Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My husband and I recently moved out of the home we were renting ( California)
Our landlord has always been very involved in our lives…daily calls, emails, visits, requests etc….
Anyhow we got tired of feeling like we were being baby sat so we decided to leave. it has now been past the 21 days allowed for the landlord to provide a breakdown of costs/refuns of security deposit.
We have ALWAY been model tenants and she has stated so in previous conversations. When we moved and were settled in our new house, my husband started getting calls, emails, texts from her consecutively and I mean consecutively, over and over and over. She did this during his work hours and it really became problematic. In her messages she is stating that there are "water spots" on the counter and she wants the company we used to clean the house for move out (300 dollars)to return and wipe them and that they missed some dust. SERIOUSLY???? Get a life lady. the house is immaculate!
When we moved in we paid $7500 dollars to move in. Yes! We had a dog and she wanted to make sure there would be no damage done to the house. No prob it was like money in the bank right? The dog has done no damage whatsoever, you could not find a dog hair if you 2. Her messages then moved to the dog and that we did not have the house prof treated for fleas.
Again, you would to even know a dog lived there. It was also stated that this would apply "if needed"
it isn't & the house is 100% laminate and NO carpet Do we sue? She has no reason to withhold anything. If she wants ro deduct for fleas fine whatever although there is no carpet or trace of any insect if it gets her off our back and return the rest of the money she owes us $2500. HELP!so what exactly would you be treating??
My husband has not responded to these messages because they are constant and never ending. He had to and block her form being able to call him. So I resumed responsibility for communicating with her. i very bluntly told her no I would not have the cleaners come back, there is no carpet, and my husband can not be on call to you demands. I again gave her our forwarding address. She wrote back to my HSBAND not me to never have me email her again and that she does not have time to answer my email. I am very much on the lease. So he filtered out her emails so he no longer receives them.
It has now been past 21 days and we have not received anything via mail…f she emailed my husband then we have not seen it since he blocked her. My phone number and email however remain the same and if she wanted to reach me she can.
Source(s):
What do i do?
Do we sue? She has no reason to withhold anything. If she wants ro deduct for fleas fine whatever although there is no carpet or trace of any insect if it gets her off our back and return the rest of the money she owes us $2500. HELP!
This link explains exactly what you should do under these circumstances. If you've followed all the steps necessary for the return of your SD then you'll have to go further and file a claim against the LL in small claims court:
Thank you, it is not very clear though in regard to the itemized deduction page..is this to be mailed? Or can she email this? As mentioned before she will not answer emails from me but continues to harass my husband to the point where he had to filter her emails out so he can work. I just don't want to be told later by a judge that an email was sufficient for this matter…
is that possible?
Is she saying the withholdings require your entire deposit?
The link that was provided states the LL must mail an itemized list of deductions include receipts and a refund of any remaining amount in 21 calendar days or less. If you did not receive the statement of deductions and a refund (if you're owed one after the deductions), you are entitled to your entire deposit being refunded.
Like STT said, you should follow the advice in the link. This would be my first step:
What should you do if you believe that your landlord has made an improper deduction from your security deposit, or if the landlord keeps all of the deposit without good reason?
Tell the landlord or the landlord's agent why you believe that the deductions from your security deposit are improper. Immediately ask the landlord or agent for a refund of the amount that you believe you're entitled to get back. You can make this request by phone or e-mail, but you should follow it up with a letter. The letter should state the reasons that you believe the deductions are improper, and the amount that you feel should be returned to you. Keep a copy of your letter. It's a good idea to send the letter to the landlord or agent by certified mail and to request a return receipt to prove that the landlord or agent received the letter. Or, you can deliver the letter personally and ask the landlord or agent to acknowledge receipt by signing and dating your copy of the letter.
My inclination would be to send her one more letter by return receipt certified mail, stating your objection to her estimated deductions and telling her she is to send you immediately a full accounting of your security deposit along with itemized deductions and any receipts. Advise her that in accordance with CA law, the deadline has in fact passed for all this and that if you do not hear from her within 5 days of the date of this letter you will have no alternative but to file suit in Small Claims court.
