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| Is tenant entitled to their security deposit? |
| Posted by: Mike |
| Date: September 02, 2006 12:27:21 AM |
| I leased a house to a tenant in Cape Coral, FL for 1 year. The lease required that the tenant maintain the electric, pool maintenance, and lawn maintenance. The tenant informed me that he would be moving out at the end of the 11th month. Upon signing the lease the tenant paid me 1st, last and $1000 security deposit so, all rent has been paid. I was unable to re-rent the house and so, I have had to incurr the cost of the electric, pool maintenance and lawn maintenance. I have also had to perform a number of repairs to the lawn due to poor maintenance. Now the tenant is calling for a full refund even though the lease states that if you vacant early he is not entitled to a refund.
My question is "Is the tenant entitled to a refund of their security deposit? If so, how much?" |
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| Re: Is tenant entitled to their security deposit? |
| Posted by: Ralph |
| Date: September 04, 2006 12:27:55 PM |
| The only things that you can charge the tenant for are unpaid rent (not an issue), damages beyond normal wear & tear, and extra expenses resulting from him breaking the lease. You could consider charging him for one month of electric, pool maintenance and lawn maintenance, but if he wishes to dispute it in court his argument might be that you would have incurred such expenses during the month after he left even if he had stayed for the 12th month. If you think that you have a good reply to this potential argument, you might go ahead and do it. However, you must balance the amount of money involved against the time and money (including gas, parking, and lost wages or business income) involved in fighting it in court plus probably both his and your own court costs if you lose.
I'm not sure about FL (check the law), but in most states you cannot make a security deposit unrefundable if the tenant broke the lease. You can only charge rent, damages, and expenses against the deposit that are related to the default.
Also be sure that you provide a refund and an accounting for amounts not returned in a timely manner as required by FL law. |
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