Landlord is claiming that repairs are beyond the cost of the security deposit of $1200 I gave this guy for rental. Long story short. Had a year lease. had an $800 deposit. then after going month to month, did another $400 for my dog. He's claiming $1600 in so-called repairs. He's claiming bedroom for repaint. The funny thing is, when I moved in, it was never painted proper to begin with(needed a place to live after relocating from Texas). Do I owe this guy any more money or is he shit out of luck? I know the bedroom clean up is bogus because when I moved in you could see where sheetrock had been cut away and then new sheet rock installed and spackled. I assume he was touching up the wiring since it went straight to the ceiling fan.


For what it's worth, I don't make a lot, and after moving, $500 to me, right now, is a lot of money in itself til I get back on my feet. Moved about 20 minutes away and my hours at work got cut short


ETA: oh and I do have photos to back this up

If you've got dated photos showing a pre-existing problem when you moved in, you should be GTG on any claims on that part. If you caused new damage, then you're on the hook for reasonable expenses to correct or repair.

Are you asking us if you owe the money legally or morally?

If it is legally, that will depend on what your lease says and what your state laws say about the process of making a claim against your security deposit.

In Florida (where I'm licensed), there are specific requirements and time frames in which a landlord has to make a claim against a security deposit and courts require strict compliance.

If it is morally you are concerned about, if the paint was in poor shape before you moved in or you lived there for a long time, I'd consider the $400 for paint to be normal upkeep, not a repair.

As a practical matter, we are only talking about a $400 difference between what he is holding and what he says you owe and that is most likely not enough to go to court over.  

As we are only talking about $400

LOL There was no paint is the issue. He's making it sound like it was prepped and painted. It wasn't. Got pictures showing where shit has been spackled and not painted, where painter's tape was left and work was abandoned. There's a big streak across the bedroom ceiling showing where electrical work was done. New sheetrock was put in and spackled but never painted. White new sheetrock against kind of yellowish aging sheetrock.

So while you lived there, the walls had bare sheet rock and now that you moved out, he is charging you for the initial painting of the walls?

I would file this under normal wear and tear, and tell him to pound sand

intial prep and painting. yup.

From what you said, the painting of the bedroom sounds like BS but I don't know how much of the $1600 in repairs was for the painting.

It also sounds like it is going to be too much of a hassle to get any money back or for him to sue you for the balance.

Does the landlord know where you live now?  If not, he won't be able to serve you with papers should he decide to file suit for the $400 balance.

Where is the itemized bill?

I would turn it around and sue for the deposit. Normal wear and tear is excluded.

Lol nah he has no clue. And I'm changing phone numbers soon too (people not answering my calls because they keep seeing a Texas area code lol). It was via email. An email account I have that gets shit ton of spam too. As far as I'm concerned, for right now, I didn't see it.

This.

OK, here we go again.  Another poster who won't listen to me.  Why do I even bother?

$800 Security Deposit plus another $400 for the dog?  Was the $400 a Pet Deposit or a Pet Fee?  The former is refundable, that latter is not.  Did you sign a new contract reflecting this additional $400?  

Painting, standard cleaning, and standard carpet cleaning is normal wear and tear and you should not be charged for these items.  Landlord should only charge you what it cost in EXCESS or what his standard charges are from his vendors / maintenance staff to turn the unit.  (Turn a unit means to make it market ready for a new resident).  In other words, if his painter normally charges him $500 to paint a unit, your landlord should not charge you anything unless the painter has to charge above and beyond his normal painting charge.  Landlord would need to document said overages.  

I would ask your landlord for an itemized statement of charges (known in the business as a Final Account Statement or Statement of Deposit on Account).  You should ask him for receipts of where it cost him extra to turn your apartment.  Tell him if you don't get your deposit in full you are going to file a small claims case at the local court house and will ask for Treble damages (three times your Sec Dep, which is somewhat standard state to state).  

And that is your remedy.  If you don't get a full refund, go to the courthouse and file a small claims case against him.  Doesn't cost that much; maybe $2-300 max.  The clerk of courts won't fill out the paperwork for you but should at least let you know what to put and where on the forms they will give you.

But what do I know.  I've only been in the business for 29-years.  Last member who listened to me got a check from his landlord at the behest of the magistrate for $4K.

Should look up PA Tenant/Landlord law for specifics.  Not my area of experience which is limited to Maryland, Virginia, N.C., S.C. Georgia, and Florida.

This, write him back and indicate this.  Cannot speak for Tx, but VA had lanlord tenant boards.  He also has to take you to small claims court for damages beyond deposit.  You also can take him to court if you believe damage charges are excessive.

Varies by county and city as do the laws in effect.

I managed to hold properties in multiple different names and avoided the rules for owning more than N places.