If you don't hear from her, go and file. If she refuses your letter or simply doesn't pick it up, the PO will return it to you and you should retain it unopened to present to the Court. If she responds and the deductions are still out of whack, just file your case and don't waste time discussing it with her any further. At this point she's legally bound to return your whole SD with no deductions.
Sounds like it is going to be a problem for sure. She never gave a number on what she intending on deducting. She just said she wanted the cleaners to come back and wipe the counters for her. She has always been such a pain so we wrote her a letter with ou forwarding address and she just kept calling and calling about the counters and flea treatment for a house with no carpet and a house that was spotless at all times. After all, we have a newborn and pretty much try to sterilize anyone who comes in contact with the baby the second they walk in the door….we most certainly would never have allowed our child to be around fleas. Our dog is a therapy dog and visits the elderly and we would never take her around elderly if she had fleas. This lady is a whack job. We NEVER paid late not once. We also always hand delivered rent to her per her request. It was so creepy to see her driven by every day to "check on the yard"
Thanks everyone i will try a last letter and continue from there. I just was not sure if an email could be considered the legal way to communicate with a former tenant regarding deposits. it seems she must send by mail. The house was rented again before we even moved out so obviously there was no problem finding a new renter right away. She held open houses while we were still living there
Sounds like it is going to be a problem for sure. She never gave a number on what she intending on deducting. She just said she wanted the cleaners to come back and wipe the counters for her. She has always been such a pain so we wrote her a letter with ou forwarding address and she just kept calling and calling about the counters and flea treatment for a house with no carpet and a house that was spotless at all times. After all, we have a newborn and pretty much try to sterilize anyone who comes in contact with the baby the second they walk in the door….we most certainly would never have allowed our child to be around fleas. Our dog is a therapy dog and visits the elderly and we would never take her around elderly if she had fleas. This lady is a whack job. We NEVER paid late not once. We also always hand delivered rent to her per her request. It was so creepy to see her driven by every day to "check on the yard"
Then she did not comply with the law and you are entitled to a full refund of your security deposit. You should demand no less, and take her to small claims court if she doesn't refund it in response to your letter.
I'm having the same problem with my former landlord.
I moved out on May 6, but my rent was paid until the end of May. I spent three hours cleaning the apartment, and he said that he was waiting for the last electric bill to come, so that he could deduct that from my deposit (which isn't a problem.) I sent him an email on July 1 regarding the status of my deposit, and if I don't hear back from him by the end of next week (July 11), I plan to send him a certified letter.
Thank you, it is not very clear though in regard to the itemized deduction page..is this to be mailed? Or can she email this? As mentioned before she will not answer emails from me but continues to harass my husband to the point where he had to filter her emails out so he can work. I just don't want to be told later by a judge that an email was sufficient for this matter…
is that possible?
Hi
She legally has to send you a itemized letter of deductions from your security deposit stating what the money was used for what damages and any receipts of who she paid, if she did the work and stating a REASONABLE hourly rate or materials used. So $300 to wipe off a counter water spots isn't gonna fly. Lots of LL think well my time is worth $100 a hour so I worked 16 hrs and your deposit was $1600 so there you go.I get to keep it. Well not do fast.
Emails are ok as correspondence ( I and my tenants do talk text email but we are all ok with that for repairs or questions small issues. For real legal notices/letters etc I send signature certified mail)
What you need to do
Send her a certified letter of demand. The reason you demand ( whatever the FULL amount of security deposit was. $2500 you stated? That's what you demand back) reimbursement of your deposit is due to the 21 day deadline for the security deposit return. It makes no difference in what condition you left the place anymore or what you did what she did and who did what for who. She did not follow the law as stated.
Truthfully any correspondence MUST be certified. If she doesn't accept it keep it sealed and present it to the court. If she accepts it well you get the little received signature card. Keep copies of everything and log where you sent what when and to who. All those emails you're filtering. Keep them. They are now harassment.
I have included some sample letters and a link in how to file in small claims in CA.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
