Yesterday I got the call I've been dreading because I knew it would be coming. My old landlord called. Complaining about how we left the house.
Now, as any of my faithful blog readers knows, we killed ourselves on this move. Making sure everything was done, the house was clean, and we left it the way we found it. But, of course, it doesn't ever just end there now does it?
I'm using this blog today more as a tool to trace all the events that occurred from the time we moved in to the time we moved out. Mostly because I know in a few months we'll be getting a call from a lawyer and I want to make sure I have all my facts straight. The only way to do that is to document it some how - so I'm going to do this right now, today. This is going to be extremely boring for all you readers so I won't be offended if you simply leave this post now and stop reading. I really don't want to write it, as much as you don't want to read it. But, I feel I have to.
Move in Date:August, 2003 Move out Date:January 1st, 2007 Lease Periods:August 2003 thru August 2004, August 2004 thru August 2006 No lease since August, 2006 Amount Paid to Move In: $1200 in rent, $1200 in deposit, $500 in pet deposit
Security deposit used for December rent.
Here's the phone call I received from landlord today:
Slumlord: I'm calling to let you know that we need to talk about the damages to the house you rented. Me: Damages? What damages? Slumlord: Well, my daughter tells me that there's around $2000 in damages that we want you to pay immediately. Me: Do you have a detailed listing of these damages? Slumlord: I would have to get with my daughter about that. Me: So, no, you don't, is that correct? Slumlord: Not at this time. Me: Okay, well, give me an idea of what kind of damages we're talking about. Slumlord: Well, one thing is that my daughter told me that there are wires hanging out of the stove and it's unusable. Me: Funny, I used that stove until the day I moved out and never noticed any wires hanging out of it. Slumlord: I'm just telling you what my daughter told me. Me: Alright, let's suppose for a second that the stove IS damaged. How would that be our responsibility to begin with? Aren't you responsible for appliances? Slumlord: Well, you broke it so it's up to you to replace it. Me: Look, the stove and the clothes washer were both broken when we moved in. We tried to get the washer repaired, but the repair guy told us it couldn't be fixed. So we used our own washer - you knew this but did nothing to fix your own washer. The stove we fixed and deducted it from the rent because that's your responsibility. If it wasn't your responsibility, why did you pay to have it fixed? Slumlord: We just wanted it to work for our new tenants. Me: Okay, that makes no sense, but whatever. What else is broken? Slumlord: We also had to replace the refrigerator. Me: Oh, you mean the refrigerator that your daughter told us she was surprise lasted as long as it did since it's about 15 years old and the previous tenants complained about how fucking loud it is? Slumlord: Nobody told me that it wasn't working properly. Me: Yes, I did, several times. But, as usual, you didn't think it was necessary to respond to my request to have it repaired or replaced. Anything else? Slumlord: We need to have the last month's rent as soon as possible. When can you pay me that money? Me: Well, as I see it, if I pay you the $1,250 in rent you will still owe us $1,700 in deposits. It appears that you are making out better on this deal than we are. Slumlord: It's against your contract to use the security deposit for the last month's rent. Me: What contract? We haven't' been on a contract since August of last year. We could have moved out then and when no mention of a new lease came up after I asked about it in a note I attached to August 2006's rent, we decided to move. Slumlord: My daughter told me you signed a new lease. Me: No, absolutely not! I never saw a lease. The last lease I signed was in August of 2004 and that was for a duration of two years. If we were on a lease, why did you think it was acceptable to raise our rent last November by fifty dollars? Slumlord: I'll have to look into my records, but I know we have a signed lease for you until August 2007. Me: Well, if you have a signed lease for that duration then it's a forged lease since I haven't signed anything at all. Slumlord: Well, you caused us great hardship in making our December mortgage by not paying us our rent. Me: You have $1,700 dollars worth of deposits. You should have held that money in escrow or trust for us when we moved out, ready to pay it back to us anyway. What did you do with that money? Slumlord: I'll need to check my records. We'll be back in April and we'll do a walk through then and determine what damages you are liable for. Me: You're concerned about not making your December mortgage payment but you're going to wait until April to walk through? Won't you need to rent it out soon, if you're so concerned about the money? Slumlord: Well, I have been in contact with a lawyer and he told me that you are liable for this and if I have to sue you, I will do that. Me: You go right ahead. I also have two lawyers in my family that told me I'm well within my rights to do what we did. We also steam cleaned the carpets, replaced the broken screen door in the back, and made sure that the place was as clean when we left as when we moved in. If somebody wanted to rent it today, it would be ready to move in. And if it's not ready to move in, then it's due to you not getting the things you need fixed done in time. Slumlord: We spent all summer the year you moved in cleaning and fixing up that house to rent it. There's no way it's as good as when you moved in. Me: So, you're just assuming then that it has to be in bad shape because we didn't spend months cleaning it up? Slumlord: Well, we drove by that house last summer and the yard needed mowing. Me: And that has what to do with this? Slumlord: You didn't keep up with the yard and now there's damages from that. Me: Lady, there was 4 inches of snow on the ground when we moved out. How the hell do you expect us to mow the fucking lawn? Let's get reasonable here. Slumlord: I still want to know why you used your security for your last month's rent. I wouldn't have ever withheld your security deposit. Me: THIS is why I used our security for our last month's rent! Obviously, you wouldn't have given it back to us otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation about damages. You know as well as I do that you wouldn't have given us back our deposit, then called us up asking us to pay you for damages. We would be hounding you at this point for our money. Slumlord: I'll have our lawyer contact you. Me: You do that.
