Advise Needed: Demand Letter (condo, how much, tenants)

[scca]

Hi I am new to this forum. Any advise will be appreciated. Here is my situation:
I recently moved out of a condo which is owned by a private party. I left the unit very clean. However the landlord deducted a big amount of money from my security deposit, such as a little paint chip on the main entry door for $100+. I have asked the landlord to re-evaluate the charges, but no response at all. I am going to file small claims court case. According to the court process, I need to send the landlord a demand letter first. I have all my evidence including emails and pictures to support my case.

My question is: when I send the demand letter, should I include all those detailed evidence or just a high level statement? My concern is: if the landlord gets all evidence that I will be presenting at court, he would have enough time to make up all kinds of excuses before the judge.

Many thanks.

[Ruth4Truth]

Call the local Tenants' Union or renters' advocacy org where you live, and ask them what constitutes a demand letter.

[Independentthinking]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Call the local Tenants' Union or renters' advocacy org where you live, and ask them what constitutes a demand letter.

Agree, but scca, you are also aware of the "discovery" process in our court system?

[scca]

Thank for the suggestions. I checked the CA small court procedure. For the type of small claim that I am going to file (security deposit dispute), pre-trial discovery is not allowed. If that's the case, should I still include the detailed evidence in my demand letter? The demand letter is a way to show the court that I have tried my effort to resolve the dispute before going to court. It does not have any requirement on how much details have to be disclosed.
If so, I think it's better off that I don't disclose too much of my evidence. Does it sound a good idea?

[Independentthinking]

My point being that you will need to present your evidence at your small claims hearing (normally the judge will give a short recess for both parties to look over the information). I seriously doubt anything you have is some big surprise and I'm assuming your demand letter will at least explain why you feel you were overcharged for your security deposit (so it's not like the landlord isn't going to know what you're going to present to the court). Most landlords I know have a cleaning/maintenance company go in and clean up a place before a new tenant moves in. The cleaning/maintenance company will usually take before and after pictures of the work they do. If your evidence shows they are lying, the landlord will get your fee back from them (so there's usually no impact to them regardless of the results of the case).

[Electrician4you]

In your demand letter you simply state the amount you feel you are entitled to and the reason why. The pics documents corresponde is evidence you bring with you
When you go to court you will be asked to see a mediator first. That's like a referee to basically get both parties talking and agree to a settlement. If one or none of the parties want to see a mediator or if they can't come to a agreement then you go see the judge.



Example for a letter
LL did not send a itemized charges letter and refund within 21 days you are demanding your total security deposit back.

What were the charges for? A chip and n the door could be simply old paint chipping off. It's hardly a chargeable thing. Unless you damaged it then it's chargeable.
Remember the charges MUST be in line with what would cost to have it done locally. So to fix a paint chip shouldn't cost $100

[scca]

I get it. You are right, the landlord has all the move-in pictures and email communications. He just intentionally ignored my request. I will keep the demand letter short with my reasons at high level. Thank you for the reply.

[scca]

I don't know how to thank you guys separately on this forum. This is my first time posting. Just want to say thanks to you all for reading my question and giving advises.

[scca]

Originally Posted by Independentthinking

My point being that you will need to present your evidence at your small claims hearing (normally the judge will give a short recess for both parties to look over the information). I seriously doubt anything you have is some big surprise and I'm assuming your demand letter will at least explain why you feel you were overcharged for your security deposit (so it's not like the landlord isn't going to know what you're going to present to the court). Most landlords I know have a cleaning/maintenance company go in and clean up a place before a new tenant moves in. The cleaning/maintenance company will usually take before and after pictures of the work they do. If your evidence shows they are lying, the landlord will get your fee back from them (so there's usually no impact to them regardless of the results of the case).

There is no cleaning company involved. The landlord cleaned the unit himself before I moved in. There is no pictures taken on the door, now he charged me $100+ for small chips. However, we both took the picture of the windows. It's very clear that the windows were not cleaned at move-in, now he deducted another $100 for window cleaning.