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Old 07-07-2014, 02:56 PM
 
Location: Historic Gulfport
464 posts, read 645,494 times
Reputation: 418

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You have a very strong case based on what you have said. I doubt you even need to go through the courts.

Send a certified letter to whomever is listed on your rental agreement (the management company, the owner, or both) telling them they failed to notify you about the deposit retention via certified letter within the time period prescribed by law. Tell them you expect to receive the entire deposit, plus interest as required by law, by a date certain (give them one week from the day you have it certified at the Post Office). You don't need to threaten them or even discuss the condition of the carpet, etc. If they did not follow the law, the condition of the carpet is no longer an issue.

Send the letter to them along with the copy of State law which can be found here:

Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine
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Old 07-07-2014, 03:20 PM
 
27,214 posts, read 46,741,218 times
Reputation: 15667
Quote:
Originally Posted by shark601 View Post
The man who was the property manager is the one who is agreeing that our deposit be returned. The carpet is the original contractor grade carpet put in 10 years ago. The owner hasn't been in the home since they moved out in 2009. The tenants before us had multiple dogs that chewed the base boards etc. The owner refuses to negotiate with us. I sent her notification that if we could not come to an agreement than I would see her in court. I have proof of the condition of the carpet when we moved in and like I said we got an email stating we would be receiving our full deposit back and thank you for being such GREAT tenants. How can they just change there minds and get away with it?
We had it once and we dropped the owner after we had a disagreement about with holding security deposit and the owner being unreasonable.

In our case the owner was mad that the tenant got rid of a broken washer that was 12 years old and was not covered in the lease but was left for convenience of the tenant since it was working at the time and also for convenience of the owner who didn't need it. The tenant had put in a dryer and paid for a dryer venting system that was approved by the owner and we had it in writing.

After the tenant moved out the owner wanted to deduct money for the washer that was taken away when the new one was delivered and according to the owner it could have been fixed and maybe had years left

The owner also wanted a deduction for scratches from the previous tenant which was deducted and she had received but clearly there since we had all that in writing too.

BUT you can't reason with unreasonable people. We choose the side of the tenant since the owner was wrong and aside from that we were done with her too since we were sick and tired of her unreasonable behavior for any repair needed.

We were holding the security deposit and we gave it back to the tenant and told the owner we would no longer represent her since that would be the best in this case and we never heard from her.

She could have sued us but we knew she had no case.

In your case (that is why I gave the life example) if the management company has the security deposit they should do the right thing and it is not worth defending an owner who is wrong. If the owner is holding your money than go after the owner but check the lease. It depends who's name is on the lease and if the property management company is listed than unfortunately for them you have to sue both.

If all is true which seems from your post (unless the other side has a different story that can be proven) you will have an easy small claims court case.

Gulfporter may be right that a certified letter will do but often owners like this only believe their own way of thinking and common sense is not too common any more.
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Old 07-07-2014, 03:23 PM
 
27,214 posts, read 46,741,218 times
Reputation: 15667
Quote:
Originally Posted by SeaSpur View Post
I am a pretty clean person, I hate clutter, etc and I take care of the properties I rented in the past. I'd say from college until I was 30, I probably rented 5-6 different places total. I got a partial deposit back from one of them...the rest: nothing. There was always the excuse of prepping for the next tenant...new paint, new carpet, etc.

At first it bothered me but then I guess I could see their point a bit. I'd rather than charge me for it in the rent over time, but I know I don't live in a perfect world.

My point is: do you really want to go to court over $1200? The time and energy is hardly worth it. Especially when you can likely honestly admit you don't deserve it ALL back, right?
I would go to court over $ 1200!!! Really it is aside from the principal the right thing otherwise the owner will do it to the next person too.

$ 1200 is a lot of money for most people and for sure for me too and when the OP wins in court the entire court costs and interest will be paid back and the OP can incl. serving fees, etc.
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Old 07-07-2014, 03:27 PM
 
27,214 posts, read 46,741,218 times
Reputation: 15667
Quote:
Originally Posted by shark601 View Post
Thank you for the info. They neither notified us of where our deposit was being held nor did they send our notification of them retaining our deposit via certified mail. I understand that our deposit was mailed to the owner in another state so I am assuming that it was not held in a Florida banking institution.
That's a huge NO. Money can't leave the State!

You need to get legal advise a.s.a.p. and need to check the lease. Often the security deposit part is incl. in the lease as well as the name.

Don't sue the wrong person, that will cost you money.
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Old 07-07-2014, 03:31 PM
 
Location: South Tampa
1,163 posts, read 2,099,911 times
Reputation: 1069
Quote:
Originally Posted by bentlebee View Post
I would go to court over $ 1200!!! Really it is aside from the principal the right thing otherwise the owner will do it to the next person too.

$ 1200 is a lot of money for most people and for sure for me too and when the OP wins in court the entire court costs and interest will be paid back and the OP can incl. serving fees, etc.
I guess I don't have much experience in the court system so I didn't know the OP would recoup the $1200 plus anything he invested in fighting it- my bad!

$1200 is a lot of money but I guess I was thinking of all the work and time involved in fighting the matter...but it sounds like he has a good case, so then I reverse my opinion: go for it OP!!!
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Old 07-07-2014, 03:53 PM
 
27,214 posts, read 46,741,218 times
Reputation: 15667
The hardest part may be to get the owner served if the owner lives in a different state....but otherwise owner has either to give someone a POA or be in court...a no show means automatically the tenant will win....but it also depends who name is on the lease as for the owner and I hope for the property manager they filled it out correctly.
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Old 07-07-2014, 05:15 PM
 
12 posts, read 10,906 times
Reputation: 26
I plan on naming them both the owner and property manager in the small claims do to the fact that I don't know which one. Would rather cover all my bases as far as that goes. I am also going to take the advice to send a certified letter regarding where the deposit was held. We were never notified where it was and I will be asking for interest. Thank you everyone for the advice it is greatly appreciated!
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Old 07-07-2014, 05:35 PM
 
27,214 posts, read 46,741,218 times
Reputation: 15667
Keep in mind that if you sue the property management while they are not included than they may not be as willing as you hope for since they will need to defend themselves against you and you rather just stick to the party that you need to sue.

Small claims court is not that difficult if you can read and follow instructions as described on the clerks website but any errors may result in the case thrown out and losing money.
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Old 07-07-2014, 05:44 PM
 
12 posts, read 10,906 times
Reputation: 26
The problem with not suing the property manager for me is the fact that we have never written the owner a check or dealt with her at all for any reason now. He seems to be in agreement with us, it is the owner who is insisting on keeping our deposit. Not really sure what we should do.
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Old 07-07-2014, 06:14 PM
 
792 posts, read 2,291,969 times
Reputation: 822
Quote:
Originally Posted by shark601 View Post
We recently moved out of a house we had been renting for 2 1/2 years. We have before/after pics of the damage to the house. We did a walk through with the landlord when we left and got an excellent walk through letter back from him along with a statement that we would be receiving our entire deposit of 1200 back. Numerous days later we were n informed there was an odor and the carpet would have to be replaced therefore they would be keeping our deposit. Keep in mind that this wasn't sent to us via certified mail but by email. We have been going back and forth. The LL has stated to me that he does not agree with them keeping the deposit but they refuse to return it. We were also not ever notifies as to where our deposit was being held either. What should we do now?
This is why you should never worry about taking care of a rental property. You never get your deposit back. Your better off treating it like a frat house and that way when you leave, you can feel good about them keeping the deposit.
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