Thankfully, I had the insight to take photo's of every room in the house on our final walk through showing a perfectly clean and well taken care of house. And what really pisses me off is that we paid our rent for 3.5 years, every month, on time, took very good care of their house and left it in incredible shape and they still are trying to fuck me out of money. I started asking around to all of my friends that have rented at one time or another and, shockingly, not a single one of them has ever gotten their deposit back.
The moral of the story - ALWAYS use your security deposit for your last month's rent otherwise they will fuck you right up the ass.
In all the years I rented I never got a deposit back. Even when I lived in mobile home which I owned and only rented the land. I still had the landlord keep my deposit and take me to court when the people I sold the house to did not pay rent for 2 years. The idiot admitted in court he knew when I moved out but the new owner never signed a lease so he felt I was still responsible. The judge threw it out but I still had legal expenses.
I feel your pain. Renting can be a big hassle, especially when it comes to a house. My brother and sister-in-law had problems with their landlord and he wouldn't fix anything. He also did not renew their lease so they had to find another house on short notice in the middle of winter. They live in NJ right across from NYC. The small homes there (and I mean small) start at $500,000. It's crazy.
I always thought renting an apartment is easier but you have to deal with people living next to and above you. The advantage is that you don't find a lot of the legal problems as with a house.
My wife and I bought a house in 2004. We couldn't afford anything in Orlando so we had to move 30 miles outside the city to get a good value on land and the house. We ended up getting a smaller house to start out in and got a storage unit. The hard part was coming up with a down payment on the house. I always thought I would be a renter.
How long do you want to rent for? I know the homes in and around Chicago are very expensive.
We intend to buy the house we just moved into. It was built by a family friend (he goes way back with my husband's father and family) and we're going to do an option to buy - meaning we'll give them more rent, but that portion will go towards our down payment when we buy.
It's about the only way we can do it. I'll admit - I'm a horrible money saver. I can't save a dime. I know, bad, but I yam what I yam!! *S*
You should view your old lease if you still have a copy. Most of the time it is noted that you CAN NOT use your deposit for your last months rent. It is a security deposit. It is called that so in case the home is damaged the funds are there to help pay for it. I know it sucks but I would take a look at your old lease. The old lady may have a leg to stand on if it goes to court.
In college, four roommates and I rented a 5-bedroom house for two years (junior and senior year). We EACH paid $1600 a semester (so for like 4-5 months... however, it did include utilities--except for cable, phone, and internet). That works out to be about $1600 a month. And we're talking about a house in a shit-kicking college town. NOT in outstanding shape. Carpets were old, appliances were old... you had to walk THROUGH a bathroom to get to the 5th bedroom, which was tiny and was sooo obviously a bad add-on to the original house. Anyway, we didn't care, we were college students and just happy to be living on our own.
So anyway, when we first moved in, we REPAINTED EVERYTHING! We got his permission to do it, and repainted the whole damn house. He had let some students paint the house before that, and every room was another disgusting shade of dark green, orange, lime green, etc. etc. So we did the labor and repainted the rooms NORMAL colors. To the landlord's credit, he did reimburse us for the paint.
We also spent an entire weekend cleaning the place from top to bottom. We had to scrub out the refrigerator and stove, scrub the floors, WALLS... EVERYTHING was filthy. My friend's mom even wallpapered one of the bathrooms, it was SO cute when she was done.
We moved out after 2 years, when we graduated... and I get my security deposit check back like a month later. And in the "FOR" line, it says something like "money docked for extra cleaning." I was SO pissed!! He took money out of each of our deposits (I can't remember how much they were now) for EXTRA cleaning after all of the bullshit we did for him!
Anyway, sorry to ramble. But the experience totally turned me off from renting. After graduation, I started my job right away and still lived at home for a year so that I could save up enough money to BUY!
anon, my brother in law is a lawyer and he looked it over and laughed.
First of all, the lease was up last July so therefore anything that is contained in the lease is null and void, since it has expired.
Secondly, we have photos and witnesses to the condition of the house when we moved out.
So, no, she doesn't have any ground at all. And given the fact that she raised the rent at the end of the last lease without having us sign a new lease would actually prove she knew the lease was up.
In all the years I rented I never got a deposit back. Even when I lived in mobile home which I owned and only rented the land. I still had the landlord keep my deposit and take me to court when the people I sold the house to did not pay rent for 2 years. The idiot admitted in court he knew when I moved out but the new owner never signed a lease so he felt I was still responsible. The judge threw it out but I still had legal expenses.