i never signed a lease... do i still have security dep rights? (apartment, tenants)
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I have been living in a house for the last 6 mos with 2 other roommates. It was a situation where one room would become available and a new person would move in. I moved in when the other people had been living there for a few months already. I never signed a lease or met the landlord. It was a month to month rental and I did this before with other roommate situations. It didn't occur to me that not signing a lease could be a problem later with the security deposit, as I had seen other roommates move out and get their deposit back no problem.
The problem arose when all three of us decided to move out at the same time. The landlord (whom I eventually met, nice guy) now wants to do a walk through on the whole house. This was not a problem. The house was reasonably gross when I moved in (from a constant revolving door of roommates) and my female roommies and I cleaned it up and made it look really nice. The landlord decided to get very petty and complain about things like there being calcium deposits on the faucets, something that took years to develop. He complained that we didn't scrub the walls or clean underneath and behind the washer and dryer, that there were nail holes in the bedroom walls, and that the batteries were missing from the smoke detectors. All of this stuff was like this when I moved in, not to mention the house looks a million times better than before. He is requiring a whole other day of cleaning. I am livid that he so easily handed people their deposits back before and now we are responsible for wear and tear of tenants from years before. He also approved and payed for some fresh paint for the living room. We picked a nice color that he liked and painted it. Now he is saying he does not like the paint job and also wants to withhold for that. It seems like he just wants us to be his handymen so he doesn't have to do anything before renting it out.
My question: Do I even have a right to get upset about this since I never signed a lease and the security deposit was therefore never defined in writing? I want to tell him to go to hell but then I am afraid I wont get my money back.
Never a good idea to let EMOTION overrule BUSINESS -- renting a house (or a room in one) is pretty "low risk" for tenants, but landlords have a lots to lose. That said, from the story as you laid it out, this landlord is being pretty picky. YOU HAVE TO PUT THAT ASIDE.
If you want / need your deposit back I would suggest that you do everything you can to put the home into "ready to lease" condition. If that means getting out a ScotchBrite pad to scrub the laundry room then you do that, if that means getting some CLR to clean off the mineral deposits your do that, if that means touching up paint -- do it.
BUT for goodness sake PROTECT YOURSELF TOO! Get a digital camera, take nice photos that show how clean these things are when you are done, make a solid effort to be polite but FIRM in explaining that you have done everything needed to get the place "ready to lease" and you EXPECT your deposit back in a timely fashion.
ALSO learn from this -- whenever you lease a place it is NOT SMART to not document the condition before you leave a deposit. Landlords will always WANT a place in "ready to lease" condition regardless of how it was when you moved in. Further it is a bad idea to be overly "casual" in not being on a written lease with all the terms spelled out.
"Venting" may feel good for moment but you will miss deposit for much longer than it took you to earn AND the landlord will have the benefit of your money to boot!
Multiple unrelated parties or serial tenants always add a level of complexity that thankfully I no longer have to deal with.
One time I managed a few college student rentals... people were always coming and going...
Rules I never deviated from...
Remaining Security Deposit is due 21 days after unit is vacated and key returned.
All tenants are jointly and severally responsible and have to fill out a application and be approved prior to move-in.
Security Deposit is based on the condition at the time it was rented less normal wear and tear... seems the remaining tenant(s) are left holding the bag.
The house was reasonably gross when I moved in (from a constant revolving door of roommates) and my female roommies and I cleaned it up and made it look really nice. The landlord decided to get very petty and complain about things like there being calcium deposits on the faucets, something that took years to develop. He complained that we didn't scrub the walls or clean underneath and behind the washer and dryer, that there were nail holes in the bedroom walls, and that the batteries were missing from the smoke detectors. All of this stuff was like this when I moved in, not to mention the house looks a million times better than before. He is requiring a whole other day of cleaning. I am livid that he so easily handed people their deposits back before and now we are responsible for wear and tear of tenants from years before.
Since you didn't see the house and its condition at the outset of the original lease, you may not be aware of the original condition. You've only stated that it was gross when you moved in.
By allowing yourself to be one of the final departing tenants, you unfortunately have to return the property in the condition that it was in at the beginning of the original lease, not at the beginning of your stay.
It helps if you can develop some rationalization abilities. For example, determine the amount out of which you think you're being screwed. Then from that amount, add back the amount that you saved by not leasing your own place alone for 6 months, plus whatever benefits you received from the roommate arrangement, such as shared cooking, rides, etc. It's possible if you look at it creatively and factor in the total cost/benefit of the 6 months you might still be able to declare yourself a wise money manager even if you lose all the deposit.
I am livid that he so easily handed people their deposits back before and now we are responsible for wear and tear of tenants from years before.
How do you know this? You didn't meet the previous tenants and you probably haven't met any of his other tenants. For all you know, he's kept the deposits of all the previous tenants too.
The best route to take is what Chet said above. Set aside your irritation with him, and do what you can to clean up the place. Spent $5 on a bottle of CLR and some steel wool and get rid of the calcium deposits.
It sounds like you've got all the equipment to paint. Go to Home Depot and get a 2-pack of Kilz extra-thick primer for $25, to go over the old color. Make sure you paint it on nice and evenly, and don't splatter or drip. While you're there, pick up some paintable spackle to go over the holes in the bedroom walls, for $5.
All told, you'll probably spend less than $50 and you'll get back hundreds in your deposit.
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