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Whether or not a tenant gets their deposit back varies as much as anything else in a rental situation. It is completely dependent, in my experience, on how honest or dishonest the landlord is, when it comes to someone holding up their end of the bargain as a tenant.
I speak from experience both as a tenant and as a landlord. Well, I am not personally a landlord, but my mother is, and has been for 30 years. For much of that time I have been involved off and on helping her with her properties, clean-out, make ready, etc. So I've seen things from that side of things as well as from the side of a renter.
In one case, when I was still living at home, my mother was renting a house and at the end of the lease, all three of us in the family spent hours cleaning it to "white glove" perfection. There were no damages and 2200 sf house was in perfect, ready to rent condition. My mother, being a military wife, had much experience in leaving a home in PERFECT shape. I was in high school, I remember vividly her having me clean bathroom fixtures with a toothbrush! When the landlord tried to refuse to return her deposit, she took him to court. She had photos of the entire rental home and the judge found in her favor. The owner was just trying to rip her off, plain and simple.
On the other hand, my mother has been faced again and again with property damages, filth, garbage, pet damage, etc. in properties she leases out and she has had to refuse the return of the deposit plus try and go after tenants for extensive damages above and beyond what the deposit covered (usually with no luck)... and sadly this has been more of the rule than the exception.
While I was in college and grad school, and renting apartments from managed apartment complexes, I had no issues getting my deposits back. I believe I got all or almost all of my deposits each time.
However, since leaving college and renting houses/twins, I've had one problem after another. Some are in part my fault: I should be more vigilant about getting things in writing from part-time private landlords, and I think I've finally learned my lesson in that. However, a lot of times with these part-time landlords I just thing they either know nothing about landlord-tenant law or they are actually trying to cheat me.
For example, in 2005 I signed a 10-month lease for a twin. It was short because I was desperate to find a place quickly for a new job in a new state, and the landlord didn't clean or paint the place before I moved in. It smelled like cat urine and the paint was obviously old, but I didn't complain because it wasn't worth it for a 10-month rental that I knew I'd be leaving. When I left, I moved out a few days before the lease expired, and kept the key so I could go back and clean an empty place. The landlord called me asking for the key early, and said not to worry about cleaning; he'd do it since he was renting to a relative next.
When I finally received my security deposit (more than 30 days after the lease ended), significant portions had been deducted for cleaning and painting. I had to threaten small claims to get back my money, reminding the landlord that he was the one who'd said not to clean and that the place a) wasn't freshly painted when I moved in and b) painting is generally considered normal wear and tear. I eventually got my full deposit back, but it was a royal pain. I should have told him he had to wait until my full rental period was up and gone and cleaned despite his offer (or gotten his offer in writing), but I was working full time and going to grad school full time and the last thing I was going to push was cleaning!
The next place I ended up coming to an agreement with the landlord to keep my deposit as a last month's rent since I again needed to leave the state for a new job. And you can read my post about my current debacle about my ex-landlord "stealing" an appliance for my current hassle.
All this boils down to the fact that it completely depends on circumstances and people, but I will not rent from a private landlord again after my current lease. I'm looking to buy in the next year and I hope never to look back.
All this boils down to the fact that it completely depends on circumstances and people, but I will not rent from a private landlord again after my current lease. I'm looking to buy in the next year and I hope never to look back.
I am leary of private landlords too, from personal experience.
My mother has used property management companies in the past to handle her rentals and from her point of view, she says they always give tenants whatever they want and will return the deposit without her approval because they just don't seem to care. She has stopped using property management companies for these (and other) reasons.
In my experience though from a renter's point of view, private landlords have often been a bit too personally involved and they stop seeing it as a business deal because of emotional / sentimental feelings about their home. Not always the case but yeah, sometimes.
I would recommend that renters not only fill out the initial walkthrough papers when they are about to move in, but if possible take pictures and/or video as well to document any concerns so they won't be charged later. I didn't do that in our current place and I worry that we won't get the deposit back. There were things that were hard to describe on the walkthrough papers, issues with the hardwood floors and trim and all, all things that come from a house being 100 years old but if they choose to make an issue out of some of it and blame us, I think I'll be screwed. Wish I'd taken pictures. Thankfully the deposit was not hefty.
I plan on giving a 30-45 day notice in e-mail. If we find a new place to live that early, I find it hard to believe new landlord/property manager will wait 30-45 days for our lease to expire until we can move in to their property. Since after giving the notice we will have to pay rent regardless for the upcoming month.
I plan on giving a 30-45 day notice in e-mail. If we find a new place to live that early, I find it hard to believe new landlord/property manager will wait 30-45 days for our lease to expire until we can move in to their property. Since after giving the notice we will have to pay rent regardless for the upcoming month.
How to go about this?
I'm not sure what you're asking. There is usually a clause in a lease which states that within so much time prior to the end of the lease term both LL and tenant should advise the other of their intent to renew the lease. There is sometimes an added clause which notes that if the lease isn't renewed, the tenancy automatically goes month to month. Check your lease. If there is no such clause then in any case give your LL sufficient notice of your intent not to continue your tenancy. Return receipt certified mail is preferable to email or at LEAST a first class USPS letter.
You're responsible of course for paying your monthly rent until its expiration date. Whatever arrangement you make with a new LL is between you and he and there may of course be some overlap. A new LL may be perfectly happy to hold the place for you for a couple of weeks as long as you sign a lease and give a non refundable holding deposit - but that's up to the individual LL. It's not uncommon to end up paying a double rent for a month, particularly if you're in an area where rental units move quickly.
I never received my deposit back in any of the places I rented. I always left them clean with no damage but the landlords always seemed to have some sort of justification for keeping them.
I'm not sure what you're asking. There is usually a clause in a lease which states that within so much time prior to the end of the lease term both LL and tenant should advise the other of their intent to renew the lease. There is sometimes an added clause which notes that if the lease isn't renewed, the tenancy automatically goes month to month. Check your lease. If there is no such clause then in any case give your LL sufficient notice of your intent not to continue your tenancy. Return receipt certified mail is preferable to email or at LEAST a first class USPS letter.
You're responsible of course for paying your monthly rent until its expiration date. Whatever arrangement you make with a new LL is between you and he and there may of course be some overlap. A new LL may be perfectly happy to hold the place for you for a couple of weeks as long as you sign a lease and give a non refundable holding deposit - but that's up to the individual LL. It's not uncommon to end up paying a double rent for a month, particularly if you're in an area where rental units move quickly.
By double rent you mean paying the old landlord and new landlord? I'm not sure thats going to happen. if our lease expires August 1st, the last rent I'm committed to paying will be for the month of July, which would be the 12th month. And at the beginning of July is when i should be giving my 30 day notice. Beginning of august is the month i am expecting to be moving into a new place and paying the deposit + rent for that place.
How am I going to be able to hand a 30 day notice while being guaranteed a property at a new place by another landlord once those 30 days are up? I mean most landlords only do this once the deposit is in their hands, otherwise its a no go, there not going to hold a property for me.
How am I going to be able to hand a 30 day notice while being guaranteed a property at a new place by another landlord once those 30 days are up? I mean most landlords only do this once the deposit is in their hands, otherwise its a no go, there not going to hold a property for me.
Just part of being a tenant, as I explained earlier. You give whatever notice is required on your present rental and then hope that the timing works out and you find a place to move into where the dates totally mesh. If they don't then you have to deal with it. If you give a 30 day notice on your current rental and don't find a place to move into by the time that 30 days is up you can HOPE that your current landlord will allow you another month - otherwise you're up the creek.
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I always left them clean with no damage but the landlords always seemed to have some sort of justification for keeping them.
