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Im a landlord, and think I have a good understanding of this, however I am also a Tenant (Yay Military) and I am looking for some advice.
We rented a house in CA. It was a 1 yr lease agreement of which we paid a initial deposit of $1750, then a few months later we got a dog and had to pay an additional $500.
A few months after that the owner sold our house, and the new owner sent everything to a new rental company. We finished out the lease with the new company, never signed anything with them and only received an email stating they just assumed our lease and the terms we initially signed for so everything seemed good. We moved at the end of our lease and we were informed we would received our entire deposit back after we had our home inspection, however we just received a check for $1750.
Their reason was they had no proof or funds for the pet deposit, me being a landlord I kept copies of everything I signed for the deposit, a copy of the check, and a copy of the receipt showing the previous property agency received it all. The new company is saying it could be WEEKS before I get the rest of my deposit because they didn't receive the funds from the previous agency.
Now for side notes, they are past their 21 days, and were past it when we received the first check but I allowed for extra mail time due to Christmas.
They requested that I email them all the paperwork showing the proof of the pet deposit paid and they emailed back acknowledging I am owed the money for the pet deposit but say they can't pay it because they don't have the funds in the escrow account for it. I returned an email saying that 10 business days should be enough time to mail us a check for the $500 and they can then continue to deal with the old agency to get their funds back, but they insist they have to get the funds from the old company first and that its not their fault they can't pay right way and that I will just have to wait.
Am I out of my mind for thinking they owe me the money regardless and them saying I have to wait WEEKS to get the remaining deposit back is illegal?
Please provide guidance, or recommendations. Thank you for your time.
No, they had 21 days. If you want to, you can file suit in small claims court and also ask for your court costs. Their accounting problems are not yours. The law is the law.
Was this money refundable in the first place? Most pet fees or deposits are NON refundable.
If your previous landlord didn't include anything (money or paperwork) regarding the pet or the fee, you might be out of luck with the new owners and will have to contact the old owners.
Was this money refundable in the first place? Most pet fees or deposits are NON refundable.
If your previous landlord didn't include anything (money or paperwork) regarding the pet or the fee, you might be out of luck with the new owners and will have to contact the old owners.
Can't have a nonrefundable pet fee in California. Page 23 which I believe ends up being page 33 as PDF. The accounting problem is theirs not yours
send them a demand letter stating you must receive the $500 by MM/DD/YYYY else you will file a lawsuit. Send via US mail with either "proof of delivery" or "return receipt" and/or Certified Mail so you have proof they received it. Some courts require the demand letter prior to filing suit(depends on state/jurisdiction). Even if your court doesn't require the demand letter, it will likely cause them to send the funds to you rather than having to go to court and possibly have to pay court costs AND the deposit.
Google Demand Letter Security Deposit for more details.
The property manager is handling it wrong and they are liable and responsible to pay you in a timely manner.
You are not part of the deal between this property manager and the previous property manager or owner. The person handling the transfer dropped the ball and that is their loss and they have to figure that out between themselves and the prior person/company and that has nothing to do with you.
You should get your money a.s.a.p. and otherwise you can go to court and you will win instantly.....if you are in a Sate that has 2 or 3 x the amount if not paid on time than they owe you that part too.
Their error is not on you and nothing to do with you...
Thank you all for the information. I thought I was correct in it being their problem to pay me but wanted to hear from other people to see if my thoughts were correct since I'm new to being a landlord and never had this situation happen to me as a landlord or tenant.
For the record since someone asked the pet deposit according to the lease we signed is refundable as long as the yard was free of feces, carpets professionally cleaned, and no damage caused by the dog. Which we stuck to it all and made sure it was completely clean and luckily my dog was well behaved so damage was never an issue.
Thank you all for the information. I thought I was correct in it being their problem to pay me but wanted to hear from other people to see if my thoughts were correct since I'm new to being a landlord and never had this situation happen to me as a landlord or tenant. For the record since someone asked the pet deposit according to the lease we signed is refundable as long as the yard was free of feces, carpets professionally cleaned, and no damage caused by the dog. Which we stuck to it all and made sure it was completely clean and luckily my dog was well behaved so damage was never an issue.
Thank you for adding this.....seeing as your lease says it's refundable, they should have refunded it.
Here in Fl pet deposits normally aren't refundable...I paid $600 in pet fees..none of which I'll get back and I'm ok with that.
Thank you all for the information. I thought I was correct in it being their problem to pay me but wanted to hear from other people to see if my thoughts were correct since I'm new to being a landlord and never had this situation happen to me as a landlord or tenant.
Glad you like the advice, BUT, it may not be correct in practice. You are in a conflict of two laws that contradict each other. The CA courts generally will side with the other law not being disscused here because it is specific. You may want to contact a legal advisor and ask them specifically, Does the CA Judical Courts place secondary security deposit payment claims on the orginal owner if the funds were not disclosed or transfered at sale to the new owner?
(FYI, the CA court websites cleary tell people who they need to sue under your type of scenerio, people's misunderstanding doesn't change the defense the new landlord could mount to derail any suit against them)
Thank you for adding this.....seeing as your lease says it's refundable, they should have refunded it.
Here in Fl pet deposits normally aren't refundable...I paid $600 in pet fees..none of which I'll get back and I'm ok with that.
State law trumps the lease anyway. Too bad you're in Florida! And that's not even counting the palmetto bugs & mosquitoes.
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And that's not even counting the palmetto bugs & mosquitoes.
