Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

I came to san diego to chill for 3 months. I got a place and paid a $1000 sec. deposit. The lease ends tomorrow and chances r good she doesnt plan to give my deposit back. What if i just refuse to leave until i get my deposit or an explanation?

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

(Heres the background)
At the signing of the lease i ask about a section that says $50/night for guests. I says "woah wha?" she says as long as no one is here for over 10 days, this is standard i guess.

The place has a hot tub that hasnt been used in a while. I fill it. Doesnt work. We drain it and get it repaired refill it and I start using/loving it.

A month later she says "zomg, the water bill shot up $260 and the lectric bill is gone up too." (beyond what u would expect from a tennant. I dont know much about this sort of thing so i tell her ill pay for it if it turns out these are reasonable. Rather than hold money fromt he deposit she actually askes for extra cash which i denied. (shady?!)

Eventually i look up the cost of water and find that it would cost less than $20 to fill the hot tub twice and that the jump in bill was probably because of a leak. I tell her this but she keeps getting mad and runs away when i try to talk to her about it (she lives on the property). There is deffinte tension.

Nearing the end of the lease and i ask her what she is planning to do with my deposit she says im not getting much back shes keeping $650 for guests (this would be wrong even if she did charge $50/night extra) and keeping $300 for the electric but i should be happy cause im prob getting something back ($50?)

I email her the URL for the prices of water online. This still doesnt convince her. I think her new boyfriend set her straight or something.

Anyway, my lease ends tomorrow and i have a flight that leaves at 2pm. What should I do? I keep trying to talk to her but she wont answer my phonecalls and acts like shes not home.

I think she has big plans to go on vacation or something tomorrow with her new boy and she has new tennants she wants to move in asap.

What if i just refuse to leave until i get my deposit back? What could happen legally? What are my option?

(I live in pittsburgh and make to much $/hr bother going to court for this)

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

[x] rivered

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

$1000 worth of damage imo

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

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$1000 worth of damage imo

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Slash sell contents of place (e.g. dishwasher, doorknobs, carpet) on Craigslist.

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

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$1000 worth of damage imo

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Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

you were supposed to not pay the last month of rent. you're f-ed.

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

ok, but maybe im not? What happens if i just dont leave?

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

your best bet is small claims. it's a pain in the ass, but might be worth your time.

if you threaten her that you'll sue, you may get lucky and scare her in to giving you the money back.

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

Here's an idea.
Read your lease.
See what it says to cover her adjustments etc.

The language of the lease will or won't cover some of this.

There are steps after that- but start there.

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

Yeah i've read it. But a large chunk $650 of it was verbal. Her telling me i wont be charged for guests if they arent staying long. Now she needs/wants money and just wants to use it as an excuse. The rest of it i dont think i'll get either. I mostly want to know what would happen if i just refuse to leave until paid. does she have any recourse?

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

I think her recourse would be calling the police and charging you with trespassing.

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

fk this bitch up with a hockey stick is what i would do.

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

I've thoguht land lord couldnt just throw you out like that though. Like they had to go to court and get paperwork for it, etc.

Electric/gas company cant cut u off in winter or something, amirite?

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

i would think that it wouldn't require eviction if she has a copy of that lease which states when it expires. i really have no idea but you might want to talk to a lawyer about it so you dont end up getting arrested

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

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I've thoguht land lord couldnt just throw you out like that though. Like they had to go to court and get paperwork for it, etc.

Electric/gas company cant cut u off in winter or something, amirite?

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first part may be somwhat correct. second part likely wrong many places, or possibly irrelevant to the discussion.

the part people miss on the "f the landlord" part is they end up owing more money in many instances.
if tenants want to be deadbeats who intend to never pay anything- by all means do whatever you think you can to screw the landlord. but i think they miss the long term costs and consequences of it.

I'm not saying you are that- I'm saying that many of the responses in the thread don't bother considering it.

Write the landlord a letter disputing the charges she told you about and why. send it some form of registered mail and keep copies.
That's the basic advice. Be polite and direct about it.
A landlord is more likely to deal with someone who isn't way out of line than they are someone swearing up a storm and threatening things.

She's either a reasonable person or she isn't. If not, you probably don't help your chances of a reasonable outcome by being a dick in return.
If she is reasonable, you can only help by being civil.

Also consider some sort of compromise. There is a point at which it's probably not worth your or her time to debate some amount of money.

I'm not going to get into specific advice about stuff because I'm not a lawyer.

I do however deal with tenants daily.

Keep the dialogue open.

edit: last and maybe most important... next time don't agree to ridiculous clauses like the guest clause, and if she says she will waive them or modify them, get it written into the lease or get her to write it somewhere on paper for you.

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

1) you're an idiot for allowing $50/night in the lease.
2) rather than take some stupid traceable recourse that will bite you in the ass (ie not paying last months rent, selling appliances, etc):

in 3-6 weeks, post a picture of an attractive female on craig's list personals with your land lord's phone number(s).

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

LOL

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

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Yeah i've read it. But a large chunk $650 of it was verbal. Her telling me i wont be charged for guests if they arent staying long. Now she needs/wants money and just wants to use it as an excuse. The rest of it i dont think i'll get either. I mostly want to know what would happen if i just refuse to leave until paid. does she have any recourse?

