care of it, do one more walk through and put everything in writing while you are there. It's in your best interest to do so.

[Liliana Caceres]

City of LA has a Housing Dept. which takes care of Renters/Landlords issues. I had a problem similar to yours few years ago and they helped me out A LOT. You can find that dept. at Yellow pages. Good luck!

[JackSparrow]

If the housing dept. wont/cant/doesnt help, consider small claims. It's for issues under $5000 and usually gets sorted during mitigation. The landlord will cave when faced with taking bogus stuff to court. Also, if you do a small claims suit, be sure to sue for the full $5,000.

Good luck.

[songcry]

yeah, contact the City of LA has a Housing Department.

this is a common problem, so ask friends and family if they have had a similar situation and how they approached solving it.

good luck to you..

[xxgrzesx]

Read about it here

California Tenant Law - Free legal advice for California renters

[groto3]

Hey heinous,

I am in the middle of a very similar dispute myself. I took my landlord to small claims court, they appealed, and now we're waiting to hear the results of the appeal.

Have you had any luck in your dispute? And out of curiousity, was this a house managed by GPI company near USC campus?

[kettlepot]

As everyone else has said, go to Small Claims Court and you won't need an attorney. Small Claims is actually very casual, often times an attorney in private practice will stand in for a real judge and neither side will have an attorney.

I sued a former landlord for my deposit in Small Claims and I won the entire amount plus court costs ($27 for court service fees). Read up on the law, have you're documentation in order when you get to court, and have at it. This landlord has violated a lot of the landlord/tenant rules. You will crush her.

[margoa78]

Definatley go to small claims court if you feel you are being taken for a ride. It will put an end to your worry

Good Luck