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Long story short my lease ran from August until September of 2019 and I am now unable to get my deposit back from the landlord. I have been unable to find a situation that mirrors mine so I wanted to write and see if I could get some advice.
I wanted to move out in February because of a life change so I requested and was approved to sublease my apartment. I had put in the request late December and never got a response until February so being that it was such short notice and in the winter, I did not require a security deposit from my tenant but I got a good feeling from her, had references and her information. My issue doesn’t stem from my tenant but with the landlord. Come September I sent an email to my landlord inquiring about my security deposit and am told that my tenant moved out a month early so they applied my deposit to her rent. I immediately contacted my tenant and she said they gave her permission to move out and she sent me text messages sent between them (she and the property manager) that acknowledge very clearly that although the lease ends in September he got the okay (from the landlord) to let her go early. I then respond to my landlord and attach a photo of the text exchange between them. The landlord is adamant she received no such permission and is acting like she just up and left with no notice which is not true. All communication with the property manager and tenants is done through text because it’s his preference. The sublet agreement was very generic but the landlord said he wanted to handle all of the paperwork so that is the route we went.
I also paid my deposit via PayPal and never received any notice that it was put into an escrow account which is the law, I understand this alone can be right for a landlord to forfeit a deposit? It is also now going on 60 days since the tenant moved out and Georgia law requires 30 days. I was never contacted about this conversation and have no idea why he gave her the okay to move out, August is a big moving season and I feel confident they leased out the unit very quickly and had also raised rents so they are not out anything and probably why he agreed to let her out early. Although she was my subtenant they seemingly took her on as a direct tenant, especially after making this arrangement with her and bypassing me.
I have exchanged several emails with the landlord to no avail and my next step is a demand letter. I feel like I am in the right in this situation, especially with the written evidence of the conversation but would like to hear if anyone else has some advice. Thank you!
1. The escrow requirement is not applicable to owners and family members who collectively own ten or fewer rental units, unless those units are managed by a third party.
2. Since you were not a party to the emails, it considered heresay. If the judge even allows them into evidence, you would have to have your sublettor testify to their authenticity in court.
You may have a better chance of recovering your deposit by suing your tenant...the sublettor.
You may or many not be technically right in this situation, but it seems like it'd be hard one to win. Personally, I'd probably just chalk this up as a loss. LL undoubtedly didn't have to allow you to sublet, so having a one-month penalty on a lease break is cheap.
Thank you. This owner owns a number of properties, he has an LLC, and definitely more than ten units, the building I lived in was more than ten units so this would apply. The property manager is an employee of his who handles the day to day operations.
The subtenant has stated she can appear if needed. I am hoping a letter of demand will convince him to just let my deposit go. The texts are screenshots from of the conversations and I know they are real but I understand the hearsay argument.
I am more upset on principle that they feel entitled to let someone out of my sublease, never tell me about it, and then penalize for me it by taking my deposit after I asked. I feel like the property manager could have easily just said the lease went to September and she needed to contact me but instead he just “let her go early”.
How so? He took it upon himself to let her move out and never told me. She was legally my subtenant and I should have been the one to say yes or no to that.
How so? He took it upon himself to let her move out and never told me. She was legally my subtenant and I should have been the one to say yes or no to that.
Yes, but at the end of the day you are legally responsible for that unit until YOUR lease expires.. not when the sub-letter moves in or out:
How was the sublease agreement written? Was the landlord at all involved in the sublease process. If they were not the safer bet would have been to have the sublessee dealing directly and only with you. This includes all formal contact and rent payments, which you would then deposit and then make payment to the landlord yourself. That way when she came to you to get out a month early, you could say no. The landlord telling her it's okay to move out a month early then would not have released her from paying you for the last month, and if she did not you would have I believe a reasonable case for a small claims court claim.
I have seen other situations where sublets are dealt with almost exclusively with the landlord. They provide the agreement, they have to approve the tenant, and they collect their rent directly. In this case the original tenant still has liability in the apartment, but the sublessee is working directly with the landlord and has liability ties directly to the landlord. It's closer to adding a roommate than a sublet.
What you have seems to be in a murky in between. It sounds like your sublessee was renting from you under your original lease agreement, however she was paying rent to your landlord, and I guess also determined that the landlord was the authority in terminating her sublease. Your sublease probably makes a case for getting your last month of rent from the sublessee, but since you were not collecting the rent, I'm not sure how a court would determine that. The fact that they rented the unit again right away if they did may or may not be relevant if your lease had a penalty built in for breaking the lease early. they were going to get your 1 month deposit either way.
In any event, I believe you need the help of a local attorney to sort out what your options or rights might be.
Yes, but at the end of the day you are legally responsible for that unit until YOUR lease expires.. not when the sub-letter moves in or out:
The property manager gave her the go ahead to move out early knowing it was my lease on the line and never told me about it. He should have told her to contact me. This doesn’t seem ethical to me.
How was the sublease agreement written? Was the landlord at all involved in the sublease process. If they were not the safer bet would have been to have the sublessee dealing directly and only with you. This includes all formal contact and rent payments, which you would then deposit and then make payment to the landlord yourself. That way when she came to you to get out a month early, you could say no. The landlord telling her it's okay to move out a month early then would not have released her from paying you for the last month, and if she did not you would have I believe a reasonable case for a small claims court claim.
I have seen other situations where sublets are dealt with almost exclusively with the landlord. They provide the agreement, they have to approve the tenant, and they collect their rent directly. In this case the original tenant still has liability in the apartment, but the sublessee is working directly with the landlord and has liability ties directly to the landlord. It's closer to adding a roommate than a sublet.
What you have seems to be in a murky in between. It sounds like your sublessee was renting from you under your original lease agreement, however she was paying rent to your landlord, and I guess also determined that the landlord was the authority in terminating her sublease. Your sublease probably makes a case for getting your last month of rent from the sublessee, but since you were not collecting the rent, I'm not sure how a court would determine that. The fact that they rented the unit again right away if they did may or may not be relevant if your lease had a penalty built in for breaking the lease early. they were going to get your 1 month deposit either way.
In any event, I believe you need the help of a local attorney to sort out what your options or rights might be.
Thank you. The landlord was responsible for approving the tenant I found and processed all the paperwork and documents and took rent payments directly. I never really dealt with her at all after she moved in because she went through the landlord and on site property manager for everything. To me it seems they established a direct relationship with her and bypassed me by telling her she could leave early. His words were that he “talked the owner into letting her go early”. If she was a sublet it does not seem that they had this authority and then to take my deposit after never asking me. I only found out two months after because I asked about my security deposit. I will try and speak with an attorney about it. He insists they did not give her permission but it is clear from the texts that is what she was told.
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