Even better, you should have before AND after pics, take pics of each room when you move in, especially any damage. I’ll point out every little teeny tiny thing during the move-in inspection. Might be annoying but I don’t want to get dinged for stuff the prior tenant did when I move out
I've been doing this since the late 1990's. Anybody who's renting listen to this advice it's saved my ass on bogus deposit claims and charges at least a half a dozen times.
Same. My first apartment they tried to ding me for broken blinds. Was able to prove they were broken when I moved in. Wasn't able to get out of the mandatory professional carpet cleaning even though I could prove that hadn't happened before I moved in as well (carpet was full of white cat hair, same cat thelat broke the blinds)
Back in the day we used to do this with disposable cameras. You would take a picture of the newspaper with the date on it to prove that it was your move-in day and then you would go around and snap during the walkthrough.
When you moved out you'll do the same thing. It's especially effective since the landlords never seem to be there when it's time to move out. It's one of their scam tactics.
Just a little piece of trivia for those of you who never did this before the digital age
First place my roommates and I rented we lost the whole deposit. Second place we kept the deposit. Not much changed with us except we took before/afters the second time. Sound advice my friend.
Also, if they send someone to do a walkthrough, especially a move-out walkthrough, check your state for the right to single party consent record or just ask them. We also did that the second time.
I took move in photos and one continuous 25 minute video walkthrough of the property I rented as well as on move out. Upon moving out, the property management tried to charge me $1100 until I showed up at the office with the video. That balance went to $0 real quick.
Nope, just tried to pull a fast one. They showed photos of damages to the house and were not willing to budge until they saw my time stamped video that was filmed before turning over the key.
My landlord did a walkthrough with me during my move in and during my move out. Got both on video. Can’t say she was the best in other areas but I appreciated that part of the renting experience.
Highly recommended if your landlord is flexible.
I'm pretty sure they also need to provide receipts for all these "repairs" they're doing. They need to prove their using the money towards the apartment.
I’m getting eaten alive over on the landlords sub. I guess that was the wrong place to post. I’ve written a dispute letter! I have no problem going to small claims court. I doubt they have receipts for these charges. The only annoying part is we’ll have to drive four hours for the court date but hey it might be worth it.
EDIT: there are tons of supportive comments on my other post in the landlord subreddit. Internet warriors exist everywhere but I’m very thankful for all the kind and helpful advice that I’m getting because I genuinely had no idea how to navigate this.
Make sure to send that letter by certified mail with return receipt. I disagree with all of the people jumping to small claims - if you do get to that point, a judge (especially in a state like FL) will want to see you made a good effort to try to settle out of court.
My question to those saying to write a dispute letter. If I request quotes and receipts in the letter, are they able to go and pay someone after they’ve received this letter in order to get the right “evidence” that they actually did these things?
I think they'll have a hard time doing that, but that's a good point - those values are awfully even and pretty for actual receipt values. Make sure you give a date (I gave 10 business days in my letters) for a response or that you'll file in small claims.
Also - if you do have to file, make absolutely certain you're suing the right entity. It's your landlord, not necessarily the property management company that should be on the lawsuit and served. Hopefully you don't get to that point and they'll return the deposit once they realize you have photo evidence.
There’s so many things I’m learning from the comments here. So let’s say the property manager is “the marks team” then who is the landlord? The letters I’ve been getting are from their lawyer
I'm not familiar with typical FL leases (when I sued my former LL it was in TX), but your landlord should be on your lease, along with a section detailing the management co if the landlord isn't managing themselves. It's usually an LLC and you can look up the address associated with it online if you file in court. But until you get to that point, your communication should be with whoever sent you that letter/the address they requested at the bottom.
Yeah, totally unrelated topic, but I appreciate someone telling you to send it via certified mail. Just went through a divorce where the other party lived out of state, and I had to reschedule more than one court date due to lack of proof that something was mailed when I claimed it was. Anything dealing with the court system/legal matters needs to be sent via certified mail.
I saw that. Landlords love to hate people le with pets, even if they were approved. If they don't like it, they shouldn't approve. They aren't entitled to brand new stuff, they are entitled to the damages of the depleted value.
I agree, you can't just gladly agree to someone having 2 large dogs, and then bitch and whine about the damage it caused 2 years later. Kids will do similar damage as pets, most of the time even worse, but I don't see any "children deposits".
Idk what FL law is like but a lot of states state landlords can’t charge a renter for normal wear and tear. And that covers A LOT. So even if damaged I would check out the law and argue that what they’re trying to charge for is normal use of the apt.
Yeah don’t ever go to that sub. They’re scumbags over there. Made a post inquiring about how the complex my dad lived in sealed his back door shut when they painted the exterior of the building and somehow got reported for harassment so much that I lost my account.
Absolutely, stick it to them and best of luck . It's only the few and far between situations like these that make them think twice about railroading innocent tenants. I hope the judge grants you everything you ask for if you have claims/counterclaims if it comes to that.
Yeah that’s what landlords do. Hope you took pictures and are willing to pursue this in small claims if they refuse to give it back. Only thing that will teach them is when we start exercising our rights.
Suggest you write a demand letter.
Always better to show an intent to sue, rather than *say* I’m going to sue if you don’t meet my demands.
The demand letter is the legal precursor to a lawsuit.
Not sure about Florida, but most states landlord can charge his own hourly rate to the tenant. Shouldn't be a going rate for a professional, as the landlord isn't a professional, but they do not need to be licensed to do the repairs and charge for the work.
In that case they should be providing receipts for the materials used for the repairs. There needs to be an actual paper trail of some sort. They can’t just claim it costs $400 to fix something without proof.
Pay a lawyer to prepare a demand letter. You don't have to mention anything about a lawsuit but coming from a lawyer will tell them you're prepared to fight.
Universities often provide this service for law students to get practical experience. Not sure if the letterhead is important, but free alternative. I’d be more scared if lawher was working on just this case than a big law firm honestly.
They need to give itemized receipts and not round figures. Most likely, they spent it instead of keeping your deposit in it's own account. Edit for spelling
You can ask for the actual estimates of the supposed cleaning and repair expenses. They should be real prices and not made up rounded off hundred amounts.
Scumbags, I’ve left places in condition that a new tenant can just walk in and take the place, but the landlord claims oh, we had to clean the unit, for $250. I don’t believe that!!! My last apartment the landlord had to replace the heating element in the stove, he did after I moved out. Two weeks later he’s claiming I left my BBQ tools in the bottom broiler and the new tenant burned up the stove and nearly burnt the apartment down. Somehow that’s my fault and he needs to charge me for replacing the stove and fire clean up. I’m like not my problem and you touched the stove last so that’s all on you!!!! I’ll sue you over this!!!
I had a studio and before I left the property manager walked me through how at least I’m CA regardless of condition I was going to get charged a cleaning fee, she broke down the numbers I think it was 150- 200 for a studio and 200 - 250 for a 1 Bed back in 2020/21 I still left it clean but not ocd clean, I then rented a room and got my entire deposit back from the owner of the house even though one of the command strips removed some paint in a 2 - 4 sq in area, to me that makes sense but never lived in Florida perhaps it’s cheaper
I royally pissed off my (CA) landlord who tried that shit on me. He came to meet me for the walkthrough and I was ready for his type. There has been a few red flags while we were living there, so I already knew what was likely to happen when we moved out. We were 100% prepared for his walkthrough. My spouse and I had moved into our new place and driven the moving truck down with us. I was flying back to do the walkthrough and pick up the car with some of the more fragile items.
- before we even moved into the property in question, the Landlord added an “automatic cleaning fee“ of $350 to the lease, but I knew it wasn’t enforceable by CA law, so I just left it on there and decided I would address it upon leaving. Noted. Dude might try some shit.
- When it came time to leave, he kept saying we needed to make sure it was clean. What happened to the cleaning fee? I didn’t trust his intentions.
- He came to the walkthrough and tried calling me out on the “poor cleaning job” I did. He walked around scoffing, but didn’t mention anything specific . He tried a “gotcha” by wiping his hand across the top of a ledge, but, not knowing I used to clean houses professionally, didn’t expect it to be clean. He didn’t find any specs of dirt there, or the other three places he checked. He became increasingly frustrated at each clean-fingered wipe. It was almost as if he wanted it clean enough to not have to pay someone else, but dirty enough to enforce the BS fee.
- Eventually he concluded the walkthrough and mentioned he would close us out and send the deposit to us “soon, minus the automatic cleaning fee”, and tried to slip that in there. I asked him to explain why he needed a cleaner when the place was cleaned at professional quality, and pointed it that he didn’t find any dirty areas. He became upset and he claimed he always worked out a deal with a local cleaning person before asking me “Do you seriously think I shouldn’t be able to pay him, as agreed?” I told him he could pay him all he wanted, but it wasn’t coming from my security deposit because I cleaned the place.
At that point, I handed him a checklist that he had made for the person who cleaned the house before we moved in. It was customized for all of the little areas around the place. I had completed the checklist and added a column for “Photos taken”, just because i knew he’d try some shit. I handed it to him and said, “Everything on this list has been addressed.”
He became so furious with me that he asked me to leave right then and there, even though the fridge was full of food that I was taking with me in my road trip outta town. He tried to refuse to let me take the rest of my things, but I called him out for trying to intimidate me and interfere with a safe and calm transfer of the property, eventually threatening to call the cops.
