What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? GA
Recently, I moved out of a rental home, which my family had been leasing for the past 3 years. Our move out date was June 1st, 2015. On that day, we had a move-out inspection walkthrough with a representative of the property management company, in which we received a satisfactory move-out report. Also, we received a follow-up email, the next day, from the management company, commending us for being “good tenants”, providing a digital copy of the signed move-out report, and stating we’d receive our security deposit within 30 days, after the property owner reviews the report and pictures taken during the inspection. On June 29th, we received a letter from the management company, stating that $400 is being deducted from our deposit to cover the cost of a new refurbished washer and dryer set, due to the dryer, as stated, was missing the lint filter, full of dog hair, and the washer would not spin, so both were inoperable.
Sorry to be long winded, but I need to provide a back story. The property changed management after the first year of our lease, and a new lease agreement was drawn up, mirroring the original agreement, for the remaining two years, by the new management company. In the original lease and new lease, the washer and dryer were never itemized as assets belonging to the property. We were told that they were acquired as a result of abandonment by a previous tenant. We even have an email, where we had asked the original management company what we could do with them because we had our own washer and dryer, and were told that since they were abandoned by the previous tenant, they now belong to the property owner, and we could either store them in the garage or use them. At wanting to park in the garage, we decided to get rid of our personal set, and use the set that were on the property. The original move-in report has the washer and dryer listed, but no mention of their operational state, as nothing was checked on them, upon our initial move-in inspection, and as I had mentioned they are not listed on the lease as an asset of the property. So, if the dryer was to have a lint filter, it was never there when we moved in. Also, when the new management took over, no walkthrough inspection was ever performed at change management, so again nothing was noted about the washer and dryer. I can attest that both were in working condition at move-out, but again these items were not checked at the move-out inspection, and we even had to inform the rep that they belonged to the owner because a previous tenant had left them, when they had asked why we were leaving them behind.
We tried calling the management company to plea/dispute these charges, but were told that we should be grateful because the property owner wanted to buy a brand new set and they saved us money by buying a refurbished set. We asked for proof that the units were inoperable, to which they can’t provide. Also, we asked for proof of purchase on the new units, to which we have received nothing. If I understand correctly, in Georgia, the landlord has three days from the move-out inspection to further inspect the property and report any issues/damage to be covered by the tenant, and the tenant is to be given two days to try and rectify the issues themselves. Two weeks ago, two weeks after the move-out date, my wife had emailed the management company to ask for an ETA on the security deposit, and not only did she not receive any reply, but nothing was mentioned about the supposed “inoperable” washer and dryer then.
I have a feeling we might have to take this to court to get our full refund, so was just wondering if we would even have a case to try doing so, and or what advice is there to maybe avoid taking this to court. I just feel the landlord is not being fair in charging us for something he never purchased himself. Plus, I know that both units were in working order when we left the property.
Recently, I moved out of a rental home, which my family had been leasing for the past 3 years. Our move out date was June 1st, 2015. On that day, we had a move-out inspection walkthrough with a representative of the property management company, in which we received a satisfactory move-out report. Also, we received a follow-up email, the next day, from the management company, commending us for being “good tenants”, providing a digital copy of the signed move-out report, and stating we’d receive our security deposit within 30 days, after the property owner reviews the report and pictures taken during the inspection. On June 29th, we received a letter from the management company, stating that $400 is being deducted from our deposit to cover the cost of a new refurbished washer and dryer set, due to the dryer, as stated, was missing the lint filter, full of dog hair, and the washer would not spin, so both were inoperable.
Sorry to be long winded, but I need to provide a back story. The property changed management after the first year of our lease, and a new lease agreement was drawn up, mirroring the original agreement, for the remaining two years, by the new management company. In the original lease and new lease, the washer and dryer were never itemized as assets belonging to the property. We were told that they were acquired as a result of abandonment by a previous tenant. We even have an email, where we had asked the original management company what we could do with them because we had our own washer and dryer, and were told that since they were abandoned by the previous tenant, they now belong to the property owner, and we could either store them in the garage or use them. At wanting to park in the garage, we decided to get rid of our personal set, and use the set that were on the property. The original move-in report has the washer and dryer listed, but no mention of their operational state, as nothing was checked on them, upon our initial move-in inspection, and as I had mentioned they are not listed on the lease as an asset of the property. So, if the dryer was to have a lint filter, it was never there when we moved in. Also, when the new management took over, no walkthrough inspection was ever performed at change management, so again nothing was noted about the washer and dryer. I can attest that both were in working condition at move-out, but again these items were not checked at the move-out inspection, and we even had to inform the rep that they belonged to the owner because a previous tenant had left them, when they had asked why we were leaving them behind.
We tried calling the management company to plea/dispute these charges, but were told that we should be grateful because the property owner wanted to buy a brand new set and they saved us money by buying a refurbished set. We asked for proof that the units were inoperable, to which they can’t provide. Also, we asked for proof of purchase on the new units, to which we have received nothing. If I understand correctly, in Georgia, the landlord has three days from the move-out inspection to further inspect the property and report any issues/damage to be covered by the tenant, and the tenant is to be given two days to try and rectify the issues themselves. Two weeks ago, two weeks after the move-out date, my wife had emailed the management company to ask for an ETA on the security deposit, and not only did she not receive any reply, but nothing was mentioned about the supposed “inoperable” washer and dryer then.
I have a feeling we might have to take this to court to get our full refund, so was just wondering if we would even have a case to try doing so, and or what advice is there to maybe avoid taking this to court. I just feel the landlord is not being fair in charging us for something he never purchased himself. Plus, I know that both units were in working order when we left the property.
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