Landlord Withholding $600 of Security Deposit
A friend recently moved out of her apartment and got her security deposit back — minus $600. She paid about $2300 a month in rent and left the apartment in good condition save for a few small holes in the walls where she hung pictures and some curtain rods. She lived in a large building run by an unresponsive management company. For five years she lived with an ancient stove that often broke down and which they refused to replace and a pretty old refrigerator. So this wasn’t some luxe apartment. She’s puzzled about why they summarily deducted the $600. Any ideas how to handle? The management company rarely returns calls. One idea I had was to write them a letter demanding an itemized explanation to account for the $600. Any assistance appreciated.
angelique.m.west
in General Discussion 8 years and 4 months ago
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14 replies
slopefarm | 8 years and 3 months ago
I agree with you, bk. I just think anything that disappears with a fresh paint job is ordinary wear and tear. The fact of having to paint (without more) is not something I would withhold security over.
BKALLDAY | 8 years and 3 months ago
That is not necessarily the true. You may have long term tenants and of course you would repaint the place over at your cost but if I have a one year tenant who went to town on the sheetrock or plaster and lath then you bet that is coming out of their security. I had a tenant who had an 80 inch flatscreen. It could not fit through his door. We had to walk it through my space and through the backyard which was a straight run through to his space (no turns). He signed the addendum promising he would not hang that tv on the wall). He moved out 2 years later and not only had he hung it on the wall but he cut open the sheetrock and put in additional bracing before using a huge hanging apparatus (which he removed poorly). He also cut through some cable wires which ran from the basement up throughout the building. When he left he did no walkthrough I got a quote and and I mailed the pictures of the place (all date stamped) with a copy of the quote and sent it to h is place of employment where I could reach him. I kept all of his 1 1/2 month security deposit and never heard a peep from him. That is an extreme case. But it does happen.
slopefarm | 8 years and 3 months ago
repainting the entire place fresh is just something you do as a landlord. It is not something to withhold security over. And You expect tenants to hang things on the wall. All part of normal wear and tear. Not right to withhold security without saying what for.
BKALLDAY | 8 years and 3 months ago
If she lived there awhile and left holes it’s not a simple patch and paint job because the paint may have soured so touching up will show where the holes have been. They may have kept it to just repaint the entire place fresh. While it is hard to lose that much money, trying to get it back will be harder. You can go to the rent board out in Queens and see if this Landlord is an habitual abuser of tenants and if so file a complaint. Tell your friend that Command Strips will work best next time. Good luck.
daveinbedstuy | 8 years and 4 months ago
$600 isn’t worth the time or trouble.
angelique.m.west | 8 years and 4 months ago
Thanks. My friend just bought a place so she doesn’t plan on being a tenant again anytime soon.
slopefarm | 8 years and 4 months ago
My sense is a lot of landlords are doing searches for litigation involving prospective tenants. If your name is in a caption, whether as plaintiff or defendant, it would come up in the same search. Not sure that small claims court actions are searchable that way. But perhaps a good reason to pester the owner directly first. As a LL, I’ve never done this search, but I understand others do.
resident2 | 8 years and 4 months ago
EJR The so called black list is for tenants that a landlord has had to bring a law suet against. Not for tenants that are no longer tenants.
If your friend feels that they have a strong case, take the landlord to small claims court; naming all that are listed on the lease as the landlord: ie such & such corp c/o abc management. Keep all your records of rent payments and take note of the Banks where the rent was deposited.
When you get a judgement the easiest place to collect is the Bank that the rent checks where deposited to. The second is to serve any of the tenants in the building; to collect from rent payments. Make sure to file the judgement against the building, landlord & management company in the county that the building is and the landlords office etc is.
Once you have a judgement it will get paid off; you are are collecting 9% per year up until it gets paid off…. security deposit issues, the tenant always wins, even when they are wrong. You just need to run around a few State Courts/offices etc and get it recorded.
EJR | 8 years and 4 months ago
Before making too much of a fuss about this in a public setting, consider that the Tenant Blacklist still exists and you do not want to find yourself on it. https://www.brickunderground.com/blog/2014/05/tenant_blacklist
thirelian
in General Discussion 8 years and 4 months ago
this happened to me in Berkeley. Laws are more tenant friendly there, but I wrote a long and detailed letter to her (and threatened to cc Berkeley board of landlords in 24 hrs). It included every statute that I thought she broke in keeping the deposit, along with details and documentation such as screenshots of our email correspondence demonstrating she thought home was in good condition. She claimed she needed our deposit to fix damage we caused. I called her handy man and itemized every task she asked for, including the amount she paid and his professional opinion whether this damage was caused by tenant, or previous work she intended to do. It was about 4-5 pages, within a few hours she sent me a photo of the deposit and the fed ex slip. swish! $2k!
workisfun | 8 years and 4 months ago
Or if the landlord already has documented violations, your friend could threaten her own complaint as the straw that breaks the camel’s back, by going to some form of media outlet to shine a light on a pattern of shady practices.
EJR | 8 years and 4 months ago
If she has a judgement against them and they fail to pay, there are additional avenues available to collect, though for $600 none of them are palatable given the time and hassle involved. Short of initiating an action in small claims court, does the management company have a physical office? It’s far easier to ignore phone calls than it is to ignore in person visits. She should show up and demand answers. She should also keep escalating matters to more senior people in the managing agent’s office or in the owner’s organization if she can get that info. At the end of the day the $600 is probably worth more to her than the management company/owner and they may relinquish it if she is annoying enough.
If none of that works and she doesn’t want to try small claims, she could at least try to find an attorney who will send an angry demand letter for a minimal charge and see if that gets any traction.
angelique.m.west | 8 years and 4 months ago
Maybe. But let’s assume they fail to show up or respond and she wins a judgement that, of course, they’ll never pay. So that would be a last resort.
RobertGMarvin
in General Discussion 8 years and 4 months ago
Isn’t this what small claims court is for?