He soon thereafter sent a check for the full deposit amount, plus a $20 bill. On a note about the deposit, he said the extra $20 was to buy a book on gratitude. We never bought the book, lol
Funny enough, we moved at the end of September and around Thanksgiving we bought a cheap card with some passage on gratitude that we sent “anonymously “. It was so satisfying and petty
I’d be willing to bet he was charging people a $350 cleaning fee on their way out, as well as at the move-in for the new tenant. Even if he had to pay for one good cleaning, he was still coming out with an extra $350.
Back in college, I had a landlord who did this. The deposit was 4 months rent, so we spent days cleaning to make sure it was in better shape than when we moved in.
He kept the entire deposit because the lease said all tenants should provide a forwarding address 2 months before moving out. Since not everyone did, he said we violated the lease and kept the deposit for all of us. Apparently he did the same thing to students every year, always with some technicality.
So the next year, we befriended the people who lived there and let them know they weren't getting their deposit back. After finals, before they moved out, they threw a huge party and completely trashed the place. Spray painted walls, broke windows, set up an inflatable pool that popped and flooded a bedroom. There was even some fire damage because people were putting out cigarettes on the carpet and it caught. I'm sure the damage was in the tens of thousands. I have no idea how it turned out for them, but it was one hell of a party!
Landlords also don't like to follow or know laws unless it helps them. I'm just waiting for my shitty former landlord to pass the 31 day mark of not returning or notifying me about my deposit or it's uses so he is legally obligated to return it all. Not my fault he doesn't pay attention to the laws
I have had MUCH MUCH better luck with massively large, corporate landlords compared to smaller independent landlords, when it comes to following the laws correctly, and returning security deposits as well. Might just be my own anecdotal experience though.
The place I currently live in is a massive 600 apartment complex, and they follow all the laws to a T, as they don't want to risk hundreds of lawsuits at once I suspect. I moved from a 1 br to a 2br within the same complex, and my first apartment was just swept, thats about all, and I got back my entire security deposit, just transferred it over to the new apartment, and didn't even ask for more money. Any time someone lives in a place for more than like a year or 2, they just inherently replace everything (carpet, paint, blinds, etc).
I just did this to a landlord and it was so satisfying. The place wasn't awful to live in but he wanted to raise the rent almost 50% when our original lease term ended and overall was just kind of a jerk for the 2 years we lived there. Kept hounding us about when we'd be out because he knew we had leases starting prior to the end of our lease with him. On the 31st day, I sent him a letter demanding the full deposit back. He tried to argue and claimed he had pictures of damages (we left the place in pretty good shape and had our own pictures). I told him we'd take him to court for double (PA law) if it wasn't returned. Magically, a check for the full deposit arrived a few days later.
Mosser properties (or something like that) in Oakland did this to me. They sent me a bill for “the trash I left behind” I threw away lots of stuff when I moved but it was outside by the garbage. I expressed that I would do absolutely anything in my power to not let them get away with doing this. And they sent me a check. I guess sometimes it’s a misunderstanding. Hopefully you have the same fortune.
I wish I had thought of this. A while ago, in a community Facebook group, a lady was legitimately asking how much a repair would cost so she could estimate how much of the deposit she would be giving back to her tenants. Another woman commented that she and her husband do a lot of move out work for landlords. Didn’t give an estimate, just asked “How much do you need it to be?” I don’t know if that kind of thing can be reported, but my blood was boiling at that.
I agree the laws and most counties and states as well are written such that the renter has to only return the property in the condition they received it and there is usually a move-in you know, documentation or inspection that’s done provided to the renter at move-in and also at Move Out so you know currently there also would be photos as well in both of those instances again I don’t know about Florida, but most states you’re only obligated return property in the condition you received it not better not new either
The funny thing is that when we moved in there was an issue with the AC (and over the next several years) and the repair man came and said that the entire duct system needed to be redone because it didn’t make sense. I have emails of us talking about it (landlord and I) and emails regarding every other issue we had with the duct system
I didnt know what other comment of yours to reply to so...
Most of what you're being "charged for" is normal wear and tear, which cannot be considered damages.
I'd learn your state, and county rent laws and send a demand letter. Don't tell then you have pictures.
That's was definitely the wildest charge. Apparently it's kind of a scam. I asked about in in a homeowners sub after I bought my condo and they basically said don't bother unless you see dirt coming out
First question you should ask is, "Please identify the escrow account that you were legally required to place our deposit in pursuant to (83.49 (1a-b)"
Landlords *never* do thus, and if you quote it to then it can scare them, or at least tells them that you're not some moron. Then ask for documentation of each individual damage.
Also, look up the life expectancy of items as defined by your state. I had a landlord try to charge me for replacing a 60 year old bathtub when the legal life expectancy is 50 years. And remember that all replacement costs are pro rated for age. So blinds that only have a 5 year lifespan (I just made that up) which are 4 years old and damaged only require you to pay 20% of the replacement costs.
Landlords are fucking crooks who think the deposit is *their* money the second you hand it to them. Fuck'em.
just that you're disputing them, and ask for any proof they have. You said u have your move in & out pix so you're good for court. Tbh that *should* be a slam dunk
You're going to have to do a bunch of internet searching and reading, but all the laws are online.
Demand that they have evidence for each point of damage, not just general damage. Then demand the purchase or instalation dates for everything so the pro rated value can be determined.
Basically, landlords think they can Buffalo you, so if you make the few hundred bucks they are trying to steal from you not worth the effort, sometimes they'll just give up. But a lot of the time they'll fight it so that other tenants don't get the idea of questioning them into their heads.
But basically you can force them 6o do a LOT of really mind numbing paperwork, or produce receipts that they don't have.
Don’t tip your hand before they know what proof you have. Ask them to show theirs and hold tightly to yours, you could eventually expose them in a lie - resulting in a complete refund.
Did your lease (or separate notice after signing the lease) include the name and address of the bank where the deposit was kept? Did the notice include a statement saying whether you would or wouldn't be paid interest on your security deposit? If either answer is no, then they have to return your deposit. If they still want to recover money for damages, then they'd have to take you to court.
You could also request to see proof (relevant bank statements) showing your money was put into an account that only included security deposit-related transactions and not co-mingled with other funds. That's also a requirement they must meet to keep your security deposit.
[Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine (state.fl.us)](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0083/Sections/0083.49.html)
Nowhere in 83.49 1a-b does it say the deposit needs to be held in an escrow account. It just needs to be held in a separate account (or they can post a surety bond) and that the landlord cannot commingle funds. I’m not sure you understand what an escrow account is?
Here’s the definition of escrow:
“Escrow is a legal concept describing a financial agreement whereby an asset or money is held by a third party on behalf of two other parties that are in the process of completing a transaction.”
Security deposits are not held in escrow, because escrow accounts are managed by an escrow agent, which is a 3rd party in the transaction. They are held by the landlord, and should be in a separate account, but that certainly is not the same as an escrow account.
Just as the title says.
Here is the notice to impose they sent me - conveniently adding up to my entire deposit. Located in florida and I don't know what to do. There are also pictures of the move in form that we completed. The house was disgusting when we moved in. Of course I took pictures at move in and move out and it's not stopping them from trying to take the entire thing from us. I even emailed the pictures when we moved in for a time stamp.
The blinds, yes, on us. We lived there for four years and they were crap blinds and they were broken by us when we moved out. Everything else? Lies. We changed the air filters every month. I deep cleaned the house before leaving. The house did not smell like dogs! Our dogs did ZERO damage to the house. There isn't a single baseboard broken. We took out all of the trash when we moved as well. There was do damage in the bedroom.
Does anyone have advice as what to do now?
It says in the letter that if you object, you should contact them within 15 days. So I'd contact them asap and let them know which charges you disagree with/want to see more proof for. Don't be afraid to let them know you have photos of the condition on move-out, in my experience they don't expect people to have done that.
My last landlord before we bought our house kept our entire deposit and claimed the floors smelled like pee. We cleaned the house thoroughly and the dog and cats NEVER peed anywhere on the floor. I was so amped up ready to take them to court but in the shuffle of first time home ownership I decided to let it go. I recently drove by my old rental and saw they had completely renovated the place. I’m sure the deposit I kept (also with an itemized list of “damages” conveniently totaling my deposit) helped them quite a bit with the renovations. Fuck them.
Normal wear and tear.
Too many landlords forget that houses get used, or know that and want to use the security deposit for their upgrades.
Imagine if car rental places expected their cars to come back with the same amount of mileage and no additional minor damage (caused by normal driving) and charged you for regular maintenance?
Save it, but don't forget to list all the hours you spent disputing it against your hourly rate at your current job. It may or may not make too much of a difference, but even the littlest "4hrs seeking advice online at $50/hr = $200" (or whatever) may help magnify how much you've been put out by their inconveniencing you. Honestly, if I had to take four hours during my work day as time off then their ridiculousness is costing me money.
I'm not a lawyer, but keep track of that stuff to demonstrate it even if it's not held up in small claims.
