[lcmrtt]

We are trying to get more information before deciding if we are going to dispute our landlords claim on our security deposit. We got our claim certified mail 32 days after we vacated and turned our keys into our landlord. By law they are supposed to send the certified letter no later than 30 days. What we are wondering is does the 30 days apply to end of the lease or to the day that we vacated and turned in the keys? We paid the full months rent but moved out about 5 days prior to the end of our lease. Also if they did send it out after the 30 days, how to we dispute that and ensure that we get our entire deposit back?

[bbronston]

Your location/state may have an impact on the answer and, because you are asking a legal question, you really should contact a real estate lawyer if you feel that you have a valid claim. Your state or local bar association might have a free consultation service available.

Oops...just saw this is Florida...sorry. You'll want to check out the Landlord-Tenant Act here. You might also find some helpful info here.

[FlyMIA]

I assume you are talking about Florida law. If so its 30 days upon vacating the property for terminating the lease. Some judges may see that as 30 days after the lease expires, others may see it as 30 days after you moved. In my opinion most judges would side with 30 days after the lease ended. You moving out early would not start the 30 days in all likelihood. But really the law is not very clear in writing and its up to a judge to decide. I think you have a good case because you handed in your keys.

As for how to dispute it. In writing write back to your landlord that you dispute this claim because it was late, that you demand your security deposit back or that you will take legal action. You can also dispute the claim if you have a valid dispute to it. This should be done within 15 days of getting the letter.

Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine

If it also best to see an attorney in your state for the proper legal advice. But depending on how much the deposit is, it might not even be worth the time and money.

[Soup Not See]

I would advise that you not contest it - if you truly have damaged his property and admit to it, two days will not make a difference to a judge and it will cost you money to hire a lawyer. Plus you may need a rental reference from the guy ...

[lcmrtt]

Thank you all for the information. Yes it is for Florida and the law says 30 days. It's unclear with all the information that we've looked up if it's 30 days after we vacate and hand over the keys which we thought would terminate the lease since we no longer have access to the residence, or if it meant 30 days after what is on our contract. There are other issues that we can fight our landlord on including new tenants residing at our place a few hours after we left. We were told to leave our utilities on because we needed to have the carpets cleaned before we moved out since it was in our lease. Because of a time crunch on our part we asked if the landlord could get the carpets cleaned and just take out the difference from our security deposit. They asked us to leave utilities on until Tuesday so that the carpet cleaning company would have access to water and electricity but found out that new tenants were living in the house a few hours after we left meaning that they were using our utilities while they lived there for 4 days. We have pictures of them on our patio grilling and swimming in the pool and using the lights at night. I asked our landlord if they would reimburse us for the four days that the new tenants were living there and the landlord is trying to deny that they moved in. The landlord is also blaming us for damages to the house that we did not do and took pictures of the things 12 days after the new tenants moved in saying we did these damages. I honestly don't want to waste the time or money bringing her to court even though I have so much proof including pictures that would probably help us win. Also we moved out of state so that would be a big expense having to fly back to Florida to go to court. But on the other hand our landlord is taking advantage of us and keeping money that is ours so it's frustrating to give in and accept less than half of what our security deposit is.

[Soup Not See]

Originally Posted by lcmrtt

Thank you all for the information. Yes it is for Florida and the law says 30 days. It's unclear with all the information that we've looked up if it's 30 days after we vacate and hand over the keys which we thought would terminate the lease since we no longer have access to the residence, or if it meant 30 days after what is on our contract. There are other issues that we can fight our landlord on including new tenants residing at our place a few hours after we left. We were told to leave our utilities on because we needed to have the carpets cleaned before we moved out since it was in our lease. Because of a time crunch on our part we asked if the landlord could get the carpets cleaned and just take out the difference from our security deposit. They asked us to leave utilities on until Tuesday so that the carpet cleaning company would have access to water and electricity but found out that new tenants were living in the house a few hours after we left meaning that they were using our utilities while they lived there for 4 days. We have pictures of them on our patio grilling and swimming in the pool and using the lights at night. I asked our landlord if they would reimburse us for the four days that the new tenants were living there and the landlord is trying to deny that they moved in. The landlord is also blaming us for damages to the house that we did not do and took pictures of the things 12 days after the new tenants moved in saying we did these damages. I honestly don't want to waste the time or money bringing her to court even though I have so much proof including pictures that would probably help us win. Also we moved out of state so that would be a big expense having to fly back to Florida to go to court. But on the other hand our landlord is taking advantage of us and keeping money that is ours so it's frustrating to give in and accept less than half of what our security deposit is.

Yes, you certainly need to weigh the expense of going back to Florida to fight for the $$$ that you say are rightfully yours. I assume you took pictures of the place when you moved in and did a complete walk through ? And if you left town, how do you know that new tenants were in the house a few hours after you moved out ? You should have had the carpet cleaners over the day you moved out and then terminated the utilities right afterward.

Nothing personal, but suing for a few hundred bucks is probably more hassle than it's worth.

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by leftee

I would advise that you not contest it - if you truly have damaged his property and admit to it, two days will not make a difference to a judge and it will cost you money to hire a lawyer. Plus you may need a rental reference from the guy ...

NO that's not how the statue works.

The landlord forfeits all rights to a claim if they are deemed late.

THEN they have to file in small claims court for property damage.

I didn't read all the OPs issues, just commenting on the statute.

BUT it's true, judges don't always follow the LAW and find against someone if they are in a crappy mood, or have an axe to grind etc.

[tinytrump]

They are thieves and if you call the dep't of regulations they will tell you-" yeh -well- maybe -hmm". we received a uncertified letter 5 days later asking for $130 in damages+ deposit. The appliances they themselves brought broken- and turned the claim within 5 days to a collection agency after I disputed with a "certified" letter-
may all the good people move out of the place and may it get infested with drug dealers types-- then they have an real issue.