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Surely the fact you had guests is only verbal anyway?

<font color="white">Lori </font>

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

Its not like those dollars are worth anything nowadays anyway

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

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fk this bitch up with a hockey stick is what i would do.

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Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

Why would you ever let a $50 per night for a guest be included in the written lease? And was there anything in the lease about who was responsible for paying the water and electric bill? Becuase if it says you weren't which you make it sound like then I wouldn't think it should matter anyway what the water and electric bill were.


Assuming you didn't cause $1000 worth of damage, everything you said is somewhat true, and there isn't information left out then you could consider sueing her and going to small claims court. Even if you juust tell her you're going to sue and take steps to do so, so she knows you're serious it may get her to just give you back most of it to avoid going to court.

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

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$1000 worth of damage imo

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Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

You should contact a laywer of some sort and see what rights you have

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

Also look at what the laws in the state are, if they contradict the lease they may invalidate it entirely.

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

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I tell her this but she keeps getting mad and runs away when i try to talk to her about it

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Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

try this

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

op.. sounds like you're a tard. How does she know you have guests there for 13 nights? Is she psychic? I'd never sign a lease containing that dumb provision. Then you offer to pay the water bill, when it's probably her responsibility? LOL Did you pay to have the hot tub fixed too?

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

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Yeah i've read it. But a large chunk $650 of it was verbal.

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gg moran

Re: Land lord is jacking my deposit!
 

I'd think she shoulda payed for the hot tub to be fixed, and if she's supposed to cover water/electric then an increase isn't your responsibility at all.

Brag/Whine combo
 

"(I live in pittsburgh and make to much $/hr bother going to court for this)"

Is this a brag or a brag/whine combo ?

So, get on the plane and forget about it, then.

Re: Brag/Whine combo
 

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"(I live in pittsburgh and make to much $/hr bother going to court for this)"

Is this a brag or a brag/whine combo ?

So, get on the plane and forget about it, then.

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this is my question too. is this like if you fold on tv and then say they didnt have it to cover all the bases?

which btw is my plan exactly!

Re: Brag/Whine combo
 

she probably spent the deposit on crack and now is finding an excuse bc she cant pay it back... basically your screwed

Re: Brag/Whine combo
 

She should have payed for the hot tub to be fixed, it's tax deductible for her

Depending on what your lease says, you're likely not responsible for utilities increasing.

Also- maybe make her a reasonable offer pending you seeing copies of the bills (before and after)?

Re: Brag/Whine combo
 

No court will side with the landlord if she cannot provide accurate records that detail the costs and reasons associated with why she is keeping your deposit. You are entitled to a detailed breakdown of the charges. Start off by asking for a breakdown of the charges being applied to your deposit and don't even hint at the possibility of a lawsuit.

Small claims cases are inexpensive to file and don't require an attorney. You just walk into the courthouse, file some paperwork and pay a fee. Then let the judge decide.

If you do go to court, show up prepared (with any and all supporting evidence, witnesses etc) and don't come off like a fool.

Don't listen to people advising that you trash the place, sell property that isn't yours or do other things that could land you in financial or legal trouble. It isn't worth screwing up the other aspects of your life over a thousand dolalrs.

Re: Brag/Whine combo
 

Judge Judy?

Re: Brag/Whine combo
 

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No court will side with the landlord if she cannot provide accurate records that detail the costs and reasons associated with why she is keeping your deposit. You are entitled to a detailed breakdown of the charges. Start off by asking for a breakdown of the charges being applied to your deposit and don't even hint at the possibility of a lawsuit.

Small claims cases are inexpensive to file and don't require an attorney. You just walk into the courthouse, file some paperwork and pay a fee. Then let the judge decide.

If you do go to court, show up prepared (with any and all supporting evidence, witnesses etc) and don't come off like a fool.

Don't listen to people advising that you trash the place, sell property that isn't yours or do other things that could land you in financial or legal trouble. It isn't worth screwing up the other aspects of your life over a thousand dolalrs.

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Courts are usually in favor of the tenant because "Landlords are money grubbing tyrants!" Sounds like you have a good case of Landlord abuse here, take her to court. Sometimes a well worded letter will get the job done. If you outline the details to her in a letter, then you'll have some serious evidence when you take her to court.

Also, check your state law as was stated above.

Please send your rent payment for my professional advice to Landlord79 on FTP

That is all.

Re: Brag/Whine combo
 

break into her apartment when she's on vacation
build a meth lab in her apartment
call the police

Re: Brag/Whine combo
 

i dint pay for the hot tub repairs

i hadnt thought the utility thing through but just said if it was reasonable i'd cover so she'd go cause it was peak hours online, etc.

She lives on the estate so she knew saw my guests.

I moved out and didnt fight as she said she would be shipping $800 which is the right amount

yeah pittsburgh and hourly was definite brag/beat.

variance: i been travelling for over a year though

im in vegas now playign live like a sucker, but its fun n relaxing.

Re: Brag/Whine combo
 

This should be easily solved by logic.

Have her itemize exactly what is being charged WITH PROOF OF DAMAGES/EXPENSES IE receipts, detailed explanations. If there is a huge dispute, take her to small claims court. She's definitely trying to screw you if you are writing this objectively.

P.S. read your lease as well.