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But that isn't proof of payment. Can you prove you paid your rent by bringing in a copy of your lease?
No, it isn't proof of payment, but it is proof that she was allowed to have the pet. It could be proof..because you can't have the addendum without making a payment.
Of course you can have the addendum without making the payment. They could have waived it. They could have forgotten about it. The tenant could have come back at the last minute and said they don't have the pet anymore.
I'm not saying someone wouldn't look at the addendum and "assume" the paymernt must have been made, but it certainly isn't proof it was made.
We see threads all the time on here where a LL didn't collect a security deposit up front and it came back to bite them. In those examples you would have assumed the security deposit was paid since it says so in the lease, but in fact it wasn't.
Of course you can have the addendum without making the payment. They could have waived it. They could have forgotten about it. The tenant could have come back at the last minute and said they don't have the pet anymore.
In that case the apartment complex should have that in writing. And in general the landlord or management company will be expected to have too live up to a higher standard of proof. It's not certain the the pet addendum will be good enough in court but it probably will be.
Why would it be assumed, even if it was refundable, that she would get the full amount back? What if they have to do things in the apartment to get rid of pet odor, etc.?
unless the addendum actually say that they paid the deposit or was also a receipt for the deposit, most just say that the tenant agrees to make a deposit but not actually that the addendum is acting as proof of deposit. The OP needs to tell us the wording for anyone to provide any real advice.
Can you go to your bank for a copy of your old statement? I'm sure the bank would be able to provide you with that or even a copy of the cancelled check (if they do that). It may cost you a small fee but at least you'll have your proof.
I had a almost similar situation happened to me a few months ago. The apartment complex changed management and I had copies of the money orders to prove that I paid deposits and pet deposits as well.
The complex wanted to my deduct my last months' rent to cover pet stains/odors because documentation wasn't in their files to prove that we had made a last month's rent payment. When my husband asked why they needed to deduct extra from the non refundable pet fee, no clear answer was given.
The complex changed management 3 times in the 4 years we were there. I am so glad I kept all the receipts to prove our case. In the end, we got all of our deposits back. If not, I would have gone to small claims court on matter of principle.
Well, Pandabean...do you have a receipt showing payment of the pet deposit or not? I'm thinking probably not. If you do...you have proof of payment. If you don't, then you don't and like someone else said...best get along little doggie.
Koale
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so...
