Funny tenant, and dumb (lease, deposit, fees, carpet)

[bentlebee]

My previous tenant is real funny , I had sent him a certified letter for all the cost that will be deducted from his sec. deposit and the additonal charges. I wrote the official legal sentences and specified every little item, even specified how much was not deducted due to normal wear and tear and what and how normal wear and tear was calculated into the amount.

I send the certified letter approx 2 weeks after he had moved out so plenty of time within the legal 30 days notice.

He didn't responded by mail within 15 days, but after I came home from filing a case in small claims court against him I noticed late in the day he had sent me an email stating that was his official letter to protest my deduction and demanded to be paid more than half of his sec. deposit back...

He tried to specify it and that is where for me the fun started. He admitted a lot of things and even stated he didn't have to clean when he moved out (cleaning is not a word in his dictionary), and he had put the oven on self cleaning which was enough, according to him. He had replaced plants, etc...

Very funny since I have almost 200 pictures with dates on them, letters from the HOA for violation due to dead plants, no weeds being pulled, etc...

He left a refrigerator and asked me if I wanted it and I stated no and you have to pick it up today before the lease is over...He explained that the same eveing he would come back with a friend to pick it up, which he never did so the next day after I tried to call him and he didn't pick up I got rid of it, since our lease is over and my lease clearly is stating that everything that is left after the lease is expires, will be looked as at abandoned and gives the LL the right to dispose off. I even wrote him an email stating how bad the property looked and briefly what we already had discovered and the fridge not being picked up.....

Now he is stating he came by at a certain time and the fridge wasn't there on that day that he had told me he would pick it up. My pic. was made at that exact time..., and he stated it could have been we moved it back into the home so he couldn't excess it....I had made a pic. the nect morning (time, date) and you can even see the power cord laying in the exact same position

The garbage and other trash was left behind and the trash company didn't pick it up....he stated that the trash company was obligated to pick it up even if you are delinquent as he was...wow...never heard of that one.

Also he stated that he was a good paying tenant since he had paid all months and by law you can pay 5 days late....Fl. law give 3 business days, but I guess that was too hard to look up for him, specially since he once paid at the 11th day, but my late fees are so big that it hurt him more than me

The last thing he stated I had 15 days to pay him or he would go to court and repeated exactly my sentences...., very original.

I guess he might already being served, or otherwise pretty soon since we know where he lives

This is gonna be an interesting court case with lots of fun

[GloryB]

Good thing you documented everything so well.

3 days late OK in Florida??? Where I live...if you don't pay on the 1st by 5 PM, there is a $50 late fee. After the 7th, the late fee goes to $100. And they won't accept partial payments ever. Luckily, the way I get paid, I pay my rent 2 weeks early every month....but these late charges are really hard on some of the other tenants.

[bentlebee]

My late fees are also $ 100.- + 4% but on the other hand I give discount for paying before the 27th.

[STT Resident]

Can't wait to see how this pans out - thanks for the morning chuckle!

[virgode]

Bentlebee...just one question about your post....
"how normal wear and tear was calculated into the amount"
Does this mean you deducted for normal wear and tear?
Could you be specific.....

[moved]

I pay on the 5th of the month, which is the last day to pay. I'm on unemployment, and have to wait for my check to come in the mail. It makes the manager mad, because he has see the owner again, and he's afraid of him. He doesn't like to work, and only does when the owner is around.

We had a three month plumbing problem, and the manager kept telling the owner that it was resolved. But the owner found out otherwise, when three of us called him about the problem. And it was resolved right away, too.

[FelixTheCat]

Originally Posted by virgode

Bentlebee...just one question about your post....
"how normal wear and tear was calculated into the amount"
Does this mean you deducted for normal wear and tear?
Could you be specific.....

I"m not the OP, but I know what he is saying. Just an example, years may not be correct given that there are different qualities of carpet:

Carpet has a 7 year lifespan. In 7 years under normal wear and tear the carpet needs to be changed. A tenant moves out after 5 years and the carpet has bleach marks and holes, making it too damaged to practically repair. The carpet cost $700 to replace. $700 carpet/7 years = $100 per year. The landlord lost 2 years of carpet use or $200. $200 is deducted from the deposit.

[bentlebee]

^^^ Correct. I have different life expectations for different items. The tenants kids used pencil and other materials to draw on the blinds which couldn't be removed. Blinds go way longer than carpet so with the above calculation I deducted what was left for my life expectation for the blinds, carpet (which was replaced last year), etc.

The funny thing is that the tenant objected to the window screens that were broken. 4 were broken, bended, etc. In his letter he stated 1 was really broken the rest could be repaired and bended back so only the new screen should have been attached which saved him money. Further down in the same letter he stated he accepted the amount for the replacement of the 4 window screens.....easy to show this letter to the judge.

He stated he placed plants in the yard....haha I have pictures of the day he moved out, no plants (other than the palm tree) were there, even all the mulch was gone. We bought approx. 14 bags of mulch.

He also stated he accepts the amount for the broken/vanished sprinklers ( but he never ever reported them not in working condition, not on the day of moving out) and the same counts for other stuff.

he even sent me a email stating how some people would take advantage of foreigners so I had to be careful not be over charged or taken by others.... I guess he meant to be taken by them!

I guess the judge will love that email as well....

[sskkc]

Blinds go way longer than carpet

lol... in what universe?

[second right]

I find it rather creepy that a landlord seems to derive such great pleasure (gloating?) in relating their side of a story regarding a tenant, punctuating nearly every point with a big grin smiley or three.

I'd love to hear the other side of the story.