A long time ago in Michigan,
I was a tenant along with 2 other guys renting a big house on a lake.
It was nice.....
The home was put up for sale and it did sell. So it was time to go.
We were quite tidy with the place and even did some minor repairs while we lived there. Just some plumbing stuff and replaced some drywall that looked like crap when we moved in.
We moved our stuff out and our ladyfriends spent an entire day deep cleaning. Dusting, carpet shampoo, tile waxing, etc.
2 months later we received a notice saying that we weren't getting our deposit back ($700) because the home was filthy.
We took her to court.
She LIED.
She complained that the grass wasn't cut, the home was a complete shambles, and there were ashes in the fireplace.
(I forgot about the fireplace....it was summertime...
)
She even stopped by while I was cutting the grass, and I asked her if she wanted to do a walk thru.
"No," she said, "I don't like doing that with tenants present."
Big clue right there.
Look, folks. I was a landlord for some time and I can tell y'all horror stories of what I've cleaned up. This house was immaculate. Better shape than when we moved in.
So, in court.....she makes up some more stuff....I can't remember exactly what she said because I was livid......
....I then presented to the judge the letter that she sent us....of course it was postmarked.
Ooops.
She waited 2 months to tell us that we weren't getting our security deposit back.
Michigan law states that ya gotta do it within 30 days.
Or the tenants get double.
We got double.