[GalFriday]

Okay, here's the deal. I turned in the keys to my rental townhouse on March 31. That was the last day of my lease. According to said lease AND according to Michigan law, the landlord/management company has 30 days to give me back my deposit, or at least 30 days to send me an explanation as to things they are charging me for and only giving me back some of the deposit.

Today is May 1, and I have received NOTHING from them. No letters, no phone calls. NOTHING. According to the law, I am now entitled to my entire deposit back.

So, what steps do I take next? Do I send a written request stating that they are required to give my money back, and if they don't, I take them to small claims court for it? Do I just take them to small claims court? Can I request interest be paid for every day they are late?

Has anyone gone through this before? I've always gotten my money back, and I have never dealt with small claims court, so this is all new to me.

[YAZ]

You'll have to file with the civil court in your landlord's area.

You'll be awarded double your deposit.

[hazel2]

ok heres the deal 3 months ago we were surved forecloser papers to my apartment. i called my landlord so discuess this issue we were involved in then they told us not to worrie everything will be taken care of. our lease is up in july but our choice was to move. so we called our landlord to tell her. keep in mind...our landlords dont like to fix nor answer the phone for us when we called on day we went a hole day without water because the didnt pay the water bill and i have two kids so just think about what i had to go threw. but anyways when we told her that we were moving she said in quote "YOU HAVE ALL THE RIGHT TO BREAK THE LEASE!" i still have the text messages she sends me. now we moved in the beginng of this month witch is may. They have the nerve to tell us that we dont get our money back beacuse we broke our lease!..now if i got papers sureved to me i have all the right to get my money back. so i want to know if i can?. and im a first time renter.

[YAZ]

I'm afraid that you won't get your money back if you broke the lease. Whatever's on paper will rule over verbal contracts.

[notaBradfan]

Re: hazel2,

If the situation with the lack of water was in the past and had nothing to do with the recent foreclosure notice, it has nothing to do with your current situation. It needed to be addressed at the time. It appears that the landlord was not given ample opportunity by you to deal with the forclosure situation. Your decision should have been to continue to live under your lease. Unfortunately by moving out early before the landlord had a chance to deal with the situation, you technically broke the lease. If the landlord chooses, he can sue you in civil court for the balance of the lease.

Good luck and please keep posting updates on your situation.

[notaBradfan]

To GalFriday:

I would send the landlord a 'return receipt requested' type letter requesting your deposit back. The post office clerk can assist you with this.

In the the event the landlord intends to retain your deposit, he must notify you in writing as to the reason.

If the situation is not addressed within thirty days, you may need to bring action in small claims court.

Good luck.

[Living Nightmare]

I need some advise please!!!!After several complaints to my apartment complex of not being able to sleep due to the amount of noise the people that were residing directly upstairs from me making so much noise at all hours of the night, and me having to call the police every wednsday night I got tired so in november I gave a letter of complaint being the 2nd letter, In the complaint I stated that I would be moving and they never even read the complaint they just put it in the other residents folder and never told me that I need to complete a different form for the 60 day notice. So i assumed eveything was ok for me to start looking elsewhere to rent. So when I did 60 days after and the new rental agency called the apartment complex thats when I found out that they didnt have anything on file for me that I was moving. So I spoke to the manager and I told her that I wrote in the last complaint that I was going to be moving, she then stated that I had to complete a different form and now they are trying to charge me for terminating the lease early. They are charging me $1335.46. I feel this is unfair I gave them notice in my complaint within the 60 days. My kids and I where loosing to much sleep and my car was even vandalized in that terrible apartment complex right after my first complaint, so I could not take it any more so I moved 60 days after I wrote the last complaint. They sent me a notice in January and like 30 days after I started receiving calls that I am in a collection agency and that this would appear on my credit report and if I didnt pay it it will get interest added to it. On my lease agreement it states that as long as I give a written notification that I am moving I had the option to just pay 665.00 and I would be all set. I am willing to pay that amount but not all these additional charges that they are charging me. Also they rented the apartment within 2 weeks that I moved and I also left the apartment in Excellent condition. I wanted to take them to small claims court for that amount that they are charging me so that it wont mess up my credit. But I dont know how to start can some give me some suggestions on how I can get this matter resolved with out paying all that money? I never wanted to leave that complex if the noise wasnt so bad, but I couldnt take it.

[GalFriday]

When you give notice, it's always a good idea either to send it certified mail, or to have them give you some type of acknowledgement that they received the letter, or send it via email. Do you have a copy of the letter you wrote? Do you have copies of the noise complaints? What does your lease say specifically about early leave/breaking the lease?

[darstar]

The security deposit is to cover any damage you may have done to the apt. Some Landlords do not want to return it to you, but to use these funds to " reneu" the apartment for the next renter. Normal wear and tear is , or should be expected. My advice is when vacating an apartment, at the end of the lease , is to hold up the last months rent, which usually will cover the security deposit. let your Land Lord know in advance you will not be renewing your lease, or your arrangement , in lew of a formal lease, but , do not discuss the hold back. My advice assumes you as a renter have ,or will leave the Apartment in good condition. repair all holes in walls, shampoo carpet, clean all appliances and bathroom facilities. Make the place presentable, normal wear and the like should be the norm, its only reasonable ,fair, and standard business practice. You will have a hard time ever getting your Security Deposit back, Most folks just figure on that,so do the building owners.

[YAZ]

Did the mgmt. co. acknowledge receipt of the complaint along with your notice to vacate?

The judge ain't gonna care about some stupid form. If your old apt. complex still has the original complaint and it's dated, (better yet....you made a copy ), you won't have to part with that 1300 bucks.

The PITA though, is that you're gonna have to go to court.