[bfrank1972]

Hello everyone,

Last year we moved from New York to CT, and signed a 2 year lease for a house. The house was not a 'rental property' per-se, just a guy who was living in the Netherlands wanting to recoup some money and have his house/property taken care of. Earlier this year my wife and I made the decision to buy a house, as my two daughters were at the age where they needed some stability in their lives. So we approached our landlord about breaking our lease. After much drama, we ended up:

1) Paying him $2400
2) Having his 2 acre lawn professionally cleaned, overseeded and fertilized (it was in bad shape when we arrived, we did the best we could)
3) Pumping his septic
4) Finding him a great tenant, one that he knows, and negotiating higher rent than we were paying, with no gap in rent whatsoever.

We had an attorney draw up a contract, was signed both sides, and we met all of our requirements in a timely matter.

Following this I repeatedly attempted to contact the seller via phone to request that he send the deposit as soon as he could - we were about to close on a house and needed all the money we could get. No reply. Wrote several emails, with forwarding address, requesting the deposit. No reply. Finally spent $30 to have a written letter priority mailed to him in the Netherlands. He finally sent us our deposit back minus about $560, but it was 8 days past the 30 day limit due. He also sent a general list of what he was taking from our deposit via E-Mail, but to this day we have not received a written description/itemization of these deductions (which would be more than 30 days after he received our written notice of change of address via mail).

He withheld our deposit, and when he did return it he took MORE money from us, and did not provide itemization of the deductions in written form.

Bottom line, I feel like I should take him to small claims court, as according to CT law being late makes him liable for up to twice the deposit amount. We did nothing but do what he asked, and I ended up having to sell one of our cars to make things work because he witheld the deposit. Do I have a case here?

Thanks in advance

[renovating]

Originally Posted by bfrank1972

Do I have a case here?

Thanks in advance

Seriously? How about asking your real estate lawyer that will handle your closing?

[Cambium]

Somewhere along the lines humans lost a tiny part of our dna called "sense"

Netherlands? You rented a property and dealt with a guy from netherlands? Ok

[KH02]

Asking this in the "Rental" forum may get you more results...

[bfrank1972]

Ok thanks for all the valuable advice, much appreciated.

Regarding the guy "from" the Netherlands, he works in the Netherlands currently. He is "from" Connecticut. As far as I see it, he is likely the one in the more precarious position due to location as the property is in Connecticut. Maybe I'm wrong here...

Regarding my attorney, yes I might speak to him regarding this, but he will very likely charge me money for his legal advice. He's expensive too. I thought I'd just seek general opinion from those who might have have experience in this type of thing.

So far appears I'm just attracting people who know how to crap on other peoples threads rather than answering the question (aside from you KH02, thanks and I will post in the rental forum).

(anybody else with truly helpful and non-abrasive advice, please post)

[JayCT]

I understand your frustration and have been in your position. Overall I would say it is not worth it. An attorney will charge you a fortune for this and the amount is reallly not that much. I would say let it go. consider it the price for getting a new home and move on and enjoy your new place. With a small child I am sure you have better things to worry about. Jay

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

It's only $75.00 and a little bit of your time to file in small claims. The likelihood that the LL will appear is pretty low, IMHO. I'd bet that you would end up with a default judgement. Whether or not you'll ultimately collect on that judgment is the more difficult question.
Small Claims Frequently Asked Questions

[bfrank1972]

Thanks everyone for the advice! That's a good point about collecting - the money would be nice but for me it's more of a matter of principle. The guy just wouldn't let up, no matter what we did for him, and it's just not right he walks away from this.

[renovating]

Originally Posted by bfrank1972

Thanks everyone for the advice! That's a good point about collecting - the money would be nice but for me it's more of a matter of principle. The guy just wouldn't let up, no matter what we did for him, and it's just not right he walks away from this.

Well, the majority of laws protect the renter not the landlord...so that is in your favor.

[CTresident814]

Some help?

I lived in a house with 7 roomates (8 of us total). Within the 30 days, we received our security deposits back with an itemized list of damages. The list stated that 2 of the roommates had not paid rent, one month each. This was $1300 total, plus $200 in late fees, that was taken off the top of all 8 of our deposits, as per the wording of the lease. When my roommates obtained proof of otherwise, bank deposits and such stating that they had, in fact, paid the rent, it took almost a month for the former landlord to even call them back. Now, after he finally contacted one of the tenants, he is claiming that he needs another "1-2 weeks to investigate the matter" and he will only communicate with the tennants who were late. AND that if he finds he is in the wrong, he will only reimburse the tennants whose rents are in question, when he took the money out of every single security deposit to add up to the total missing. There was no interest whatsoever, and we moved out in the end of May and it is well into August now with no end in sight. Should we take this matter to court? In the end, it's not a huge significant amount of money divided 8 ways, but it's so incredibly frustrating to keep waiting and waiting and having phone calls go ignored.