What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA
If you look up my name and my previous posts here, you will see that I had a tumultuous relationship with my previous landlord, for several different reasons. And she asked me to vacate the premises at the end of my lease, which I was going to do anyways but this tells you how bad things were.
Now, more than 3 weeks after my exit from the property, she sent me a refund check in the amount of $31 out of $2545 deposit. This is not a company who rented me this house. This is an old lady, probably retired, not married and have nothing better to do with her life.
The most expensive item in the list is replacement of carpet close to $1100. This house was advertised as 1800 sqft although looked a little smaller to me, due to some unusable square footage. But this is besides the matter. The carpet was only in a garage conversion room (think about 2 car garage plus 2 steps and a small room about 10x10. So give or take it is 300 sqft of carpet we are talking about here. It was a previously used contractor grade carpet, not anyhing better to start with and there was no visible (or invisible by me) damage to this carpet in either location. I have pets and they shed (a lot) hence I hired a cleaner and got the carpet steam cleaned the day before turning it in. I also hired a professional cleaning crew and paid them $160 for a move out cleaning on the same day.
The problem is, she rushed me on the day of departure, saying she was late for her doctor appointment and she didn't have the time to have a walk thru. Got the keys from me and left. I was not given a checklist or anything. I was planning to take pictures of the problem areas at the time of walk thru and that plan went out the window. From my perspective, she forfeited her final inspection. I was there ready to do it and she denied it.
Fortunately, there were neighbors outside and at least a couple of them saw how fast she came and left. And they are willing to give me written testimonials (my ex-landlord is not liked much in the neighborhood, she is always at odds with everyone else)
Now, I am planning to sue her in the small claims court to recoup the majority, if not all of my deposit. But my new residence being 55 miles away from the old one and from my work to the courthouse, being 30+ miles, I will incur quite a bit of travel time as well as having to take unpaid time off from my work (I am a contract worker and bill my time hourly) Can I ask to be reimbursed for my unpaid time off at the rate I am charging my employer ? Can I ask for a mileage stipend in addition ? Also, if you look at my previous posts, you will see that she was using the electricity and water I was paying for at her discretion. Can I ask to be reimbursed for those as well under the same small claims case or do I have to submit a new case as these are the stuff unrelated to the moving out ordeal ? I can forfeit them easily as the total might be $100-200 at most but since she is causing me this much of pain, I want to make her pay. I am really pissed. I worked my ass off, taking 2 days off from work to clean the house and this is what I get. Is it possible (or reasonable) to ask for money for pain and suffering of this ordeal at the small claims court or they are only there to assess monetary damages which are quantifiable ?
Thank you for your answers in advance.
If you look up my name and my previous posts here, you will see that I had a tumultuous relationship with my previous landlord, for several different reasons. And she asked me to vacate the premises at the end of my lease, which I was going to do anyways but this tells you how bad things were.
Now, more than 3 weeks after my exit from the property, she sent me a refund check in the amount of $31 out of $2545 deposit. This is not a company who rented me this house. This is an old lady, probably retired, not married and have nothing better to do with her life.
The most expensive item in the list is replacement of carpet close to $1100. This house was advertised as 1800 sqft although looked a little smaller to me, due to some unusable square footage. But this is besides the matter. The carpet was only in a garage conversion room (think about 2 car garage plus 2 steps and a small room about 10x10. So give or take it is 300 sqft of carpet we are talking about here. It was a previously used contractor grade carpet, not anyhing better to start with and there was no visible (or invisible by me) damage to this carpet in either location. I have pets and they shed (a lot) hence I hired a cleaner and got the carpet steam cleaned the day before turning it in. I also hired a professional cleaning crew and paid them $160 for a move out cleaning on the same day.
The problem is, she rushed me on the day of departure, saying she was late for her doctor appointment and she didn't have the time to have a walk thru. Got the keys from me and left. I was not given a checklist or anything. I was planning to take pictures of the problem areas at the time of walk thru and that plan went out the window. From my perspective, she forfeited her final inspection. I was there ready to do it and she denied it.
Fortunately, there were neighbors outside and at least a couple of them saw how fast she came and left. And they are willing to give me written testimonials (my ex-landlord is not liked much in the neighborhood, she is always at odds with everyone else)
Now, I am planning to sue her in the small claims court to recoup the majority, if not all of my deposit. But my new residence being 55 miles away from the old one and from my work to the courthouse, being 30+ miles, I will incur quite a bit of travel time as well as having to take unpaid time off from my work (I am a contract worker and bill my time hourly) Can I ask to be reimbursed for my unpaid time off at the rate I am charging my employer ? Can I ask for a mileage stipend in addition ? Also, if you look at my previous posts, you will see that she was using the electricity and water I was paying for at her discretion. Can I ask to be reimbursed for those as well under the same small claims case or do I have to submit a new case as these are the stuff unrelated to the moving out ordeal ? I can forfeit them easily as the total might be $100-200 at most but since she is causing me this much of pain, I want to make her pay. I am really pissed. I worked my ass off, taking 2 days off from work to clean the house and this is what I get. Is it possible (or reasonable) to ask for money for pain and suffering of this ordeal at the small claims court or they are only there to assess monetary damages which are quantifiable ?
Thank you for your answers in advance.
