Damage discovered 31 days after move out (tenant, renters, security deposit, refundable)

[DAmdas]

Hello:

I am the owner of a single unit in that I rent out for weekenders, but I reside in the opposite side of the state. I assure you, I am not a slum lord. I don't have a property management company. I'm just a guy who purchased at the wrong time, then had to move. I take good care of my property and try to be fair with my renters. I'm here because I feel like I am getting wronged here. Here's my situation:

Tenants rented house for a week and vacated the house on December 31, 2012. I live in Oregon, so I could not go down there right away. I hired a "cleaning service" which turned out to be a robbery. They took my money, supposedly "inspected and cleaned" the place, but never actually stepped foot in there. Alas, when I finally went to paint last weekend I found out that it had not been cleaned (not the issue here). The real problem was that the renters had an animal (lease was silent on animals) that left massive urine spots in 3 rooms.

I charged an optional 100$ cleaning fee, plus a 250$ refundable "security deposit." 100$ is a choice. Renter can either clean on their own, or pay 100$ and have someone else do it. The 250$ I charge in case there is damage.

At first I was so angry that I refused to give them anything back. I calmed down a bit, did some readying, and realized I cannot do this. I offered to given back 250$ minus the cost to clean the rugs (125$).

The renter called a landlord-tenant attorney who is saying that he is entitled to 3X the 250$. He says I waived any right to any recovery by not sending written notice within 21 days.

My question is simple: Given than 21 days went by and I did not send notice, have I waived the right to keep the money I have to pay to have my rugs cleaned?

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by DAmdas

Hello:

I am the owner of a single unit in that I rent out for weekenders, but I reside in the opposite side of the state. I assure you, I am not a slum lord. I don't have a property management company. I'm just a guy who purchased at the wrong time, then had to move. I take good care of my property and try to be fair with my renters. I'm here because I feel like I am getting wronged here. Here's my situation:

Tenants rented house for a week and vacated the house on December 31, 2012. I live in Oregon, so I could not go down there right away. I hired a "cleaning service" which turned out to be a robbery. They took my money, supposedly "inspected and cleaned" the place, but never actually stepped foot in there. Alas, when I finally went to paint last weekend I found out that it had not been cleaned (not the issue here). The real problem was that the renters had an animal (lease was silent on animals) that left massive urine spots in 3 rooms.

I charged an optional 100$ cleaning fee, plus a 250$ refundable "security deposit." 100$ is a choice. Renter can either clean on their own, or pay 100$ and have someone else do it. The 250$ I charge in case there is damage.

At first I was so angry that I refused to give them anything back. I calmed down a bit, did some readying, and realized I cannot do this. I offered to given back 250$ minus the cost to clean the rugs (125$).

The renter called a landlord-tenant attorney who is saying that he is entitled to 3X the 250$. He says I waived any right to any recovery by not sending written notice within 21 days.

My question is simple: Given than 21 days went by and I did not send notice, have I waived the right to keep the money I have to pay to have my rugs cleaned?

It sounds like the state the rental is in requires a damage claim be forwarded to the renter within 21 days, and it sounds like you didn't do that, so yes, you have to give the deposit back.

As for the 3x damages, well, around here, judges rarely give it - and if it were me in your shoes, I'd make them sue to get it - there's no extra penalty for not giving the 3x payment if you go to court in my state. Chances are the landlord-tenant attorney made a phone call for $40, I doubt they'd be interested in a $600 lawsuit.

[KonaKat]

No attorney would be needed - this is a Small Claims matter.

To the OP, yes, you erred seriously by not getting the cleaning done right away, deducting it from their deposits then sending them a detailed statement with the remaining money refunded, including copies of any invoices for the work done.

Immediately return their money in full - certified mail, and hope they don't file a lawsuit.

Consult an attorney for further advice, and Live and learn. Be sure that you know the laws as they apply to you, in the future. Check on the law as it also applies to owners who do not live a certain distance or in the same state as their property. In Hawaii for instance, if you do not live on the island where your rental property is located, must have by statute, an on island agent.

For vacation rentals I would not even give people the "option" to do their own cleaning. I doubt anyone would do an acceptable job. Hire a professional cleaning company that is bonded and insured, and have them bid precleans and check out cleanings for you.

[PacificFlights]

Originally Posted by DAmdas

My question is simple: Given than 21 days went by and I did not send notice, have I waived the right to keep the money I have to pay to have my rugs cleaned?

Don;t worry. Send me the $249 plus a $1,000 processing fee and I;ll have it all go away for you and I will get you a $4,857.05 compensation judgement from that other attorney for calling you, And, I'll guarantee a $945 cleaning refubd from the cleaning compoany as well as a $936,993/17 punitive penalty and...

Seriously, you want to know if you waive the 21 day requirment? FIRST, DOES THE LAW ACTUALLY SAY 21 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!! Your in the business of being a landlord and you don;t know what the statutory requirment is for returning security desposits? What if it says 31 days and not 21 days, you are worrying about what someone elses lawyer claimed without even checking the actual law yourself? Get our of renting cause your a disaster waiting to hurt yourself.

Second, I have no idea if you did or didn't waiver anything and what you can and can not do because your talking Landlord Tenant laws but your place is under the state's Hotel/Motel and/or Vacation Occupany which is an entirely different thing and reguated by different laws and agencies. So you really need a lawyer to tell you what laws cover what you can and what you can not do AND what are you legally allowed to charge and how to collect on damages. I'm thinking the other lawyer is setting you up for a case and hoping you refuse to retun the money or do something else that they can sue you over. The 3X is a way of getting you to say no-way which could be what they are hoping for. I'm not sure what the civil and punative penalties are for violating the Vacation/Hotel/Motel licersning, fire inspection, health codes, tax authority, and what not but I bet that other lawyer does.......

[CptnRn]

Which state do you live in. Most states require you to itemize any deductions to the security deposit and return the balance in 30 days. But some states allow as much as 60 days if there are damages (Wyoming). See the sticky at the top of this forum on state laws.

If I was you I'd itemize the damages, after documenting them well. And send the tenant the itemization with documentation and balance of deposit due. If they want to sue you for the minor damages that you kept, you can always refund it if they actually file a small claims suit against you. As others have said, the judges rarely award the treble damages and probably won't do so if you have proof documenting the damages.

[Donn2390]

In your situation, if you don't have a Property Management company you can expect this tiny problem to be the least of your worries.
It's a lot cheaper to pay a PM 10% to watch your property, than losing money at every turn. Being a LL is a tough business even if you lived next door,,/1

[manderly6]

Is it really worth it for $125? Just give it back and treat it as a learning experience. Of course that would mean you actually have to learn the rules of your particular state.

[STT Resident]

As PacificFlights pointed out, this isn't the usual landlord tenant situation. The property is a short term vacation rental and I'm sure the laws are quite different from the state landlord tenant laws commonly referenced on this forum. Unless a contributor to this forum has knowledge of vacation rentals it's probably a little misleading to offer advice.

[hueyeats]

Make sure you have picture documentation, paper trails & stuff...

If you decide to take them to court to keep the money or even as a counter-suit when they sued you... evidences speaks the loudest. Especially when you can prove the "guilt".

[sas0814]

They were wrong, but you lose because you waited too long. Sorry.