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We rented in NJ for 4 Yrs and had a security deposit of around 2800 for 1 Bedroom apartment
We did not leave the apartment broom clean but it was no way trashed
The Landlord Charged us 625$ for cleaning the apartment + 500$ for removing stuff we left in the kitchen
Also he is trying to charge 1200$ for painting the complete house. I am all for charging Fair amount for cleaning but this seems very excessive. Also how can he charge for painting the house dosen't that comes under normal wear and tear ( there were no big holes or any damage to the house )
Also when he returned the Deposit with Itemized deductions he postmarked the letter on 31st day ( Its a registered USPS mail on 31st Oct we left on 30th Sept ) . If he doesn't budge on giving our fair share of deposit back can i take him to small claims court based on this technicality ? He also has reviews on Yelp with everyone saying he has a history of not giving Deposit back can that be used against him ?
I had a good rapport with the owner and management and they did seem reasonable. Whats the best way forward ?
Yes, you can take him to court. He did not return deposit in a timely fashion. After 4 years, you should not have been charged a penny for repainting unless you did damage, or painted the walls a dark color.
I might have left like 20 Pounds of stuff total I forgot to clear the frozen section and some toys. The receipt is from his own office not any cleaning service and yes he did include pictures of everything which was left.
There was absolutely no damage on the the walls I hardly hung anything on walls. Walls might have 5 small screw holes.
On one of the walls there might have been small graffiti by my infant daughter but that's all . I have sent him a nice email asking him to re consider. If he doesn't I will file a case in small claims court pointing out he cannot take anything as he was late by 1 day. My assumption is law is a law and it was broken and he cannot use any excuse ? I am being reasonable and even ready to pay fair amount. But I have heard it depends solely on the Judge to make that decision ?
We rented in NJ for 4 Yrs and had a security deposit of around 2800 for 1 Bedroom apartment
We did not leave the apartment broom clean but it was no way trashed
The Landlord Charged us 625$ for cleaning the apartment + 500$ for removing stuff we left in the kitchen
Also he is trying to charge 1200$ for painting the complete house. I am all for charging Fair amount for cleaning but this seems very excessive. Also how can he charge for painting the house dosen't that comes under normal wear and tear ( there were no big holes or any damage to the house )
Also when he returned the Deposit with Itemized deductions he postmarked the letter on 31st day ( Its a registered USPS mail on 31st Oct we left on 30th Sept ) . If he doesn't budge on giving our fair share of deposit back can i take him to small claims court based on this technicality ? He also has reviews on Yelp with everyone saying he has a history of not giving Deposit back can that be used against him ?
I had a good rapport with the owner and management and they did seem reasonable. Whats the best way forward ?
It's not a technicality. A LL has a certain amount of time to return the deposit with a itemized list and receipts to back up the list.
While I agree there should be some charges as you left food, kid drew on wall/s, I think some charges are excessive. Even if all the charges were legitimate he can't just charge what he feels like. The charges gave to be in line with what a outside contractor would charge. S if a cleaning crew charges $200 to clean a apartment he can't legitimately charge you $650 bucks.
So I haven't received any reply from the LL. Do I need to send him a formal notice / letter by registered mail or i can just go to court. I did not inform him about his mistake yet that he was one day late. Obviously I want to get it resolved out of court if possible. Is there any harm him telling him I will go to court if he doesn't respond to me in a couple of days ?
When you day its not a technicality you mean I have a strong case and I can just go to small claims court confidently ?
Sorry I have never been to a small claims court so I am a bit nervous. I am assuming I just need to take the proof of his late letter / pics etc. Will using Yelp help in any way ( he has 3 reviews all negative about him not returning the deposit )
So I haven't received any reply from the LL. Do I need to send him a formal notice / letter by registered mail or i can just go to court. I did not inform him about his mistake yet that he was one day late. Obviously I want to get it resolved out of court if possible. Is there any harm him telling him I will go to court if he doesn't respond to me in a couple of days ?
When you day its not a technicality you mean I have a strong case and I can just go to small claims court confidently ?
Sorry I have never been to a small claims court so I am a bit nervous. I am assuming I just need to take the proof of his late letter / pics etc. Will using Yelp help in any way ( he has 3 reviews all negative about him not returning the deposit )
Thanks for the help guys
Read and follow the guidelines and steps in this article including, but not limited to, the sample demand letter info provided. (and please remember that the sample demand letters shown are just that, samples.)Then fight for what you feel is not justified based on whatever proof you have or can provide. No one here can possibly get all of the details needed to advise you otherwise. I would send the demand letter first and if no response or resolution then take the LL to small claims court. https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclope...ims-court.html
Be careful with technicalities, because two can play at that game. For example, did you actually return possession (keys) by the required time on the 31st? Or did you turn them in the morning of the 1st? Did you give at least as much notice as the lease required, or did you, like many people do, give notice when you paid rent, which was maybe 25 days instead of 30? Did you give a forwarding address or did the landlord have to call you to ask for it? If you fight it over one day of technicality and you made any mistakes at all in the process, you could find yourself owing even more money.
You've admitted there were some screw holes and some graffiti on the walls, so depending on the severity, repainting could have been necessary. I've had move outs where I charged the entire repaint to a tenant because of the wall condition (sharpie in multiple colors on every room in the house), but if it was graffiti that comes off with a magic eraser and the screw holes were all in one area, then a full repaint seems excessive. Plus, on a 1 bedroom, $1200 seems really high. Our painter charges about $150-200 per room, but maybe NJ is just that much more for labor. And if you didn't even have the place empty, you obviously didn't have it at all clean, so I could see $600 in cleaning. But that would include removing the stuff, so $500 on top of that seems excessive.
Hi Lacerta, Thanks for bringing up very good points. That made me recheck everything
We sent 60 days notice on time as requested. . Also sent a signed letter with the new address and the date when the keys were to be left. We left on 30th Sept before midnight. so I think I have all that covered.
The graffiti was from erasable and washable colors and the graffiti removal charges are "added" in cleaning receipt already so I guess that means it was not the reason for repainting. I am going to send in formal letter and take it from there.. Thanks again guys..
I just want to add one more point. After our lease ended we agreed to continue month to month lease with 60 days notice. We talked over email and no lease was signed. I am assuming this makes me tenant at will. I am not sure if that affects anything
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