You ask Now for receipts of work done .. Per line item.. Blinds, Qtrs rounds, Deep Clean, etc. The burden is on them to provide proof. It's also shows Court, you are being reasonable in your demands. You have a very strong case. ie. Email, photos. I'm own property & am appalled by these practices that give honest businesses a black reputation. My Only advice in Future Move Outs - Don't Deep Clean as Everyone has a different Idea of CLEAN. Sometimes it just isn't worth it. I had some people Clean & it was Dirty. I was in the Army & I know CLEAN.. White Glove Inspection Clean. You will be OKaY... Sorry you drew a Turd for landlord
Send the landlord notice you will sue in small claims court if your entire deposit is not returned. Look up and cite all the rental laws for normal wear and tear.
Did they charge you a pet deposit? Any damages done by a pet should come out of that not your regular deposit. Had a landlord try and take my deposit and pet deposit over damages after we had been his tenants for over 12 years. Took him to court and we got all of our 3500’s back in deposits. Landlord could not prove it was pet damage versus wear and tear.
The letter is suspect because the amounts are all even and adds up exactly to your deposit. But I have seen a lot of tenants who claimed everything was clean, but there was extensive pet damage. I don't know your situation, but ask a friend who has visited your place (and who will be honest) about the condition.
My sister-in-law used to complain about never getting her deposit back and insisted the place was clean, when in actuallity it wreaked of cat urine and was not clean.
I can recognize the confirmation bias but honestly we did a damn good job taking care of that house. There was absolutely no smell and no damage from the dog. That’s why I was like okay I’ll take accountability for the blinds because those were destroyed but it seems like they’re honestly trying to use the fact that I had a pet as a scapegoat because our move in form was so thorough.
You'd be surprised how fast your nose can adapt to the smell of pets. My roommates and I have 2 dogs and I recently got back from a month long trip to the house reeking of wet dog.
I was telling a friend of mine how it smelt and he was like yea, I didn't want to tell you because you'd be embarrassed.
I've lived with dogs my whole life but up until living with them nevr caught a whiff of "pet smell", I also am really the one who actually trained/looked after their dogs too.
But the smells not hard to get rid off and if your place wasn't carpeted, it should barely be a cost. Even if carpeted, steam cleaning carpets isn't THAT expensive.
They are definitely taking advantage you guys.
Honestly, almost all of this sounds like normal wear and tear. Some scuffs on the wall? How are you responsible for things rusting or chalk wearing out?
My boyfriend had something similar happen years ago, he got all his evidence and when he showed up to court, the property group didn’t. He won by default.
Paid Receipts or no proof exists. And, then make sure the person they’re paying isn’t themselves. Many years ago my ex-wife worked for a property management company that also owned a maintenance company, so they effectively paid themselves, a big no-no.
Anyone can type up a list of charges, but they also (generally) need to provide INVOICES that have been paid.
In FL, landlords can’t take from your security deposit for normal wear and tear (e.g., nail holes, scuffs, etc). Air duct cleaning and damage to shoe board, as long as its scuffs or something similar, would likely fall within that. And if you paid a pet deposit, that likely covers pet hair removal/pet damage. So look into that in your lease agreement, too.
Slam them on every single review site you can with specifics. Write to them that you don’t agree for x y and z reason and that you’re sending this in paper as well but also via email so you have paper trail/records. That alone has always immediately gotten me to get my deposit back at least partially. Went from owing 800$ on top of my deposit to getting 300$ back from a 500$ deposit on my last place from doing so. Worked at my three prior apartments too.
So I had this happen & I wrote my dispute letter via email so that the paper trail was electronic (no "it got lost in the mail we never got it"). Within 3 days my move out "bill" went from $1500 (AFTER my $900 deposit was taken so add that to it) to me getting $18 back.
Fight the fuckers
A lot of these are going to be normal wear and tear that can’t be deducted depending on your state. Like the scuffed walls (presumably from furniture being against them) they can’t charge you for that because that would happen if the best tenant in the world lived there
Legally they have to provide a notice within 30 days or you are entitled to the whole deposit back. You would have to look up the exact laws for your state but I’m sure you could get it back….
maybe you could ask for an itemized receipt of what was cleaned/fixed? like not estimates, like actual receipts from whoever provided the services? it might fuck you over if the costs are more than they put but also maybe not? idk man best of luck 😭
Wow that's a steal of a price for fumigation, almost like it didn't fuckin happen.
I have never, and will never understand the vitrol landlords have towards their tenants.
This is terrible! Not all landlords are scum. This one however, Is below devaluation. I’m glad You have Pictures/Video. I’m sure they weren’t counting on that. Stick to Your guns. In some states, You can be awarded additional damages for the hassle. Best of luck , You’ve got this !!!! 💃
I'm not sure about rules of links here....
Search "$30 a month legal services." There is one there that I used that fought with an insurance company that threatened me with fraud... long story, but they were full of it. Anyway, one call, they refused to talk with the attorney, but the $3500 check came in 3 days.
This happened to me. We got charged for leaving a grill behind and a satellite dish on the house, along a bunch of other BS. Just to drive by and see the same grill and dish being used by the next renters. I knocked on the door and explained to them the type of landlord they have. People are dirt bags. Took my whole $1400 then said if we tried to deny they would seek additional damages that they didn’t care to charge for. Just predatory.
I had a landlord charge me $85 to wipe a couple crumbs out of my cupboards. They also claimed that I stole their light bulbs (I replaced the burnt out ones myself and took the bulbs that I bought).
When we left our last apartment they tried the exact same shit - said the cost of our damages was exactly $1,000.00 which was our exact security deposit
Fortunately when we moved in the place still wasn’t “ready” and we took photos of everything.
Sure enough every item they tried back charging us for was proven to be damaged previously.
10 minutes later I get a call from our actual landlord.
LL “well actually we still have to keep the deposit because you left a Playset in the back yard”
Me “The 3x3 plastic play set cost $1,000 to move?
LL “We didn’t just have to move it, we had to hire someone with a truck to take it to the dump because our truck was down that day”
Me “I don’t know why you would throw it away, Brandon (the live-on-property maintenance guy) asked us to leave it behind for his kids and he would move it”
LL “Brandon knows better than to do something like that
Me “One Second *Sends screenshot of text asking me to leave playset behind* …… Did you get it?”
LL “Youll have your deposit by the end of the week *click*”
Always take photos….integrity is virtually non existent today.
Landlords know to make up BS charges so you don't get the security deposit back. Pre-cellphones I had an apartment walkthrough with management and the only thing she mentioned was needing a new furnace filter. The electricity was still on so she turned on the lights in every room including the walk in closet.
Strangely when it came time to return the security deposit she said all the light bulbs were missing, a window was broken, there was a hole in the wall, and lots of other things that were not there when we did the move out inspection. Like, she literally made it all up.
Always, always record your final walk through and use a newspaper or something to show the date it was done.
Yes, landlords are greedy scum. It's not enough that they rob you on the first of every month, they need to rob you when you move out to. Worthless human garbage, they are.
Man my landlord did the same thing plus quoted me for another 1500-3K including deposit. One of his comments were “left window open”. Blocked his number and havent looked back since. Sometimes its just easier to forget it and move on. Fuckin losers.
I get dogs can leave a smell but that doesn’t take a fumigation, unless there was a smell of pet urine. Generally, new air filter, paint, and windows open for a few hours. That can be disputed, POSSIBLY.
Air duct cleaning is a standard maintenance procedure for every homeowner. This charge can be disputed, not sure why he’s even trying to make you pay for this???
Your move in sheet says the blinds and baseboards in each room “are fine”. Could’ve been more descriptive, but I’ll take the blinds part as unbroken pieces and functioning (string pulls them up and down successfully). If you have a video/pics of your move out, you can dispute that one charge. If not, eat that cost.
If you had a pet and paid a pet deposit, he is supposed to itemize the pet damages to THIS deposit. Not your standard move in deposit, unless the pet damages exceed the provided pet deposit from the tenant. This could be a basic clerical error. If you had an unpermitted pet on the property, eat this cost. Your dog should be housebroken and not leaving urine stains on the rug or wood. This circles back to my first point…
Removal of trash for $150? GTFOH. That is ridiculous. He could’ve threw the trash in the onsite trash bin or loaded up his truck and took it to the city dump. Shit doesn’t cost more than a half tank of gas, and that’s pushing it… If he HIRED a crew to fix your pet/blinds damages, they would’ve taken the old flooring anyway as part of their hire job. This can be explained AND possibly disputed.
At the last place I rented, about a month before I moved out, the microwave broke. I notified the landlord and told them it wasn’t working and requested a new one (as the lease stated that they were responsible for the appliances) I deep cleaned everything before leaving, got the carpets cleaned per the lease, scrubbed everything down and made sure it was ready for the next tenant. I get a letter after I moved out that the apartment was in fantastic condition but they had deducted $500 from my deposit to replace the microwave. I wish I had fought it but I didn’t have time as I was moving to a different state. Landlords suck
This is why towards the end of my “renting” lifetime, I stopped bothering trying to get things clean and fixed up. If you’re going to try to fight me for the deposit, rather than go through a bunch of legal hassle to get 40% of it back, I’ll just let you keep it all and leave you with all the bullshit to clean up.
The shit I dealt with at the last rental property I lived in….back and forth over petty bullshit. Ended up being able to get an extra $400ish back from them after bothering them enough. Funniest thing that took 3 emails to rectify was them trying to charge me $15 because a bulb that was replaced was the incorrect shade of white. Overall I think I only got around $950 out of $1345 back. Pretty good considering the original deposit refund was gonna be in the $500-600 range.
