Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Real Estate > Renting
 [Register]
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.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 05-22-2008, 04:50 PM
 
5 posts, read 21,385 times
Reputation: 15

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by movingtohouston View Post
Did you provide receipts for the work that was done and submit that with the balance of deposit within 21 days of move out. If not and you go to court, the judge could award them back full deposit plus penalities.
The balance was received and signed by them 17 days after move out. I included a statement of work performed and a detailed letter stating the violations (which is addition to the painting, there were major repairs needed that they did not notify me of per the terms of the lease). There were no receipts as the work was performed by me, and stated the amount of hours it took the hourly rate and total deduction. I read that if the work was performed by the Landlord that's all the info I have to provide.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-23-2008, 10:29 AM
 
Location: Bike to Surf!
3,080 posts, read 11,041,055 times
Reputation: 3022
Sounds like you did everything right and they're just trying to squeeze you for money they don't deserve. Google "California Landlord Tenant Law" or something similiar and brush up on the state regulations so you can be sure you're in the clear.

Sounds like they don't have a leg to stand on. As long as you made "good faith" estimates of the cost of the work (didn't pay yourself $200/hour when you were painting the place), you can tell them to take a hike. They can sue you for anything under the sun and you can't do anything to stop them (besides rolling over for them, like they want) but they can't WIN. Keep a record of everything you did, make a record of what you remember (hours worked, paint costs, etc) if you don't have one already.

If you end up in court, go. Ask the judge to rule in your favor and hit them with a judgement for the time and money you've wasted dealing with their nonsense.

Good luck.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-23-2008, 10:47 PM
 
48,505 posts, read 96,610,333 times
Reputation: 18304
Photograsph verythign and have reciepts.Als have receipts to show that you made repairs regualrly has they will probably claim making reparirs you faied to do.Otherwise court can get to be a she said ;she said thing.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-09-2008, 01:50 PM
 
5 posts, read 21,385 times
Reputation: 15
The tenant cashed the security deposit refund. Does that relinquish their rights to dispute the amount? Doesn't it mean they accept the amount returned?

Thanks
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-09-2008, 03:06 PM
 
Location: Bike to Surf!
3,080 posts, read 11,041,055 times
Reputation: 3022
Quote:
Originally Posted by tagv12 View Post
The tenant cashed the security deposit refund. Does that relinquish their rights to dispute the amount? Doesn't it mean they accept the amount returned?

Thanks
Nope. They can still ask/sue for the balance plus additional judgements for delinquency and damages.

Seriously, look up the law. It's easy to find. That way you can know if you're in the clear or not.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-10-2008, 07:08 AM
 
Location: SW Austin & Wimberley
6,333 posts, read 18,010,638 times
Reputation: 5531
Quote:
Any thoughts on this stupidity?
What dollar amount are we talking about? If it's $75, send the money and get on with your life. If it's an amount you consider worth fighting to keep, figure out what their next step is and, if the ball is in their court, ignore them (except for one written response) until they do something official.

I've accounted back security deposits to more than 3,000 tenants over almost 20 years. I've been to court 3 times on disputes and each time I prevailed. I've been harassed, threatened, yelled at, etc. by tenants who felt they were being ripped off (they weren't) so I've learned what works best in dealing with that, which is simply to cut off the communication and restrict it to formal written correspondence.

It may be different in California, but in Texas, the tenant recourse is through Justice of the Peace Court. The Justice of the Peace Court requires the person suing to provide a copy of the 10 day demand letter that was sent via certified mail to the landlord. Without it, the tenant cannot sue. It also costs them $50 to file the suit.

Therefore, if I haven't received a 10 day demand letter, and I know I'm justified in the withholdings, I simply don't discuss the matter with the tenant. This infuriates some tenants, but it's the best policy.

The most they'll get out of me is "put you complaint in writing and send it to me. I'll take it under consideration. But I will discuss it no further until I have your written letter in hand".

From that point forward, the only communication that happens is in writing. I don't argue with people on the phone. I want to have all communication documented so I can hand it to the judge if it comes to that, which it rarely does.

If I receive a 10 day demand letter, and it makes reasonable demands for a small sum of money, I might go ahead and pay it just to be done, but not usually. I'll instead send a written response, very short and brief, stating "I have reviewed your letter and comments and have determined that the deductions are legal and proper. No adjustments will be made".

If they persist, I'll simply write back "We have a disagreement, which I am willing to settle in in front of the JP Court Judge. I'll do whatever the judge tells me to do. If you feel strongly enough about this, we can discuss it in front of the Judge, but this will be my final reply outside of court".

That usually ends it. Very few tenants go through the trouble of formalizing their complaint. It costs $50 to file the suit, the demand letter must precede it, and the tenant has to know how to properly file the suit. It's a hassle, takes time, and most tenants just give up.

The three that didn't, and who dragged me into court, all were very upset when the judge explained to them that I was reasonable and they were not.

FYI - the most common deductions are for cleaning, leaving burnt out bulbs, dirty A/C filters, and trash/debris left behind. We send a two page move-out letter stating "how to get all of your deposit back". If a tenant follows the instructions and advice, they normally do get all of it back. We make deductions on less than 1/2 of our move-outs because the letter really makes it easy for tenants to understand the expectations.

Commonly, what we see is an abandoned cleaning effort because they ran out of time and/or energy.

Steve
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
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.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Real Estate > Renting

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:45 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top