Landlord Security Deposit (rental, house, tenant)

[CG71Cape]

Does anyone have experience dealing with rental law? Our landlord mentioned before we moved that the cleaning wasn't quite up to his standard. Said for $200-$300 he could get somebody in to clean it to the standards he required. Well, now that we are gone three weeks later, he has sent us a bill saying he was keeping $1500 of our $2000 deposit.

We had a military clause in our lease, but are DOD Civilians. We moved on PCS orders, and they told us they were not charging us for breaking the lease a month early, but of course did anyways. It has also been nearly three weeks and I am just now receiving the information and have not received our check.

What recourse if any do I have? Suggestions?

[whtviper1]

I'm not entirely sure on the military angle and if that comes into play or not.

Keeping that out of it.

If you reached an impasse with your landlord and he/she won't budge - this is the process.....

Hopefully you took pictures when you moved in. And, hopefully you have pictures when you moved out. And, they should be dated.

Your landlord needs to provide receipts/documentation to you on why they are withholding security.

You need to write a demand letter to your landlord stating you want the security deposit returned and why.

If you and the landlord can't come to a reasonable agreement - you'll need to file a claim in small claims court. It isn't terribly difficult to do so on Oahu and doesn't cost much - the hardest part is getting the landlord to acknowledge receiving the claim - mail by return receipt is fine, hopefully the landlord is there when the mail is delivered - or you may have to have the landlord served. Filing the case may get the landlord to negotiate - or you both need to roll the dice in court.

Your case will be heard relatively quickly - generally a few weeks.....

On breaking the lease, the judge will look into what is in writing on the lease - so if you don't have documentation on not paying fees to break the lease, you'll be out of luck unless the lease is invalid/not reasonable.

[hotzcatz]

PCS orders are usually out of state, though, aren't they? Might be expensive to fly back for a court case. Can you inform your Hawaii base folks? They may be able to help. Perhaps if you told your landlord you're going to contact the base. Is there a "blacklist" that the base could put the landlord on if they don't pony up?

[KonaKat]

If your deposit is not returned within 14 days of the end of your occupancy, or he has not sent you the refund minus any deductions (invoices to prove charges are required) you can sue him for triple the amount of your deposit and no deductions may be made by him. You do not have to prove the LL "accepted" the service of process - you only have to prove that you had him served according to statute. (have a process server do it although certified mail is acceptable here) You will have to appear at the hearing or you'll lose by default.

See page 7 http://files.hawaii.gov/dcca/ocp/lan...t-handbook.pdf

[whtviper1]

I think we are debating semantics. If you send certified and the landlord isn't home or doesn't sign you'll need a process server

[tyvin]

The landlord's standards are subject to interpretation. If you left it clean, than it was clean unless the landlord had in the lease that they required a white glove clean. Did you not do a walk through? Did you take pictures before and after move?

There is a certain amount of lived in damage that is acceptable under the law

I always encourage people to take before and after pics of everything down to the toilet seat. I have dealt with 2 landlords who thought they were entitled to my deposit simply because they said so...I took them both to court and won both times. I don't know about anywhere else, but for some reason the landlords think that the deposit is theirs.

If you broke a lease and did not give required notice than I would just eat the loss as they could get you for 1 months rent and if you took no pics and they turn up with messy picks it could cost you more than just a deposit (you be astonished at what some people will do in the courtroom). Military or not, unless you were on military housing you have to play by the same rules everyone else does. Evidence wins in the courtroom, pictures, cop of the lease, paperwork, witnesses, etc...

There are various ways to serve them but you have to appear at the hearing. So many people get ripped off when leaving; specifically students and military. I don't know why they can't have someone act as a proxy...who knows, pursue it; you may change some laws.

One thing about Hawaii is you can sue for treble damages when landlords keep the rent.

Pick your battles wisely...I live here so I went after the landlords and I know returning students who came back to BYU and sued their landlords and won. If you don't plan on returning within the year you may find it better to go on with your life with a lesson learned...remember; pictures of everything next time.

[Green_Mountain]

Originally Posted by tyvin

I always encourage people to take before and after pics of everything down to the toilet seat.

I know it does not help the current poster but your advice is spot on. The best and easiest way to do it is to walk every room of the house with a camcorder (or phone camcorder) and record everything, showing how you left the home. That type of evidence is invaluable in small claims court and can also go a long way to get unscrupulous landlords to back down when they play these games.

You should actually do the same when you move in if you see anything that is not mint, so that when you move out they can't claim you did it.