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I've given my Landlord my notice 2 weeks ago and I'll be moving at the end of March.
We did a walk-through yesterday. I live in an older house and there's a window in the shower. The sill is all rotted out. It was patched up before I moved in, but wasn't done correctly so now it's worse (rotted areas were calked and window sill painted over). He was made well aware of this issue long ago and advised me he knew he had to fix it but didn't have the money. He's trying to take my entire deposit to fix the window. If I understand correctly, he can only charge me for damage, in which none has occurred. The place is spotless. He's trying to charge me for a crushed gutter outside the house, which I know that I didn't damage. The tenant downstairs has 3 adults living there and there are always cars in and out of the driveway. Now he's telling me he needs to take money to paint, which I know he cannot do.
I suspect that he's hard for money as he told me when I gave him my notice that he'll do anything to try and keep me there. There would be no way I'd stay. I have been a good tenant in the 7 years I've been there. I have never been late on a payment, and helped him with snow removal and the lawn as he doesn't like coming to the property.
I also reminded him that he has 30 days to give me my deposit back after I move out and if there are any items that need to be addressed they should be listed with an estimated fee to fix them. He doesn't believe and advised me that he's consulting his attorney.
I'm in Massachusetts by the way. Is there any easy way to fight him if he tries to withhold my deposit?
That falls under Normal Wear I believe. Hope you Kept ALL corspondence about the window & other problems. Even without that I believe you win in small claims court.
I'm sure his attorney will straighten him out. Take dated pictures of the window frame and the outside gutter and pretty much everything else before you move out in case you need them. If he tries to deduct anything from your SD with which you don't agree, dispute it in writing. If he still refuses to return your SD based on those deductions, just file in Small Claims court.
You've been there for 7 years and he can't charge you to repaint either.
I doubt anything will happen once he speaks to his attorney.
If he doesn't have money to fix things he has no money to consult with an attorney. He just thinks you are a sucker that will let him steal your money. Just tell him that you will take him to court and tell him you can get triple in damages for any money that he wrongly withholds. It's not true but look into it, some states do let you collect more if he kept wrongly withheld it. Aldo tell him when he loses that he will have to pay your filing fee, which is true.
However you want to keep all documents, correspondence and take pics of the window. Truthfully even if you were there for a year, the window issue wouldn't of been your problem anyway. That's age and neglect. Unless you have some superpower that rots window sills I don't see how it's your issue.
If he wants to play games take him to small claims. Hope you win. I despise crooked LLs.
I agree there's no way he is going to spend money on a lawyer. Just tell him if he doesn't refund your deposit you will take him to court and ask the court to have him also reimburse you for your court fees and any punitive damages allowed. And as others have said, take photos, wait the time he has to refund you, and when he doesn't send back what you think is fair, then write him a demand letter with delivery confirmation and a deadline, and when he doesn't meet that, then file in small claims court, and leave it up to the judge to decide. I also believe you will win. Oh, and be sure and ask the court for your court costs & any appropriate punitive damages, too, to be paid by the landlord.
Sorry you have to deal with this. I despise crooked landlords, too.
Oh, and BTW, landlords are easy to collect from, because if they don't pay you, the sheriff can collect his rent money to pay you with.
He called last night and said he agreed he should take care of the bathroom window, but is now trying to charge me $600 for a downspout outside, which I told him I'm not paying for. Anyone that came to the house, including him could have hit it with their car.
I have been more than responsible and helpful. My apartment is so clean you can eat off the floors. I wiped down the walls and shampooed the carpets. I have never ever been late on my rent in the amount of time that I've lived there.
He called last night and said he agreed he should take care of the bathroom window, but is now trying to charge me $600 for a downspout outside, which I told him I'm not paying for. Anyone that came to the house, including him could have hit it with their car.
Stand your ground on this one too. Unless he can prove you damaged this exterior pipe he has no case since the outside area is common ground for which you're not responsible. I strongly suggest you follow up every 'phone call with an email confirming the conversation. I have excellent landlords but follow up EVERY little request with a confirming email. Something so simple has sometimes in the past been invaluable on both residential and commercial rentals both as a tenant and a landlord.
He called last night and said he agreed he should take care of the bathroom window, but is now trying to charge me $600 for a downspout outside, which I told him I'm not paying for. Anyone that came to the house, including him could have hit it with their car.
I have been more than responsible and helpful. My apartment is so clean you can eat off the floors. I wiped down the walls and shampooed the carpets. I have never ever been late on my rent in the amount of time that I've lived there.
He cant' prove you did it, unless he has a picture of you doing it or a picture of a ding on your bumper that would match the damage. So tell him you don't agree to him keeping any of your deposit. If you can stall after a certain time he will be required to return your full amount, If he says he's keeping anything he needs to put it in writing, don't tell him so, let him do things the wrong way so he will have to pay you back and tell him that if he plans to keep any money that you will see him in court and it will be public record so that future tenants will know that he has been sued by former tenants.
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