Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
On the flip side...
having an attorney for a tenant could make a LL seem psychotic and unreasonable.
Lol, the only time (touch wood) that I EVER had problems as either a tenant or a landlord was when I had law students as tenants.
They were a nightmare.
I have lots of attorney friends, but wouldn't especially want to rent to or from one ever again!
Location: When you take flak it means you are on target
7,646 posts, read 9,944,809 times
Reputation: 16466
LL rule number 2010 - never rent to attorneys or law students. They are not a protected class, sadly not even an endangered one.
As to the question - no, there is no reason the LL should not roll the deposit over to the new lease. I do that all the time. Even when someone moves up to a larger unit, we just write a new lease and note the deposit is transferred from unit # (whatever) to the new unit. In some cases there is an additional amount or refund due, or there may be cleaning or repair costs to be made current.
But no, asking for an additional deposit while legal is weird and unnecessary IMHO.
If you aren’t renting a different place from her then this is not typical. She may be treating it as if she is renting to an entirely different group of people (new tenants) because of your roommate arrangement and responsibility to return the original deposit within 30 days of the lease end date.
She won’t know if there are any chargeable items to be deducted until after the current term has expired and the roommate moves out. Thus she is treating the new lease as if new people are securing the home for a June 1 start date. It’s a legitimate way to handle it.
Typically the existing deposit would be rolled over to the new lease term- if you were renting to the exact same people again. You are not doing that. Roommates often make things trickier.
If your market is tight and you want to stay, I’d suggest doing what is asked and you will get your original deposit minus any charges back within 30 days. Or the landlord may rent it to a new tenant who is willing to pay the move in funds as required. But there is no harm in speaking to her about it.
Unless it is a violation of landlord/tenet laws in your state or city, then they can demand whatever deposit and signing terms they wish. You are free to decline and look elsewhere. No one is forcing you to rent from them. If they are too unreasonable or impossible for you to meet their terms then you should not renew and find a new place to rent.
Ethically right or wrong, they cannot force you to rent on terms you do not agree and you cannot force them to rent on your terms if they do not agree. IF you both agree, then the terms can be anything you agree on that do not violate statue. You could agree to $1 per year and indentured servitude for the contract term is you both agreed to it.
One of the roommates is moving out. That means the security deposit needs to be dealt with. The best way to deal with it is to check for all the damage and rent owed, deduct it from the deposit, return the deposit for the roommates to divide to their own satisfaction, and then to sign a new lease with the new roommate and a new security deposit.
How else are you going to do it? The roommate moving wants their share of the deposit and they should not get all of it if there is damage for everyone to pay for. If there is damage or cleaning needed, the moving one shouldn't get away without paying and the new roommate is going to be irritated to be charged for the old damage when he finally moves out,
The OP last posted on 05-10-2011 11:41 AM, so I'm sure that the problem was resolved long ago.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
