Per the lease?? (tenant, renter's insurance, security deposit, inspections)

[5FLgirls]

-Moved into home-paid $4500 security deposit + $2K pet deposit.
-December tenant noticed leak in ceiling. Immediately called LL and plumber was not called by them for a full day. Extensive damage from upstairs bath included tearing out of living ceiling, and carpet in children's bedroom. Three days later, identical incident in other bathroom upstairs. (Aside: Fans placed in house to dry up wet joists but turned off heat center and tenants had very little heat for 1 week--this led to 6 mos old coming down with pneumonia as well as myself. 6 mos. old dangerously sick). Children displaced from their bedroom for 1 week. Fans removed, carpet not cleaned or replaced but just put back down. Ceiling not fixed by LL for over one month because they were having issues with their insurance company. Ceiling not fixed in garage where second leak occurred per LL request. LL originally accused our children of purposefully overflowing the tub (children were in school during incident) and then of intentionally doing something to break both toilets so that we could have new ones.
-Microwave oven broke and called LL. They called service company who came out and said it was same cost to repair as to replace. LL badmouthed tenant loud enough for tenant to hear over the phone to serviceman. LL purchased new microwave but made it tenants responsibility to pick up and arrange for installation.
-LL angry because tenant did not renew lease. Rent increased 10% because LL's insurance was increased due to claim and felt that tenant should pay increase and tenant declined increase. Tenant found home 800 sq feet larger for $1k less.
-Move-out day-when garage is emptied, tenant notices discoloration on wall. Hot water heater housed in a closet is leaking from a pipe. Notified LL. Told that tenant must supply information on heater which we did.
-Two days later, tenant observes that LL/plumber entered property and replaced heater without notifying tenant.
-Move-out inspection-LL is abusive and antagonistic-demanding tenant pay for complete repainting and new carpet (realtor explains that it is normal wear and tear and not tenant responsibility but disregarded), tenant must pay for $2200 hot water heater and new landscaping. Tenant explains that it is not the responsibility of tenant to pay for normal wear and tear to property.
-Tenant receives certified letter from LL stating that security and pet deposits not being returned because tenant was neglectful of water leak to hot water heater and caused hardship to new tenant and LL and will be seeking damage for all plumbing issues in house.
-Tenant seeks legal advice and lawyer tells tenant to kiss money goodbye. Tenant has no rights. Tenant feels they need 2nd opinion.
-Tenant receives email from LL stating tenant never signed for certified letter (false claim) and forwarding pictures of "damage" to home. LL states "The Insurance Company indicated that they will not pay for this due to your neglect as per the lease. This damage far exceeds your deposit. You will receive an itemized list of all damages and what you be owing beyond your deposit."
-Tenant responds "We received the certified letter that my wife initially signed for and we sent a response yesterday via certified mail. Thank you for the pictures, but it does not change our central premise which is supported by the Lease and the state civil code - the repair is Landlord's responsibility."
-LL's next response is "You need to read the lease. We will send you an itemized list and what you owe within a week"

-Tenant has read standard CA lease as well as attorney and have no idea what he is stating that is "per the lease." Anyone have any ideas? DH believes man is "blowing smoke" and wants us to pay his bills. Renters insurance wants us to make a claim and then they will assist us with suing him. What to do?

[ShaneSA]

make a claim with renter's insurance and let the lawyers work it out. sounds like alot of legal manuvers. I would not look to be getting your deposit back anytime soon, if at all. Keep all the documentation, only send copies to the lawyers.

[Beth56]

Well, here's my thoughts on this problem. The plumbing issues are the responsibility of the LL, unless there is absolute proof that you were the cause of all this damage. His proof would be something in writing from the plumber on what was found to be the cause, meaning you.

If you had no fault in the plumbing issue, then the carpet was also the responsibility of the LL. His rental had a malfunction, and he must fix it. I feel new carpet and padding should have been installed due to a further possibility of mold, etc. (health reason)

Not having the ceilings repaired for a month I can understand for various reasons. Sometimes repairs can take awhile due to many things, such as scheduling contractors, etc. So I wouldn't make a big deal of this.

And the same for the microwave. It was an inconvenience, but it was replaced.

Unless you damaged the walls, painting is also the LL responsibility. Normal wear and tear. But I do hope the home was cleaned prior to your exit, otherwise the LL can deduct for that.

As far as the LL/plumber entering the property without notice, I am on the fence with this. Notifying you is the proper and right thing to do. But a LL does have the right to enter in an emergency to fix things if his property is in jeopardy. Personally, I think he should have advised you, but don't think it would be an issue to take up in court unless you had something stolen, etc.

The water heater is the LL's responsibility. I would want proof of the age of the old water heater in court. I can't imagine what you could have done to damage the unit. I bet it was older and due to be replaced. And as far as wanting to keep your deposit because you did not notice or report the leak, this is a joke. Your LL is responsible for doing his inspections on his property to look for these types of things. He didn't do his job. A LL has the right to inspect his property. I have heard of some LL that do it every 3 months and others once a year.

