Reduced Security and no receipt
Hello, My husband and I recently moved out of 1 bedroom after our lease was up because our landlord refused to negotiate our rent and refused to investigate what is a potentially very serious safety issue. (We discovered a live gas line connected to our bedroom light fixture that was not properly capped.) We gave…
Hello,
My husband and I recently moved out of 1 bedroom after our lease was up because our landlord refused to negotiate our rent and refused to investigate what is a potentially very serious safety issue. (We discovered a live gas line connected to our bedroom light fixture that was not properly capped.)
We gave our notice at the end of September and paid through the end of October, despite moving out in early October. We did quite a bit of minor work on the place during our 12 months there and left the place spotless. The one potential issue was having done some painting without permission. Previous tenants had painted both the kitchen and bathroom bright colors so we didn’t think it would be a problem. Plus, the quality of the walls was poor enough that the idea of being charged to fix them seemed out of the question. Adding to this, our landlord was in our apartment at least half a dozen times and never commented on the paint. It was a very light beige which was not noticeable different than the original off-white.
After we moved out we tried repeated to contact our landlord via phone and email to ask about our security and any potential damages. We did not hear back until last week, Dec. 11, two full months after we moved out!
We finally got the check back and our landlord took out $800 from our security to repaint the walls that we painted. It is suspect to me that it would cost so much to paint a third of the 560 sq. ft apartment. Plus, she has yet to provide us with any documentation or receipts.
Here are my questions:
– What are our rights if she does not provide proper documentation on repairs?
– Are there laws on landlords having to repaint every x years? The apartment was not painted when we moved in and I wonder when it was last painted. Is there any way to prove that the walls NEEDED to be repainted anyway and that therefore we should not be obligated to pay for it.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Pls. let me know next time this landlord needs something painted. I only charge $75/hr, which must be cheaper than what the last painters got paid.
I think touching up nail holes, etc. is different from painting over a different color (to get back what was there before), and the landlord did have to hire someone to do it, and did pay the $800. I never saw the apartment myself (just heard about it), but I understand the problem was that while the color the tenant chose was a lovely match with the tenant’s furniture, once the apartment was empty again, that color did not show the apartment to its advantage (which is why the landlord had to get it back to the original white). I am not a landlord and I have no idea the going rate for paint jobs. I personally am very happy NOT to be a landlord. I do remember though that when I rented in Manhattan (from the Related Companies) many fellow renters painted, but ALL understood that they had to return the walls to the original white when they left, or pay Related to do so for them. I wonder what Related would have charged to tenants who failed to repaint their apartments back to the original white before leaving. By the way, we still don’t really know if the OP and my friend’s former tenant are one and the same…..
“I don’t understand a landlord withholding $800 for repainting something that really doesn’t need it if it is true that the tenant left the apartment very clean and made other minor improvements. Can you really justify that?
Posted by: CGfan at December 17, 2009 12:09 PM”
I can justify that (with the limited, one sided view of the situation)…
… the tenant painted without permission. They admitted to that. God only knows what else they did without permission that they are not mentioning here which caused the $800 bill.
You don’t want to lose security deposit? Don’t alter the apartment without written permission. Alter it without permission and accept the consequences…
jenepel, I have no dog in this fight, and I’ve been both a tenant and landlord myself so I don’t think the landlord is always in the wrong. However, even if it turns out that CGRenter26 is the same person you suspect, it doesn’t really address the question of whether it is unfair for a landlord to withhold $800 for repainting a kitchen and bathroom. It sounds like your landlord friend is resentful because she was nice to the tenants and they decided to leave. Perhaps there’s some extenuating circumstance, but it’s pretty unusual to have to repaint a neutral color unless it’s particularly garish.
We’ve had tenants leave a bit of stuff behind and nail holes, etc., and we never withheld the security because we considered it normal wear and tear. Unless there’s some extenuating circumstances you want to explain, I don’t understand a landlord withholding $800 for repainting something that really doesn’t need it if it is true that the tenant left the apartment very clean and made other minor improvements. Can you really justify that?
Busted!
This whole situation bears a remarkable resemblance to one I am familiar with involving someone I know. She also had to pass along charges of $800 for repainting (to cover color paint) when a tenant moved out, and she also just returned the security deposit this week. There was also an earlier concern on the part of the tenant about a potential gas leak. However, this landlord DID investigate. The gas company came out and found there was no gas leak associated with any piping in the wall. This landlord lives in the same building with her young family (which includes three young children). OF COURSE she took the concerns about gas seriously. When the tenants first brought the concern to her attention, she did not smell any gas herself, but encouraged them to call the gas company immediately if they were in any way worried. They declined to do so, but somehow apparently had the time and energy to post on here seeking advice, although not providing accurate facts about what was going on. It is funny how the people who post here are always so clearly in the right, and landlords are always the a##holes. This landlord gave the young couple a bottle of champagne when they married, and she DID offer them a lower rent when the rents in the neighborhood went down. She did everything she could to make their place comfortable for them (even giving them access to her own home when she was away, and access to her BBQ grill in the back garden which was not directly accessible except through her own home). Hmmm, it must be someone else, since there is NO WAY the landlord I know could be the same one referred to by the poster. The few details in common (like the $800 and earlier concerns about gas) do make one wonder though. It does seem an odd coincidence, doesn’t it? Just wondering, OP, did your landlord give you a bottle of champagne when you married?
hi Maly, hope you are reading this, how do you check the landlord via court system? thanks!!!
I agree w/n-sloper. My tenant asks a question it deserves an answer. Even if tenant is paranoid – and in this case they’re just concerned – be a grown up and either explain issue or find out answer. No biggie – to most of us.
Sorry OP. Crappy landlord. Make the claim. LL will need to document you caused the problem and have receipts. Which they won’t have. Good luck,
“I’m considering getting out of the LL business when I hear of tenants like this. ”
lol, a landlord steals $800 and you are freaked out about tenants informing landlords of potentially dangerous hazards in their building.
Please do get out of the LL business.