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June 16, 2009
landlord withholding my money
I recently moved out of my apartment in May. Upon moving in (2 yrs. ago), I paid 1st, last, & security. I paid the rent in May (technically my last month) before I knew that I was not resigning the lease. I found a new tenant to sign a new lease and the transition was smooth, no problems. I am now asking that my landlord refund my last month's rent. I asked him politely and provided proof of payment. He is not cooperating. He is no longer responding to my emails. What can I do?
Comments
No problem: tell him that something has come up, and you will be unable to leave at the expected date. Then don't answer his calls. Tell the new tenant the same thing. Even if you are gone, leave some old boxes and clothes lying around. He'll get the message.....
Posted by: slopenick at June 16, 2009 3:23 PM
Slopenick, I think the point is he has already moved out...
Bwallace - you need to write a detailed letter with all suppoting documentation and send 1 copy via certified mail and 1 via fedex (just to be sure he doesnt deny receipt. Asking for a written response within 10 days. after 10 days you will need to get a lawyer to write a much stronger letter suggesting legal action.
If still no response you will need to sue, unfortunately this will likely be a hassle but if you are sure there are no issues and you are within the terms of your lease you should prevail.
Posted by: newsouthsloper at June 16, 2009 3:29 PM
Couldn't you just take him to small claims court?
Posted by: Arkady at June 16, 2009 3:33 PM
Is he withholding your last month's rent or your security deposit??
NY law is retarded about the security deposit... landlord's have a "reasonable time" to return the money + interest (minus admin fees). It's not defined what that means... a month, two, three, six? As long as it's "reasonable."
If it's your last month's rent and you got your security back.... hmmm... dunno.
Posted by: tybur6 at June 16, 2009 3:53 PM
See this link: http://www.housingnyc.com/html/resources/faq/security.html
And the section titled "Rent Security Deposit" at: http://www.housingnyc.com/html/resources/attygenguide.html
Posted by: vinca at June 16, 2009 6:03 PM
small claims court
Posted by: IronBalls at June 16, 2009 9:36 PM
Certified letter with threat of legal action to follow will usually take care of it.
I had this done to me a while ago. The landlord simply ignored all communication until I sent the certified letter.
I swear some landlords do this with *every* tenant just in the hope that some of them will give up and let them keep them money. They just "forget" until they realize the tenant won't go away.
Posted by: northsloperenter at June 18, 2009 12:52 PM
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