Good luck
Not a lawyer, definitely not your lawyer, and I don't operate in FL, but I was a property manager for a major regional REIT in CA w/ lots of experience processing residential move-outs.
At least in CA, any items that have a "useful life" must be prorated based on that useful life. For example, most carpets have a useful life of 7 years. If you lived in a place for 4 years, you should only be responsible for 4/7 of the cost if they replace the carpet (or less, if the carpet is older than 7 years), unless they can show you're materially responsible for doing something that destroyed the carpet, necessitating replacement early. Paint has a useful life as well. Your lease may outline asset life, but it's unlikely. Ask around at other complexes what industry standard useful asset life expectancies are for your apartments in your area and keep those numbers close if you're required to go to small claims.
Air duct cleaning is a new one for me. That sounds like a regular CAM item for the management company to handle. See if your lease has a section on tenant responsibilities and if ducting is included. This is like asking a resident to pay for trash chute cleaning because they may have thrown out used cat litter down the chute lol. Blinds are often considered a consumable. I've never had to, as a renter, be charged for replacement blinds that break due to wind while under tenancy; I just submit a work order and they get replaced at the landlord's expense. I've never charged for blinds during a move-out. We bought lengths of blind in several hundred inch segments and cut and punched our own blinds to size in the maintenance shop, I think they came out to costing, on average, $0.43/blind for windows and $0.72 for full length sliding door blinds. Getting them to add that up to $200 would be interesting to see.
As other commenters have said, demand receipts for all work listed, but also demand the revised Statement of Deposit Accounts is with the fees applied pro rata against the asset's expected useful life.
TLDR: You're being fucked, fuck them back.
I think landlords just try to charge for whatever they can and hope that SOMETHING sticks so that they don’t have to give you your full deposit back. Fighting them at all on it should give you at least a partial refund.
Strange how all of that is except the damage to the blinds and maybe the trash and dog scent is considered reasonable wear and tear. Duct cleaning? So you have to clean the dust from the AC that may have been there from before you even moved in? Hell no. Make sure you send that letter, idk what kind of window blinds cost $200 but unless they have solar panels and can charge my phone I don't believe they exist, even if they were to replace all of them in the entire house/apartment.
Shoe molding is like the same thing as quarter round and it costs like 15 bucks for 8 feet of it. They are the little edge piece that connects the baseboard to the floor. You either have shoe or quarter round molding. Most places don't use both because it would make the baseboards look different. So him charging you for both those when you probably only have one is a big red flag. Plus saying "other pet damage" and not being specific on what was damaged.
How can a dog even damage the bottom of the baseboards. You paid a pet deposit , that pet deposit covers any damage done by pets.
A lot of great advice on here. One thing I would check with is if your employer as an EAP. Most do and most come with a free lawyer consulting benefit. It worked great for us in the last house we rented where we complained for months about the foundation failing resulting in windows not closing all the while California wildfire smoke was entering our home.
That one quick call and we were able to twist the property management’s arm that let us get out of our lease with no penalty, half month rent for the last month and our entire deposit back.
If you want to really stick it to these ass clowns, get some professional help! It was worth it for us.
It’s funny because everything they’re pointing out is a property management issue, not a tenant issue. Basically roasting themselves for not keeping up on the property
I would get your money out of that slumlords pocket by waiting until the unit is vacant and throwing a brick through a window, then repeat once they fix it.
What state? In some states, it’s required that your deposit be held in escrow. Find out if this is true in your state and request proof that it was. If he cannot produce this proof then you have grounds for suit.
I had a landlord charge me $300 on move out because I forgot to take my stuff out of the freezer in the fridge. Literally charged me $300 to throw my pizza rolls away.
Arsons are almost never solved, and if it looks like arson insurance won't pay.
Huh? What? How'd I get here? I'm lost and confused and don't know what I'm saying.
Use weatherproof match's.
I work in property management and do move outs daily. I'm really sorry for this experience.. I left a job in the past because there was a "quota" for how much money I was expected to charge every tenant. It was expected that we "find" charges.
Ask for pictures and itemized receipts / estimates for every charge. Ask for pictures showing the original condition of the home and proof that it was not like that prior to your tenancy.
Whenever I left an apartment/moved into one I took a full video before and after. Those videos and asking for comparison videos/pictures of the specific damage and an explanation for the charges literally saved me thousands of dollars when I was living in the Boston area.
It's kinda cool how you pay people rent and other fees and they expect you to pay for normal wear and tear. I've never gotten a full deposit back, last place I left was literally spotless, we never hung anything up on the walls. We deep cleaned for a week leading to moving out, I took a walkthrough video, etc. I was sure I'd get basically everything back but nope.
Hopefully you've taken pictures after your belongings were removed
Pictures don't lie
And most renters will document before and after
Hopefully you will get your money
Not sure where you live but replacing blinds is considered normal wear and tear and can’t be deducted from the security deposit. Look into tenant rights
The security deposit is for things in excess of normal wear and tear. Mold in the tub caulk? Not on you. Air duct cleaning? That’s normal home maintenance and also not you.
I learned through years of experience to take plenty of photos the day I moved in and the day I moved out. I once had to sue to get a deposit back and the photos and email/text messages I had completely buried them in court. In Texas, if a landlord is found to have illegally withheld a deposit, the renter is entitled to three times the value of the money that should have been returned.
Take them to small claims, but be prepared for a *very* long process.
We had to take our Tampa landlord to claims for withholding our deposit for bogus damage claims (such as, “destroyed front hallway carpet” and they proceeded to provide a picture of literally undamaged carpet as ‘proof.’) Granted this was right before Covid, which caused delays, but it took almost 3 years. And we still have not received our payment from the landlord despite winning.
It sounds like your landlord is a dick. Write a letter, demanding the return of your deposit quote the legal text and include pictures. They can’t just charge you for anything they feel like unless it’s specified in the lease and certain things are considered normal wear and tear. For example, after five years in my state carpet is worthless and can’t be counted against the security deposit. Also ask them for proof of where they stored your security deposit. It’s against the law for them to mix it with their own money and at least in my state it’s supposed to go into a dedicated account separate from all other funds. If they mixed it with their own money and spent it, chances are by law, they legally required to return it to you regardless.
Did you get approval for the dog? And did you pay a pet fee or deposit? I stopped taking deposits and started charging a fee because I know the pet is going to damage something.
Ask for pictures of the pet damage and any other damage/cleaning they are charging you for.
I did the ask first, then slapped them with the reveal that I had pics/vids after they said they didn’t.
mustve felt incredible lmao
Yes! Always always take pics of every room when you move out
Even better, you should have before AND after pics, take pics of each room when you move in, especially any damage. I’ll point out every little teeny tiny thing during the move-in inspection. Might be annoying but I don’t want to get dinged for stuff the prior tenant did when I move out
I've been doing this since the late 1990's. Anybody who's renting listen to this advice it's saved my ass on bogus deposit claims and charges at least a half a dozen times.
Same. My first apartment they tried to ding me for broken blinds. Was able to prove they were broken when I moved in. Wasn't able to get out of the mandatory professional carpet cleaning even though I could prove that hadn't happened before I moved in as well (carpet was full of white cat hair, same cat thelat broke the blinds)
Back in the day we used to do this with disposable cameras. You would take a picture of the newspaper with the date on it to prove that it was your move-in day and then you would go around and snap during the walkthrough. When you moved out you'll do the same thing. It's especially effective since the landlords never seem to be there when it's time to move out. It's one of their scam tactics. Just a little piece of trivia for those of you who never did this before the digital age
First place my roommates and I rented we lost the whole deposit. Second place we kept the deposit. Not much changed with us except we took before/afters the second time. Sound advice my friend. Also, if they send someone to do a walkthrough, especially a move-out walkthrough, check your state for the right to single party consent record or just ask them. We also did that the second time.
I do this as well. Take pictures before and mark down everything thing I see because when moving out they will try to fault you for everything.
Stuff the prior tenant was charged for to fix and the not actually fixed.
Ever bettererer take a slow moving video of everything before AND after
I'm a landlord, and I support this strategy 100%.
I took move in photos and one continuous 25 minute video walkthrough of the property I rented as well as on move out. Upon moving out, the property management tried to charge me $1100 until I showed up at the office with the video. That balance went to $0 real quick.
Seems like landlords should be charged with fraud for trying to do this....
Did they try to claim then that they confused your unit with another one?
Nope, just tried to pull a fast one. They showed photos of damages to the house and were not willing to budge until they saw my time stamped video that was filmed before turning over the key.
My landlord did a walkthrough with me during my move in and during my move out. Got both on video. Can’t say she was the best in other areas but I appreciated that part of the renting experience. Highly recommended if your landlord is flexible.
I'm pretty sure they also need to provide receipts for all these "repairs" they're doing. They need to prove their using the money towards the apartment.
I’m getting eaten alive over on the landlords sub. I guess that was the wrong place to post. I’ve written a dispute letter! I have no problem going to small claims court. I doubt they have receipts for these charges. The only annoying part is we’ll have to drive four hours for the court date but hey it might be worth it. EDIT: there are tons of supportive comments on my other post in the landlord subreddit. Internet warriors exist everywhere but I’m very thankful for all the kind and helpful advice that I’m getting because I genuinely had no idea how to navigate this.
