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So, back in november our landlord decided to raise the rent after about 2 years with us living there. We tried to negotiate but realized we couldn't afford it and we didnt like the landlord's son who refused to fix things like the roof, pool, clean up sewage pipes they had recently had to repair, fix the swamp cooler. Not a bug deal: we gave our two months.
But when we started asking for our security deposit back (and our dog deposit) the son, who's wife is a lawyer, started saying we were harassing them. Things got weird: they came for an inspection, we took pictures, the house was pristine.
Then they let us know that there are many damages but wait until the 21st day to let us know with a half-thought out list of damages which was almost precisely our security deposit.
So, after trying to work it out, we decided to sue.
The day they were served they said that they had found more problems and now are countersueing for the maximum amount of 10k withou sending an itemized list.
Anyone have any advice other than show up to court with printed photos and emails?
Make sure those pictures have time stamps to show when they were taken. This sounds like a case for Judge Judy! They can't claim anything within normal wear and tear. They can only keep deposits for actual issues.
Anyone have any advice other than show up to court with printed photos and emails?
Thankyou!
This should be adequate if they are time / date stamped. More than likely this slumlord is hoping you are just not prepared. I'd like to see a judge give punitive damages for scammers like this guy.
Thank you guys- what is even crazier is that I literally just got served small claims papers by a sherrif. I thought it was a counter suit- but now its for a different date and specifically 'VANDALISM' of all the things they are claiming were broken for more than double our security at 10k!?
It has its own date so this must be a seperate thing.
You said you started asking for your deposit before they came for the walkthrough? I'm confused. In California, don't they have to at least offer to do a walkthrough BEFORE you move out? I'm not in CA, but I'm sure I remember people here saying that. So was this walkthrough before or after the house was vacant? Either way, why were you asking for a refund before the walkthrough? Even if it is after your move out, they do have 21 days to send the refund, so asking about it more than once during that 21 days could be considered harassment.
If the walkthrough, and thus the photos, were before moveout, then damages could have been done after that walkthrough, and/or damages could have been discovered after your belongings were removed. So "when" is an important detail. The photos don't mean as much if they were taken 10 days before you turned keys in.
Just playing devil's advocate here. I've seen both sides of this sort of situation. I've seen tenants cheated by corrupt landlords, and I've seen tenants who think they were wonderful and can't understand why we send them a $8000 bill for the damage it took us 3 weeks to repair on the house, 8 or 10 hours a day. I've seen tenants who tell me the house is immaculate, and we go in and there is food stuck to the ceiling and we have to clean for 5 days to get it rent ready. Just saying, there are always 3 sides to every story. His, hers, and the truth, which is usually somewhere in the middle.
Oh, and I would also bring with you to court copies of your written requests to the owner to fix the things you said they wouldn't fix. That could be a factor in case they are saying you broke those things.
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