As far as what the lawyer said to you, I don't believe he is correct. If the LL sues you, it will be his responsibility to prove you did all this and are responsible. That means a plumber as witness along with photos, receipts for everything, correspondence, etc.

And if your security deposit was not returned within 21 days of vacating the property, you should have received a letter itemizing every thing he is deducting from your deposit along with an explanation and copies of the repair receipts. If he has not done this, he has already violated the law. Judges don't look kindly on this type of thing from a LL.

Be sure to keep photos, medical expense records and receipts for the pneumonia treatment, all correspondence, etc. to submit in court.

You did not elaborate on why the LL wanted to keep your deposit for landscaping? Did your animals destroy the yard? If not, this should be returned.

My opinion is your LL wants you to pay all expenses plus, other than what his insurance will pick up. I think a judge will see this too. Be concise and organized. Don't state the petty stuff. Go after the money. I'd take this turd to small claims court myself. My guess is this isn't the first tenant he's tried to stick it to. Good luck.

Beth

I'm assuming this home was in California:
California Tenant Law - Non-profit legal advice for California renters' rights

[sonarrat]

Shane is on the mark, standard procedure when you're being charged for something you're not liable for is to inform your insurance company. They'll do the tough talking for you since they are protecting you from liability, and they have the resources to make sure the LL gets hoisted by his own petard.

[Beth56]

Sorry, I missed the last paragraph stating you had renters insurance. Shane is correct. Since you do have insurance, file the claim.

[5FLgirls]

Thanks for agreeing that we're not crazy. We contacted our renter's insurance but they advised us not to make a claim until our landlord sends us the itemized list, which he stated we will get before the end of the week. We are now trying to decide if we should file a claim and have them hash it out with the LL or just hire a shark to just scare them.

To address a couple of comments:

--I was giving the December example as proof that there has been extenuating issues/problems with home/LL. My husband has consistently stated that it is a 37 yo home. LL did not enter property to conduct any inspections during lease except to check Dec. damages after they were repaired. No further check was done on any of the plumbing after/during this incident except isolated toilets. My husband is on a rant and feels that if they are going after us for all damage to their home (including December issues) then we were going to countersue for damages and rent for amount we paid when house was not livable.
--This is a he-said/she-said issue also. Wife of LL dealt with us entire year. Now husband is involved and she denies about 80% of conversations had. There is nothing tenant can do in this situation since conversations weren't taped (who in their right mind would tape a conversation in person or over the phone?). They chose not to fix ceiling in garage and she denies that conversation. I guess they must have cashed the check from the insurance company...
--LL claims that plumber states leak occurred for 2-3 months and (insurance co claims) tenant is negligent. Tenant's response is that it is not tenant's job to periodically check water heater, especially if there is no change in water pressure or heat and boxes/belongings of tenant placed in area around water heater were not wet or damaged. How were we supposed to know there was a problem? LL states that we knew and purposefully did not tell him. We are not spiteful people. Every time there has been an issue, we have immediately contacted. Is this not correct?
--At move-out, Walls were not damaged. Carpets were not in the best of shape but tenant did spent $280 having them professionally cleaned. They had white carpet in the house. Even with not wearing shoes in the house, having four small children and tile in only the kitchen (not an eat-in) and foyer, it was tough to keep it perfect. Realtor felt it was normal wear and tear. Entire house was professionally cleaned. We provided receipts for both at move-out which they declined. LL stated they were going to have it re-cleaned with their trusted employees which is fine.
--As far as landscaping--they are nitpicking at this point. They are upset over some potted plants but it was their responsibility, according to the lease, to water and pay for gardener. Tenant did water property for entire lease and did not complain over expense (which totaled $1200 over year). It was gardener's responsibility to contact LL if he felt there was an issue with plants. Tenant did contact them about a few sets of pots. Tenant left their exterior in the exact same way we found it--including putting back their watering can and barbecue grill that were left on property. They are also angry because their outdoor umbrella had some mold on it--it's outdoor furniture they left it on the property. Gardener is now placing blame on tenant for his own negligence. As for their lawn, which they claimed my children (we only had an indoor declawed cat) ruined, we have now found pictures taken while they still lived in the house of the yard that shows the original damage was there before we moved in. (We've now learned a lesson--we inspect exterior landscaping now at move-in).

Thanks again. This is more hassle than it's worth. We're trying to stay as objective as we can be we're really taking it personally. I wish I could report these people to someone for being such lousy LLs. I feel so sorry for their next tenants (who rented the home sight unseen over the internet).

P.S.-I have to tell you this also--house was originally for sale for $1.6M and it didn't have a showing for entire 5 months on market. We rented it and then while they were trying to get us to re-lease they asked if we'd be interested in purchasing it for no less than $1.8M. We called the realtor to ask if they were serious and he said that they are over the market by almost $900k but can't accept it. These are the type of people we're dealing with.