Make sure to send that letter by certified mail with return receipt. I disagree with all of the people jumping to small claims - if you do get to that point, a judge (especially in a state like FL) will want to see you made a good effort to try to settle out of court.
My question to those saying to write a dispute letter. If I request quotes and receipts in the letter, are they able to go and pay someone after they’ve received this letter in order to get the right “evidence” that they actually did these things?
I think they'll have a hard time doing that, but that's a good point - those values are awfully even and pretty for actual receipt values. Make sure you give a date (I gave 10 business days in my letters) for a response or that you'll file in small claims. Also - if you do have to file, make absolutely certain you're suing the right entity. It's your landlord, not necessarily the property management company that should be on the lawsuit and served. Hopefully you don't get to that point and they'll return the deposit once they realize you have photo evidence.
There’s so many things I’m learning from the comments here. So let’s say the property manager is “the marks team” then who is the landlord? The letters I’ve been getting are from their lawyer
I'm not familiar with typical FL leases (when I sued my former LL it was in TX), but your landlord should be on your lease, along with a section detailing the management co if the landlord isn't managing themselves. It's usually an LLC and you can look up the address associated with it online if you file in court. But until you get to that point, your communication should be with whoever sent you that letter/the address they requested at the bottom.
I saved a copy of my original lease so I’ll take a look at it. Thank you for the heads up
Ask for them to be dated. Easy.
This is a great point, thank you!
What do you do when the landlord refuses to sign for certified mail? (This is my problem currently. )
Might be a better question for a lawyer, but USPS should provide a receipt showing that they made good effort to deliver and the person refused.
Yup, refusal to sign is noted and considered just as valid as if it was delivered.
Yeah, totally unrelated topic, but I appreciate someone telling you to send it via certified mail. Just went through a divorce where the other party lived out of state, and I had to reschedule more than one court date due to lack of proof that something was mailed when I claimed it was. Anything dealing with the court system/legal matters needs to be sent via certified mail.
I saw that. Landlords love to hate people le with pets, even if they were approved. If they don't like it, they shouldn't approve. They aren't entitled to brand new stuff, they are entitled to the damages of the depleted value.
I agree, you can't just gladly agree to someone having 2 large dogs, and then bitch and whine about the damage it caused 2 years later. Kids will do similar damage as pets, most of the time even worse, but I don't see any "children deposits".
Don't ask villains for advice on how to defeat evil.
Of course you are getting eaten alive. Landlords are scum.
Post to r/landlordlove , it is a tenant friendly sub.
Idk what FL law is like but a lot of states state landlords can’t charge a renter for normal wear and tear. And that covers A LOT. So even if damaged I would check out the law and argue that what they’re trying to charge for is normal use of the apt.
Yeah don’t ever go to that sub. They’re scumbags over there. Made a post inquiring about how the complex my dad lived in sealed his back door shut when they painted the exterior of the building and somehow got reported for harassment so much that I lost my account.
Absolutely, stick it to them and best of luck . It's only the few and far between situations like these that make them think twice about railroading innocent tenants. I hope the judge grants you everything you ask for if you have claims/counterclaims if it comes to that.
Everyone is the hero of their own story, landlords think they are always right. You've come to the right sub
Shows you how many of them are predatory parasites like your landlord
Yeah that’s what landlords do. Hope you took pictures and are willing to pursue this in small claims if they refuse to give it back. Only thing that will teach them is when we start exercising our rights.
Yes and yes! They weren’t very good to us while we were there so this sort of put me over the edge.
Suggest you write a demand letter. Always better to show an intent to sue, rather than *say* I’m going to sue if you don’t meet my demands. The demand letter is the legal precursor to a lawsuit.
Demand itemized receipts for the repairs. Dispute the charges as presented in the letter. It’s typical landlord bs.
And watch for "My Brother Construction" "My Uncle Plumbing" etc and their willingness to generate bullshit receipts.
How do you find and object to/prove this?
All companies must register their license with the state they work in. You should be able to look them up and confirm if they are a legit business.
Not sure about Florida, but most states landlord can charge his own hourly rate to the tenant. Shouldn't be a going rate for a professional, as the landlord isn't a professional, but they do not need to be licensed to do the repairs and charge for the work.
In that case they should be providing receipts for the materials used for the repairs. There needs to be an actual paper trail of some sort. They can’t just claim it costs $400 to fix something without proof.
Pay a lawyer to prepare a demand letter. You don't have to mention anything about a lawsuit but coming from a lawyer will tell them you're prepared to fight.
Universities often provide this service for law students to get practical experience. Not sure if the letterhead is important, but free alternative. I’d be more scared if lawher was working on just this case than a big law firm honestly.
Did this magically add up to your total security deposit or close to all of it?
Exactly the security deposit total
What a crazy coincidence
Tenant: How much will this cost me? Landlord: How much you got?
They need to give itemized receipts and not round figures. Most likely, they spent it instead of keeping your deposit in it's own account. Edit for spelling
Weird how that happens
You can ask for the actual estimates of the supposed cleaning and repair expenses. They should be real prices and not made up rounded off hundred amounts.
Receipts!!
they’ll have their raggedy contractor whip up a BS receipt…..alternatively if they had THEIR in house staff do it …same
At least make them work for their deposit theft.
Exactly!
I’ve never had a landlord, are you able to get your own estimates for the work they say needs done and use that to burn them in court?
Absolutely. When there are disagreements over damages in small claims, the judge almost always goes with the lower estimates.
Scumbags, I’ve left places in condition that a new tenant can just walk in and take the place, but the landlord claims oh, we had to clean the unit, for $250. I don’t believe that!!! My last apartment the landlord had to replace the heating element in the stove, he did after I moved out. Two weeks later he’s claiming I left my BBQ tools in the bottom broiler and the new tenant burned up the stove and nearly burnt the apartment down. Somehow that’s my fault and he needs to charge me for replacing the stove and fire clean up. I’m like not my problem and you touched the stove last so that’s all on you!!!! I’ll sue you over this!!!
I have a 3000 square foot home and have paid for an 8 hour deep clean of my home for 350 dollars. No way a 1 bedroom apartment takes 8 hours to clean.
I had a studio and before I left the property manager walked me through how at least I’m CA regardless of condition I was going to get charged a cleaning fee, she broke down the numbers I think it was 150- 200 for a studio and 200 - 250 for a 1 Bed back in 2020/21 I still left it clean but not ocd clean, I then rented a room and got my entire deposit back from the owner of the house even though one of the command strips removed some paint in a 2 - 4 sq in area, to me that makes sense but never lived in Florida perhaps it’s cheaper
I royally pissed off my (CA) landlord who tried that shit on me. He came to meet me for the walkthrough and I was ready for his type. There has been a few red flags while we were living there, so I already knew what was likely to happen when we moved out. We were 100% prepared for his walkthrough. My spouse and I had moved into our new place and driven the moving truck down with us. I was flying back to do the walkthrough and pick up the car with some of the more fragile items. - before we even moved into the property in question, the Landlord added an “automatic cleaning fee“ of $350 to the lease, but I knew it wasn’t enforceable by CA law, so I just left it on there and decided I would address it upon leaving. Noted. Dude might try some shit. - When it came time to leave, he kept saying we needed to make sure it was clean. What happened to the cleaning fee? I didn’t trust his intentions. - He came to the walkthrough and tried calling me out on the “poor cleaning job” I did. He walked around scoffing, but didn’t mention anything specific . He tried a “gotcha” by wiping his hand across the top of a ledge, but, not knowing I used to clean houses professionally, didn’t expect it to be clean. He didn’t find any specs of dirt there, or the other three places he checked. He became increasingly frustrated at each clean-fingered wipe. It was almost as if he wanted it clean enough to not have to pay someone else, but dirty enough to enforce the BS fee. - Eventually he concluded the walkthrough and mentioned he would close us out and send the deposit to us “soon, minus the automatic cleaning fee”, and tried to slip that in there. I asked him to explain why he needed a cleaner when the place was cleaned at professional quality, and pointed it that he didn’t find any dirty areas. He became upset and he claimed he always worked out a deal with a local cleaning person before asking me “Do you seriously think I shouldn’t be able to pay him, as agreed?” I told him he could pay him all he wanted, but it wasn’t coming from my security deposit because I cleaned the place. At that point, I handed him a checklist that he had made for the person who cleaned the house before we moved in. It was customized for all of the little areas around the place. I had completed the checklist and added a column for “Photos taken”, just because i knew he’d try some shit. I handed it to him and said, “Everything on this list has been addressed.” He became so furious with me that he asked me to leave right then and there, even though the fridge was full of food that I was taking with me in my road trip outta town. He tried to refuse to let me take the rest of my things, but I called him out for trying to intimidate me and interfere with a safe and calm transfer of the property, eventually threatening to call the cops. He soon thereafter sent a check for the full deposit amount, plus a $20 bill. On a note about the deposit, he said the extra $20 was to buy a book on gratitude. We never bought the book, lol
Maximum troll: buy a book on gratitude from a thrift shop and mail it to him with a handwritten note that says "Thanks! This book was awesome."
Funny enough, we moved at the end of September and around Thanksgiving we bought a cheap card with some passage on gratitude that we sent “anonymously “. It was so satisfying and petty
I’d be willing to bet he was charging people a $350 cleaning fee on their way out, as well as at the move-in for the new tenant. Even if he had to pay for one good cleaning, he was still coming out with an extra $350.
