Landlord is taking our security deposit unfairly.. what do i do?

[Corn-fused]

Originally Posted by rrah

I do agree--charging you for things they plan to replace anyway is ridiculous, but if it's in the lease they can do it.

"It doesn't matter what makes sense to you. What did your lease say about carpet cleaning? Many leases contain a clause that the carpet must be professionally cleaned. It doesn't need to make sense."

^^What??? "Doesn't need to make sense"? Are you kidding me? LOL

There isn't a judge in the world that would allow for carpet cleaning charge when the carpet is actually ripped out or replaced whether it is in a lease or not. Despite what you may think, just because something is in a lease it does not mean it is always legal, enforceable or reasonable. Please....

[timecrab]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I guess I better get writing that dispute letter. Hoping to find some kinda template online because I really don't know where to start and I don't want to mess it up.. how long should I tell them I'll wait for their response? Should I ask to see receipts? I guess I would send the letter to both the new management company and the office manager, but would it be a bad idea to talk to the office manager in person after sending out the letter? She's helped me out before.

If we end up going to small claims court, is the burden of proof on me? For instance, if I lost our move in checklist or pictures of the apartment would I just be screwed? Or would the fact that they were planning on replacing everyone's bathtub and floors already help me out in this situation? Would they need pictures to prove the tubs were rendered a total loss after my 1 year lease?

As far as the cleaning, and paint, doesn't that fall under normal wear and tear? There really weren't any dents, holes, or marks (except for small marks where a bed was against the wall) in the wall, and like I said everything was new and we did clean that even still. Isn't cleaning and painting part of the normal process anyway? Would they have to prove it was dirty beyond normal wear and tear when I left? Or would I have to prove it was clean? I kinda thought for a lot of that stuff a judge might see it as so new it wouldn't be probable for them to charge me to clean it.

Sorry for so many questions.. thank you again for any help or advice.

[Corn-fused]

I do believe many of your questions have already been answered that could be answered with the info you provided. The rest has to be determined by reading your state's tenant landlord laws specifically regarding what is considered normal wear and tear and if painting and light cleaning are included in that definition. Look under security deposits. And there should also be sample letters and/or specifications on how to send the letter and how many days to give the LL to respond or return the sec dep, etc., as I mentioned in a previous post.

There are some states that allow LLs to charge for painting and carpet cleaning and others that don't so check your state's laws. You can google them or find them in the first sticky of the rental forum.

[Corn-fused]

Originally Posted by rrah

I do agree--charging you for things they plan to replace anyway is ridiculous, but if it's in the lease they can do it.

Originally Posted by timecrab

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I guess I better get writing that dispute letter. Hoping to find some kinda template online because I really don't know where to start and I don't want to mess it up.. how long should I tell them I'll wait for their response? Should I ask to see receipts? I guess I would send the letter to both the new management company and the office manager, but would it be a bad idea to talk to the office manager in person after sending out the letter? She's helped me out before.

If we end up going to small claims court, is the burden of proof on me? For instance, if I lost our move in checklist or pictures of the apartment would I just be screwed? Or would the fact that they were planning on replacing everyone's bathtub and floors already help me out in this situation? Would they need pictures to prove the tubs were rendered a total loss after my 1 year lease?

As far as the cleaning, and paint, doesn't that fall under normal wear and tear? There really weren't any dents, holes, or marks (except for small marks where a bed was against the wall) in the wall, and like I said everything was new and we did clean that even still. Isn't cleaning and painting part of the normal process anyway? Would they have to prove it was dirty beyond normal wear and tear when I left? Or would I have to prove it was clean? I kinda thought for a lot of that stuff a judge might see it as so new it wouldn't be probable for them to charge me to clean it.

Sorry for so many questions.. thank you again for any help or advice.

Based on this you only have 15 days to respond back to your LL. Just thought I would point that out in case you were not aware and if it has been awhile since you received that info from your LL.

https://www.thelpa.com/lpa/landlord-...law-state.html
If the landlord requires the tenant to pay a security deposit, the landlord must preserve the deposit during the tenancy. In addition, the landlord must return the full amount of the deposit within (15) days after the tenant leaves the dwelling or give the tenant written notice of why some or all of it won't be returned within thirty (30) days after the tenant leaves the dwelling. The tenant then has the right to object in writing within fifteen (15) days of receipt of the notice. Under some circumstances, the tenant may receive the security deposit plus interest. Before moving out the tenant must provide the landlord with an address for receipt of the security deposit, or else the tenant may lose the right to object if the landlord claims the right to keep the deposit money.

[Sundaydrive00]

Originally Posted by timecrab

Isn't cleaning and painting part of the normal process anyway? Would they have to prove it was dirty beyond normal wear and tear when I left? Or would I have to prove it was clean? I kinda thought for a lot of that stuff a judge might see it as so new it wouldn't be probable for them to charge me to clean it.

They would probably have pictures to show how dirty it was. You should have taken pictures at move out. It doesn't matter how new everything was. The judge isn't going to care the length of time it took to dirty a place. You could easily trash a place within a day (not saying you trashed the place), so three weeks is plenty of time to create a mess.

What does your lease say in regards to the movie out process? Where you given a move out check list of what needed to be done? Every apartment I've lived in provided one when we notified them that we would be moving out. Here's from our last apartment:

Living Room/Hallway/Bedrooms/Kitchen/Bathrooms:

• Flooring: Hardwood or tile must be swept and mopped
• Carpet: Must be fully intact and vacuumed.
• Windows: Must be dusted and washed on the inside. Sills, runners and tracks must be cleaned.
• Blindes: must be dusted and washed.
• Walls: remove all tacks, nails or hooks.
• Dust and wash: All doors, door frames, closet shelves, woodwork, baseboards, switches, walls, vents, ceiling fans and light fixtures.

Kitchen

• Clean refrigerator. Remove shelves and drawers to clean. Thourhly wash interior of entire refrigerator and freezer.
• Clean interior of all cabinets and drawers. Clean under the sink and wash all shelves in the pantry.
• Clean stove burners, control knobs, drip pans, stove top and front.
• Clean microwave interior and exterior.
• Clean Oven- "Easy-Off" oven cleaner works well.
• Clean sinks and remove all stains.
• Exterior faces of cabinets should be wiped down and grease free. Also clean the backsplash and kitchen wall tiles removing any soap and build-up grime.
• Dishwasher- clean interior and exterior removing any soup build-up grime.

Bathroom

• Toilet bowl must be cleaned with a disinfectant inside and outside of the bowl including the seat, rim, tank, and base.
• Clean bathtub to remove any rings. Bathtub handles, wall tile and sides of the tub enclosure must be cleaned and free of any soap or mildew build-up.
• Wash out sink and polish faucet.
• Sink interior and exterior cabinets and any drawers in cabinet must be cleaned including counter top surrounding sink and mirror.
• Linen closet shelves must be dusted and washed.

Sweep and Clean the exterior.

• Do not leave any old mattresses, furniture, or trash from your apartment sitting outside of the dumpster.
• Any damages to the unit, hallways or common areas that occur during your residency or move out may be charged against your security deposit.

We only lived in the apartment for a month. After moving all of our stuff out, we gave the apartment a good cleaning. Even though it had only been 4 weeks, it still took some time to give everything a good cleaning. As we cleaned, we went down the checklist and marked things off as they were cleaned. We left the apartment just as clean, if not cleaner, then when we moved in and got all of our deposit back.