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I am a female college student that rented a room in a house with an older man and his live in
girlfriend.
This guy was crazy. After I signed the lease, he started making up ridiculous rules. It was my responsibility to help him train his dog, make my bed, organize my canned goods in abc order, vitamins could not go in the fridge, my laptop icons had to be organized or else he would not grant me internet access, takeout boxes had to be washed with dish soap and then recycled, laundry was on one day only for no real reason, my bedroom door could not be locked, my car had to be parked within an inch of the curb, i must use his bedding and his provided furniture, pots, pans, etc, etc etc. complete OCD. I followed his crazy rules but it still wasn't enough.
I was on a month to month lease and the man gave me my thirty days notice in mid-June, to be out by mid July. He actually wanted me to move out by the end of June, but i said that i needed my thirty days to find a new place. We signed a letter for the thirty days, which he does not have a copy of but i do.
The day before I went on vacation for a week he verbally intimidated me into giving him the house keys. and then when i got back it was Three days before the end of June. I had only paid June rent and half of July's.
He opened the door for me and slooked at me and said, "You have two options" I am going to give you $100 cash to go live in a Motel for two days while my girlfriend packs up your stuff for you and then when you come back in two days your stuff will be in cardboard boxes waiting for you in the backyard, OR you can live here for the rest of the two days and move out by yourself, and we'll just deduct you scrapping the walls on your move-out day from your deposit (lie, did not scrape his walls upon move-in), and frankly, I'll guarentee there will BE NO DEPOSIT NO MATTER WHAT LEFT FOR YOU unless you go live in a motel and we pack your stuff up!
Of course, I was scared, and took his $100 cash and went to go live in a motel for two days. Come last day of June, my stuff was neatly packed, all there, in cardboard boxes, in his backyard. Everything was there. I canceled the July half-rent check.
Here's the kicker.
When I went to get my boxes the girlfriend had orders from him NOT to let me see the room.
He know refuses to return polite calls or texts regarding when to get my $600 deposit back.
I never got to see the room and do a walk-through, so what if he damaged the walls or claimed that I did? How would I prove i didn't when He FORCED me to NOT let me pack my OWN room up and made his girlfriend do it? I have photos of the room when I occupied it, with no damages, but that's it.
I have a feeling he will not return my deposit. What is my legal recourse?
This piece of crap of a man also made me live in a motel for two days two months ago without giving me money becuase my room had too many books in it and it was a fire hazard--he made me go put it in storage which he paid for. Frankly, i only had three small boxes of books on the ground. OCD! Could I sue him for that too along with my security deposit?
He has another female college student living with him that is an international student with a ridiculously easy major that is subserviant to whatever he does/says and will vouch for him along with his girlfriend.
Forget about what happened during your tenancy. You should have moved out as soon as you moved in but you went along with everything so you can't now turn around and sue him for whatever in that regard.
Look up your state landlord tenant laws which are likely inked in the first "sticky" on this forum. You'll find in there a clause about the return of security deposits. The state laws vary a little but usually within 30 days your landlord is required to return to you your security deposit less any documented deductions for damages. (I assume you have a receipt for the security deposit? If you don't you're pretty much out of luck.)
You should send him a return receipt certified letter advising him of your mailing address and asking that he return your security deposit at his earliest convenience to that address. Short and sweet and polite. IF the return receipt letter comes back to you undelivered for any reason, keep it in a safe place and do not open it.
As soon as the date by which he's supposed to return your deposit by law has passed and you've heard nothing from him, go to Small Claims court and file suit against him. The filing fee will cost you around $50 and you'll be filing for the return of your security deposit along with your court costs. When and if it gets to that point, come back to this thread!
Yes. Did you have any sort of written lease agreement with him, too? It sounds as though you did. Just put all your paperwork together in case you need it to go to court. First things first!
Agree with STT. Sounds like he also owes you some rent on top of the deposit? If I read your post correctly.
The thing to do is to ask for all the money back in writing, with proof of delivery. Give him a deadline, like 7 days. When he doesn't do that, then file in small claims court for everything, including your court costs, which the judge will give you if you win.
Tell the judge your story. I disagree that because you didn't move out right away, that you waived your right to sue over it. You were not in a position of power.
Anyway, judges are fair, and usually more generous than tenants think, which is why I tell them to ask for everything. You can tell the judge that you didn't know what to ask for, but you trust him/her to be fair. That way, he/she will see you as reasonable, and you also can probably get more that way, too.
Sorry for your experience. That's really scary and insane. Glad you are out of there.
The thing to do is to ask for all the money back in writing, with proof of delivery. Give him a deadline, like 7 days.
In my opinion just sending the certified return receipt letter written as I suggested is sufficient. No point making time demands as by law the LL has a certain amount of time (OP has to look this up) to return the security deposit. Whether he knows that or not isn't relevant - in fact he probably doesn't know it which puts the OP in an even stronger position if and when the LL simply ignores the nice polite letter advising him of her mailing address. Knowledge is power and you don't show your hand and play your game from the outset.
If he ignores her letter then she can file her claim and in most cases landlords such as this just cough up the money right away rather than have to go to court.
As soon as the date by which he's supposed to return your deposit by law has passed and you've heard nothing from him, go to Small Claims court and file suit against him. The filing fee will cost you around $50 and you'll be filing for the return of your security deposit along with your court costs. When and if it gets to that point, come back to this thread!
Sorry if I was unclear. This is the point at which the OP needs to send a letter demanding all of her money back in writing. Small claims court requires that you ask for your money back first.
Yes, she would have given him her new address in writing, but then he's supposed to send her deposit and/or itemization within the time allowed. If he doesn't do that, she has to first ask for her money back in writing. That's when she gives the deadline of 7 days. Then files in court.
I know it seems redundant, but if she doesn't do this, technically, the judge could tell OP to start over.
Hmm, interesting. Had to go that particular route once when the defendant failed to respond (in fact I was sent back the letter as "unclaimed") but I filed the claim, the LL decided to appear on the scheduled date and I prevailed. There was never any question of my not having sent a second letter as I'd already asked that the security deposit be returned. As I said to the OP, "You should send him a return receipt certified letter advising him of your mailing address and asking that he return your security deposit at his earliest convenience to that address."
My assumption would be that if the LL responded to the initial letter offering an unacceptable partial refund or denying a refund period, then another letter would be in order but I've never heard of a second letter being legally required in the scenario we're debating. Anyway, as I said, first things first and no point leaping ahead and getting the OP all in a tangle!
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