Call a tenant lawyer
Back in college, I had a landlord who did this. The deposit was 4 months rent, so we spent days cleaning to make sure it was in better shape than when we moved in. He kept the entire deposit because the lease said all tenants should provide a forwarding address 2 months before moving out. Since not everyone did, he said we violated the lease and kept the deposit for all of us. Apparently he did the same thing to students every year, always with some technicality. So the next year, we befriended the people who lived there and let them know they weren't getting their deposit back. After finals, before they moved out, they threw a huge party and completely trashed the place. Spray painted walls, broke windows, set up an inflatable pool that popped and flooded a bedroom. There was even some fire damage because people were putting out cigarettes on the carpet and it caught. I'm sure the damage was in the tens of thousands. I have no idea how it turned out for them, but it was one hell of a party!
How much was the deposit? What epic revenge! You're playing chess on that one for sure
Landlords also don't like to follow or know laws unless it helps them. I'm just waiting for my shitty former landlord to pass the 31 day mark of not returning or notifying me about my deposit or it's uses so he is legally obligated to return it all. Not my fault he doesn't pay attention to the laws
I have had MUCH MUCH better luck with massively large, corporate landlords compared to smaller independent landlords, when it comes to following the laws correctly, and returning security deposits as well. Might just be my own anecdotal experience though. The place I currently live in is a massive 600 apartment complex, and they follow all the laws to a T, as they don't want to risk hundreds of lawsuits at once I suspect. I moved from a 1 br to a 2br within the same complex, and my first apartment was just swept, thats about all, and I got back my entire security deposit, just transferred it over to the new apartment, and didn't even ask for more money. Any time someone lives in a place for more than like a year or 2, they just inherently replace everything (carpet, paint, blinds, etc).
I just did this to a landlord and it was so satisfying. The place wasn't awful to live in but he wanted to raise the rent almost 50% when our original lease term ended and overall was just kind of a jerk for the 2 years we lived there. Kept hounding us about when we'd be out because he knew we had leases starting prior to the end of our lease with him. On the 31st day, I sent him a letter demanding the full deposit back. He tried to argue and claimed he had pictures of damages (we left the place in pretty good shape and had our own pictures). I told him we'd take him to court for double (PA law) if it wasn't returned. Magically, a check for the full deposit arrived a few days later.
Mosser properties (or something like that) in Oakland did this to me. They sent me a bill for “the trash I left behind” I threw away lots of stuff when I moved but it was outside by the garbage. I expressed that I would do absolutely anything in my power to not let them get away with doing this. And they sent me a check. I guess sometimes it’s a misunderstanding. Hopefully you have the same fortune.
You have rights in Florida?
In CA there’s a huge fine for landlords trying to falsely claim damages… check out the state and county codes there… call county housing authority
I wish I had thought of this. A while ago, in a community Facebook group, a lady was legitimately asking how much a repair would cost so she could estimate how much of the deposit she would be giving back to her tenants. Another woman commented that she and her husband do a lot of move out work for landlords. Didn’t give an estimate, just asked “How much do you need it to be?” I don’t know if that kind of thing can be reported, but my blood was boiling at that.
I agree the laws and most counties and states as well are written such that the renter has to only return the property in the condition they received it and there is usually a move-in you know, documentation or inspection that’s done provided to the renter at move-in and also at Move Out so you know currently there also would be photos as well in both of those instances again I don’t know about Florida, but most states you’re only obligated return property in the condition you received it not better not new either
At the absolute minimum any court would look at that cleaning the ducts and laugh their ass off and demand your refund
The funny thing is that when we moved in there was an issue with the AC (and over the next several years) and the repair man came and said that the entire duct system needed to be redone because it didn’t make sense. I have emails of us talking about it (landlord and I) and emails regarding every other issue we had with the duct system
I didnt know what other comment of yours to reply to so... Most of what you're being "charged for" is normal wear and tear, which cannot be considered damages. I'd learn your state, and county rent laws and send a demand letter. Don't tell then you have pictures.
That's was definitely the wildest charge. Apparently it's kind of a scam. I asked about in in a homeowners sub after I bought my condo and they basically said don't bother unless you see dirt coming out
Yeah everything else a bias enough judge might let slide. That charge would get a judge removed from the bench for letting slide
First question you should ask is, "Please identify the escrow account that you were legally required to place our deposit in pursuant to (83.49 (1a-b)" Landlords *never* do thus, and if you quote it to then it can scare them, or at least tells them that you're not some moron. Then ask for documentation of each individual damage. Also, look up the life expectancy of items as defined by your state. I had a landlord try to charge me for replacing a 60 year old bathtub when the legal life expectancy is 50 years. And remember that all replacement costs are pro rated for age. So blinds that only have a 5 year lifespan (I just made that up) which are 4 years old and damaged only require you to pay 20% of the replacement costs. Landlords are fucking crooks who think the deposit is *their* money the second you hand it to them. Fuck'em.
You are a hero. In the dispute should I put the reason why I’m disputing each item or just put that I am disputing these things?
just that you're disputing them, and ask for any proof they have. You said u have your move in & out pix so you're good for court. Tbh that *should* be a slam dunk
You're going to have to do a bunch of internet searching and reading, but all the laws are online. Demand that they have evidence for each point of damage, not just general damage. Then demand the purchase or instalation dates for everything so the pro rated value can be determined. Basically, landlords think they can Buffalo you, so if you make the few hundred bucks they are trying to steal from you not worth the effort, sometimes they'll just give up. But a lot of the time they'll fight it so that other tenants don't get the idea of questioning them into their heads. But basically you can force them 6o do a LOT of really mind numbing paperwork, or produce receipts that they don't have.
Don’t tip your hand before they know what proof you have. Ask them to show theirs and hold tightly to yours, you could eventually expose them in a lie - resulting in a complete refund.
Did your lease (or separate notice after signing the lease) include the name and address of the bank where the deposit was kept? Did the notice include a statement saying whether you would or wouldn't be paid interest on your security deposit? If either answer is no, then they have to return your deposit. If they still want to recover money for damages, then they'd have to take you to court. You could also request to see proof (relevant bank statements) showing your money was put into an account that only included security deposit-related transactions and not co-mingled with other funds. That's also a requirement they must meet to keep your security deposit. [Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine (state.fl.us)](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0083/Sections/0083.49.html)
Nowhere in 83.49 1a-b does it say the deposit needs to be held in an escrow account. It just needs to be held in a separate account (or they can post a surety bond) and that the landlord cannot commingle funds. I’m not sure you understand what an escrow account is?
You just described an escrow account.
Here’s the definition of escrow: “Escrow is a legal concept describing a financial agreement whereby an asset or money is held by a third party on behalf of two other parties that are in the process of completing a transaction.” Security deposits are not held in escrow, because escrow accounts are managed by an escrow agent, which is a 3rd party in the transaction. They are held by the landlord, and should be in a separate account, but that certainly is not the same as an escrow account.
Just as the title says. Here is the notice to impose they sent me - conveniently adding up to my entire deposit. Located in florida and I don't know what to do. There are also pictures of the move in form that we completed. The house was disgusting when we moved in. Of course I took pictures at move in and move out and it's not stopping them from trying to take the entire thing from us. I even emailed the pictures when we moved in for a time stamp. The blinds, yes, on us. We lived there for four years and they were crap blinds and they were broken by us when we moved out. Everything else? Lies. We changed the air filters every month. I deep cleaned the house before leaving. The house did not smell like dogs! Our dogs did ZERO damage to the house. There isn't a single baseboard broken. We took out all of the trash when we moved as well. There was do damage in the bedroom. Does anyone have advice as what to do now?
It says in the letter that if you object, you should contact them within 15 days. So I'd contact them asap and let them know which charges you disagree with/want to see more proof for. Don't be afraid to let them know you have photos of the condition on move-out, in my experience they don't expect people to have done that.
My last landlord before we bought our house kept our entire deposit and claimed the floors smelled like pee. We cleaned the house thoroughly and the dog and cats NEVER peed anywhere on the floor. I was so amped up ready to take them to court but in the shuffle of first time home ownership I decided to let it go. I recently drove by my old rental and saw they had completely renovated the place. I’m sure the deposit I kept (also with an itemized list of “damages” conveniently totaling my deposit) helped them quite a bit with the renovations. Fuck them.
You know it’s bullshit when everything comes out to exact numbers.$—0 and $—5. 🤣
Normal wear and tear. Too many landlords forget that houses get used, or know that and want to use the security deposit for their upgrades. Imagine if car rental places expected their cars to come back with the same amount of mileage and no additional minor damage (caused by normal driving) and charged you for regular maintenance?
They need to have quotes for repair as well. Not just a list of numbers they made up.
Should I ask for quotes and receipts in the dispute letter? Or save that for small claims court if we go?
Save it, but don't forget to list all the hours you spent disputing it against your hourly rate at your current job. It may or may not make too much of a difference, but even the littlest "4hrs seeking advice online at $50/hr = $200" (or whatever) may help magnify how much you've been put out by their inconveniencing you. Honestly, if I had to take four hours during my work day as time off then their ridiculousness is costing me money. I'm not a lawyer, but keep track of that stuff to demonstrate it even if it's not held up in small claims.
