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| Landlord keeping my deposit |
| Posted by: Jenny |
| Date: July 28, 2005 12:27:35 PM |
| My ex-landlord sent me a statement showing that I will not receive back any of my deposit. Some of the items of claimed damage have not yet actually been repaired and only list an estimate of cost. Can he bill me based on estimates rather than what he actually pays for the work? |
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| Re: Landlord keeping my deposit |
| Posted by: Ed |
| Date: July 28, 2005 10:06:29 PM |
| Typically landlords must provide an estimate of repairs within a certain period of time after vacancy (often 21 days). In CA, LL must offer tenant the option of receiving receipts for all work. Ask your landlord for receipts for items beyond normal wear and tear. If he will not cooperate, you may have to take him to small claims court. Can you tell us how long you lived there and what the LL is charging you for? Did the LL do a walk through with you to tell you what items you might be charged for beyond normal wear and tear? Did you have an initial walk through when you started your occupancy of the premises? |
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| Re: Landlord keeping my deposit |
| Posted by: mlr |
| Date: July 29, 2005 02:12:43 AM |
| Depends on the state inwhich you reside. Estimates are perfectly aceptable ine MI. However ... if you do not agree with the assessment of damages ... you can file a claim insmall claims court and provide all of the information you have to dispute the charges. |
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| Re: Landlord keeping my deposit |
| Posted by: REL |
| Date: July 30, 2005 01:01:32 AM |
| Because of the need in most states to provide an accounting within a certain period of time after termination, a relatively short period in some states, it is not unusual that the work cannot actually be commpleted prior to the deadline. Accordingly, estimates are sometimes the only option and "reasonable" estimates will usually be acceptable to the Judge in most jurisdictions. If an estimate is actually a bid for doing the work by an independent vendor, I would expect a Court to almost always accept the estimate.
To get some idea of the "reasonableness" of an estimate, simply call, as a landlord, a few vendors and ask for a rough estimate of the cost of a particular task.
The cost of repairs and maintenance are probably a lot higher than most tenants would ever guess and the costs continually rise, usually at a faster rate than inflation. As examples, you might be shocked at what it costs to have a qualified contractor repair a hole in a wall including the repair itself, priming and painting and it can cost $50-$100 labor for installation of $3 parts. |
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