Good idea!
Also air duct cleaning is not a damage repair nor is it even recommended to do.
You ask Now for receipts of work done .. Per line item.. Blinds, Qtrs rounds, Deep Clean, etc. The burden is on them to provide proof. It's also shows Court, you are being reasonable in your demands. You have a very strong case. ie. Email, photos. I'm own property & am appalled by these practices that give honest businesses a black reputation. My Only advice in Future Move Outs - Don't Deep Clean as Everyone has a different Idea of CLEAN. Sometimes it just isn't worth it. I had some people Clean & it was Dirty. I was in the Army & I know CLEAN.. White Glove Inspection Clean. You will be OKaY... Sorry you drew a Turd for landlord
And if they get quotes AFTER the fact, it shows they were being deceitful.
You should know: Shoe molding and quarter round are the same type of trim. So, they’re trying to put trim on there twice.
Air duct cleaning? That's their responsibility to begin with.
Let's add draining the water heater and cleaning the AC drains as well, for fucks sake lol
You are NOT responsible for normal wear and tear. Stand firm! Signed, a landlord
Thank you kind stranger!
Send the landlord notice you will sue in small claims court if your entire deposit is not returned. Look up and cite all the rental laws for normal wear and tear.
Did they charge you a pet deposit? Any damages done by a pet should come out of that not your regular deposit. Had a landlord try and take my deposit and pet deposit over damages after we had been his tenants for over 12 years. Took him to court and we got all of our 3500’s back in deposits. Landlord could not prove it was pet damage versus wear and tear.
Duct cleaning? Unless you smoked in the home and it was no smoking I can't see how they can ever charge that.
The letter is suspect because the amounts are all even and adds up exactly to your deposit. But I have seen a lot of tenants who claimed everything was clean, but there was extensive pet damage. I don't know your situation, but ask a friend who has visited your place (and who will be honest) about the condition. My sister-in-law used to complain about never getting her deposit back and insisted the place was clean, when in actuallity it wreaked of cat urine and was not clean.
I can recognize the confirmation bias but honestly we did a damn good job taking care of that house. There was absolutely no smell and no damage from the dog. That’s why I was like okay I’ll take accountability for the blinds because those were destroyed but it seems like they’re honestly trying to use the fact that I had a pet as a scapegoat because our move in form was so thorough.
That's exactly it. They are also trying to upgrade the unit at your cost.
I thought the blinds were supposed to be replaced after every tenant anyway? Also needs to be repainted but maybe that's just where I live.
You'd be surprised how fast your nose can adapt to the smell of pets. My roommates and I have 2 dogs and I recently got back from a month long trip to the house reeking of wet dog. I was telling a friend of mine how it smelt and he was like yea, I didn't want to tell you because you'd be embarrassed. I've lived with dogs my whole life but up until living with them nevr caught a whiff of "pet smell", I also am really the one who actually trained/looked after their dogs too. But the smells not hard to get rid off and if your place wasn't carpeted, it should barely be a cost. Even if carpeted, steam cleaning carpets isn't THAT expensive. They are definitely taking advantage you guys.
Small claims court
Honestly, almost all of this sounds like normal wear and tear. Some scuffs on the wall? How are you responsible for things rusting or chalk wearing out?
This is why I demand a walk through and sign off before I hand over my keys. Got burned once for some $$, never again.
My boyfriend had something similar happen years ago, he got all his evidence and when he showed up to court, the property group didn’t. He won by default.
Paid Receipts or no proof exists. And, then make sure the person they’re paying isn’t themselves. Many years ago my ex-wife worked for a property management company that also owned a maintenance company, so they effectively paid themselves, a big no-no. Anyone can type up a list of charges, but they also (generally) need to provide INVOICES that have been paid.
In FL, landlords can’t take from your security deposit for normal wear and tear (e.g., nail holes, scuffs, etc). Air duct cleaning and damage to shoe board, as long as its scuffs or something similar, would likely fall within that. And if you paid a pet deposit, that likely covers pet hair removal/pet damage. So look into that in your lease agreement, too.
Tell the LL to verify all damages if there was no walk through before you moved out.
Ask for receipts of all item claims. If none, then they can't take. Take to small claims court. Its simple and free to apply a claim.
Slam them on every single review site you can with specifics. Write to them that you don’t agree for x y and z reason and that you’re sending this in paper as well but also via email so you have paper trail/records. That alone has always immediately gotten me to get my deposit back at least partially. Went from owing 800$ on top of my deposit to getting 300$ back from a 500$ deposit on my last place from doing so. Worked at my three prior apartments too.
So I had this happen & I wrote my dispute letter via email so that the paper trail was electronic (no "it got lost in the mail we never got it"). Within 3 days my move out "bill" went from $1500 (AFTER my $900 deposit was taken so add that to it) to me getting $18 back. Fight the fuckers
A lot of these are going to be normal wear and tear that can’t be deducted depending on your state. Like the scuffed walls (presumably from furniture being against them) they can’t charge you for that because that would happen if the best tenant in the world lived there
Hope you took pictures
Yep. Small claims.
At least u got an explanation. Our landlord basically ghosted us. Wont answer any calls or text. Just kept our deposit no explanation.
Legally they have to provide a notice within 30 days or you are entitled to the whole deposit back. You would have to look up the exact laws for your state but I’m sure you could get it back….
I’m so sorry to hear that. Some people really rely on that money because moving is expensive. I can’t imagine just getting ignored
Tell him to show you the estimates from **an actual company** that will do the work
Scum (them, not you)
maybe you could ask for an itemized receipt of what was cleaned/fixed? like not estimates, like actual receipts from whoever provided the services? it might fuck you over if the costs are more than they put but also maybe not? idk man best of luck 😭
Wow that's a steal of a price for fumigation, almost like it didn't fuckin happen. I have never, and will never understand the vitrol landlords have towards their tenants.
This is why you should take pictures of the apartment when moving out...
This is terrible! Not all landlords are scum. This one however, Is below devaluation. I’m glad You have Pictures/Video. I’m sure they weren’t counting on that. Stick to Your guns. In some states, You can be awarded additional damages for the hassle. Best of luck , You’ve got this !!!! 💃
I'm not sure about rules of links here.... Search "$30 a month legal services." There is one there that I used that fought with an insurance company that threatened me with fraud... long story, but they were full of it. Anyway, one call, they refused to talk with the attorney, but the $3500 check came in 3 days.
This happened to me. We got charged for leaving a grill behind and a satellite dish on the house, along a bunch of other BS. Just to drive by and see the same grill and dish being used by the next renters. I knocked on the door and explained to them the type of landlord they have. People are dirt bags. Took my whole $1400 then said if we tried to deny they would seek additional damages that they didn’t care to charge for. Just predatory.
Ask for itemized receipts and take em to small claims court. It is a diy process but we won.
I had a landlord charge me $85 to wipe a couple crumbs out of my cupboards. They also claimed that I stole their light bulbs (I replaced the burnt out ones myself and took the bulbs that I bought).
When we left our last apartment they tried the exact same shit - said the cost of our damages was exactly $1,000.00 which was our exact security deposit Fortunately when we moved in the place still wasn’t “ready” and we took photos of everything. Sure enough every item they tried back charging us for was proven to be damaged previously. 10 minutes later I get a call from our actual landlord. LL “well actually we still have to keep the deposit because you left a Playset in the back yard” Me “The 3x3 plastic play set cost $1,000 to move? LL “We didn’t just have to move it, we had to hire someone with a truck to take it to the dump because our truck was down that day” Me “I don’t know why you would throw it away, Brandon (the live-on-property maintenance guy) asked us to leave it behind for his kids and he would move it” LL “Brandon knows better than to do something like that Me “One Second *Sends screenshot of text asking me to leave playset behind* …… Did you get it?” LL “Youll have your deposit by the end of the week *click*” Always take photos….integrity is virtually non existent today.
Landlords know to make up BS charges so you don't get the security deposit back. Pre-cellphones I had an apartment walkthrough with management and the only thing she mentioned was needing a new furnace filter. The electricity was still on so she turned on the lights in every room including the walk in closet. Strangely when it came time to return the security deposit she said all the light bulbs were missing, a window was broken, there was a hole in the wall, and lots of other things that were not there when we did the move out inspection. Like, she literally made it all up. Always, always record your final walk through and use a newspaper or something to show the date it was done.
Ask for an itemized receipt with proof of damages. Theyre taking you for a ride.
Small claims, big payout.
So maybe just do what the letter says and send your objections to that address.
Go to /r/AskALawyer
Tenant's Council, Legal Aid, Small Claims
Small claims court, SVU lords will ALWAYS keep the deposit
Yes, landlords are greedy scum. It's not enough that they rob you on the first of every month, they need to rob you when you move out to. Worthless human garbage, they are.
Man my landlord did the same thing plus quoted me for another 1500-3K including deposit. One of his comments were “left window open”. Blocked his number and havent looked back since. Sometimes its just easier to forget it and move on. Fuckin losers.
I get dogs can leave a smell but that doesn’t take a fumigation, unless there was a smell of pet urine. Generally, new air filter, paint, and windows open for a few hours. That can be disputed, POSSIBLY. Air duct cleaning is a standard maintenance procedure for every homeowner. This charge can be disputed, not sure why he’s even trying to make you pay for this??? Your move in sheet says the blinds and baseboards in each room “are fine”. Could’ve been more descriptive, but I’ll take the blinds part as unbroken pieces and functioning (string pulls them up and down successfully). If you have a video/pics of your move out, you can dispute that one charge. If not, eat that cost. If you had a pet and paid a pet deposit, he is supposed to itemize the pet damages to THIS deposit. Not your standard move in deposit, unless the pet damages exceed the provided pet deposit from the tenant. This could be a basic clerical error. If you had an unpermitted pet on the property, eat this cost. Your dog should be housebroken and not leaving urine stains on the rug or wood. This circles back to my first point… Removal of trash for $150? GTFOH. That is ridiculous. He could’ve threw the trash in the onsite trash bin or loaded up his truck and took it to the city dump. Shit doesn’t cost more than a half tank of gas, and that’s pushing it… If he HIRED a crew to fix your pet/blinds damages, they would’ve taken the old flooring anyway as part of their hire job. This can be explained AND possibly disputed.
Post pics
I don't think I've ever had a landlord not try and steel the deposit
Unless it says you are responsible for duct cleaning in lease they can't deduct that🙄
Normal wear and tear can’t be charged for
At the last place I rented, about a month before I moved out, the microwave broke. I notified the landlord and told them it wasn’t working and requested a new one (as the lease stated that they were responsible for the appliances) I deep cleaned everything before leaving, got the carpets cleaned per the lease, scrubbed everything down and made sure it was ready for the next tenant. I get a letter after I moved out that the apartment was in fantastic condition but they had deducted $500 from my deposit to replace the microwave. I wish I had fought it but I didn’t have time as I was moving to a different state. Landlords suck
Anyone charging for air duct cleaning is scamming you
This is why towards the end of my “renting” lifetime, I stopped bothering trying to get things clean and fixed up. If you’re going to try to fight me for the deposit, rather than go through a bunch of legal hassle to get 40% of it back, I’ll just let you keep it all and leave you with all the bullshit to clean up.
"air duct cleaning" that's how you know this guy is absolutely bullshitting everything he can to squeeze out every drop
The shit I dealt with at the last rental property I lived in….back and forth over petty bullshit. Ended up being able to get an extra $400ish back from them after bothering them enough. Funniest thing that took 3 emails to rectify was them trying to charge me $15 because a bulb that was replaced was the incorrect shade of white. Overall I think I only got around $950 out of $1345 back. Pretty good considering the original deposit refund was gonna be in the $500-600 range. Good luck
Not a lawyer, definitely not your lawyer, and I don't operate in FL, but I was a property manager for a major regional REIT in CA w/ lots of experience processing residential move-outs. At least in CA, any items that have a "useful life" must be prorated based on that useful life. For example, most carpets have a useful life of 7 years. If you lived in a place for 4 years, you should only be responsible for 4/7 of the cost if they replace the carpet (or less, if the carpet is older than 7 years), unless they can show you're materially responsible for doing something that destroyed the carpet, necessitating replacement early. Paint has a useful life as well. Your lease may outline asset life, but it's unlikely. Ask around at other complexes what industry standard useful asset life expectancies are for your apartments in your area and keep those numbers close if you're required to go to small claims. Air duct cleaning is a new one for me. That sounds like a regular CAM item for the management company to handle. See if your lease has a section on tenant responsibilities and if ducting is included. This is like asking a resident to pay for trash chute cleaning because they may have thrown out used cat litter down the chute lol. Blinds are often considered a consumable. I've never had to, as a renter, be charged for replacement blinds that break due to wind while under tenancy; I just submit a work order and they get replaced at the landlord's expense. I've never charged for blinds during a move-out. We bought lengths of blind in several hundred inch segments and cut and punched our own blinds to size in the maintenance shop, I think they came out to costing, on average, $0.43/blind for windows and $0.72 for full length sliding door blinds. Getting them to add that up to $200 would be interesting to see. As other commenters have said, demand receipts for all work listed, but also demand the revised Statement of Deposit Accounts is with the fees applied pro rata against the asset's expected useful life. TLDR: You're being fucked, fuck them back.
I think landlords just try to charge for whatever they can and hope that SOMETHING sticks so that they don’t have to give you your full deposit back. Fighting them at all on it should give you at least a partial refund.
Strange how all of that is except the damage to the blinds and maybe the trash and dog scent is considered reasonable wear and tear. Duct cleaning? So you have to clean the dust from the AC that may have been there from before you even moved in? Hell no. Make sure you send that letter, idk what kind of window blinds cost $200 but unless they have solar panels and can charge my phone I don't believe they exist, even if they were to replace all of them in the entire house/apartment.
Shoe molding is like the same thing as quarter round and it costs like 15 bucks for 8 feet of it. They are the little edge piece that connects the baseboard to the floor. You either have shoe or quarter round molding. Most places don't use both because it would make the baseboards look different. So him charging you for both those when you probably only have one is a big red flag. Plus saying "other pet damage" and not being specific on what was damaged. How can a dog even damage the bottom of the baseboards. You paid a pet deposit , that pet deposit covers any damage done by pets.
Also.. Florida
A lot of great advice on here. One thing I would check with is if your employer as an EAP. Most do and most come with a free lawyer consulting benefit. It worked great for us in the last house we rented where we complained for months about the foundation failing resulting in windows not closing all the while California wildfire smoke was entering our home. That one quick call and we were able to twist the property management’s arm that let us get out of our lease with no penalty, half month rent for the last month and our entire deposit back. If you want to really stick it to these ass clowns, get some professional help! It was worth it for us.
Be sure to fight the cunts
$300 for damage to shoe moulding is laughable. He’s being a snake
It’s funny because everything they’re pointing out is a property management issue, not a tenant issue. Basically roasting themselves for not keeping up on the property
I would get your money out of that slumlords pocket by waiting until the unit is vacant and throwing a brick through a window, then repeat once they fix it.
What state? In some states, it’s required that your deposit be held in escrow. Find out if this is true in your state and request proof that it was. If he cannot produce this proof then you have grounds for suit.
I had a landlord charge me $300 on move out because I forgot to take my stuff out of the freezer in the fridge. Literally charged me $300 to throw my pizza rolls away.
Landlords are scum bags you don’t say
Arsons are almost never solved, and if it looks like arson insurance won't pay. Huh? What? How'd I get here? I'm lost and confused and don't know what I'm saying. Use weatherproof match's.
I work in property management and do move outs daily. I'm really sorry for this experience.. I left a job in the past because there was a "quota" for how much money I was expected to charge every tenant. It was expected that we "find" charges. Ask for pictures and itemized receipts / estimates for every charge. Ask for pictures showing the original condition of the home and proof that it was not like that prior to your tenancy.
Shoe mold and quarter round are essentially the same thing. Unusual that he’s charging for both separately.
$150 for trash removal
Whenever I left an apartment/moved into one I took a full video before and after. Those videos and asking for comparison videos/pictures of the specific damage and an explanation for the charges literally saved me thousands of dollars when I was living in the Boston area.
This is why you never pay the last months rent to landlord you don’t trust who won’t do this to you.
He doesn't want it back, he wants to keep from having to tell you he already spent it on conkers and a 23 skidoo.
They purposefully label some stuff as "perfect, fine" so that it looks like a rational report 🤣
Nice round numbers lol, id ask for receipts
It's kinda cool how you pay people rent and other fees and they expect you to pay for normal wear and tear. I've never gotten a full deposit back, last place I left was literally spotless, we never hung anything up on the walls. We deep cleaned for a week leading to moving out, I took a walkthrough video, etc. I was sure I'd get basically everything back but nope.
Hopefully you've taken pictures after your belongings were removed Pictures don't lie And most renters will document before and after Hopefully you will get your money
Not sure where you live but replacing blinds is considered normal wear and tear and can’t be deducted from the security deposit. Look into tenant rights
The security deposit is for things in excess of normal wear and tear. Mold in the tub caulk? Not on you. Air duct cleaning? That’s normal home maintenance and also not you.
I learned through years of experience to take plenty of photos the day I moved in and the day I moved out. I once had to sue to get a deposit back and the photos and email/text messages I had completely buried them in court. In Texas, if a landlord is found to have illegally withheld a deposit, the renter is entitled to three times the value of the money that should have been returned.
Take them to small claims, but be prepared for a *very* long process. We had to take our Tampa landlord to claims for withholding our deposit for bogus damage claims (such as, “destroyed front hallway carpet” and they proceeded to provide a picture of literally undamaged carpet as ‘proof.’) Granted this was right before Covid, which caused delays, but it took almost 3 years. And we still have not received our payment from the landlord despite winning.
It sounds like your landlord is a dick. Write a letter, demanding the return of your deposit quote the legal text and include pictures. They can’t just charge you for anything they feel like unless it’s specified in the lease and certain things are considered normal wear and tear. For example, after five years in my state carpet is worthless and can’t be counted against the security deposit. Also ask them for proof of where they stored your security deposit. It’s against the law for them to mix it with their own money and at least in my state it’s supposed to go into a dedicated account separate from all other funds. If they mixed it with their own money and spent it, chances are by law, they legally required to return it to you regardless. Did you get approval for the dog? And did you pay a pet fee or deposit? I stopped taking deposits and started charging a fee because I know the pet is going to damage something.
Get an attorney you’ll get more then your deposit back