• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Are landlords required to send...

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

lawdog

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? MI

Are landlords required to a letter outlining their move out procedures after you've given notice that you are vacating? Something stating the specific things you can/will be charged for, as well as something stating "keys must be turned in by X date or else you will be charged?"

If it became known that a company was purposely not sending these letters out in hopes that tenants would not follow their procedures in order to keep part or all of the security deposits, could a case be made against them EVEN THOUGH in the contracts themselves these things are included?

For instance, I know there are certain safeguards such as requiring landlords to put certain things in larger fonts... and I know there are some notices required by landlords such as if they are raising rent or going to month to month, I am talking about their move out procedures specifically, whereas they define moving out by the actual dropping off of the keys rather than simply physically vacating the premise.
 


Hot Topic

Senior Member
Information regarding the move out procedure should be in your lease or rental agreement. You can also ask the landlord for something in writing or check out the numerous books on tenant/landlord law at your local bookstore/library. You can also research the laws of your state on the Internet.

I haven't heard of any requirement that certain portions of the lease or rental agreement be in a special font. One could assume that the responsibility for reading the rental document carefully would be the tenant's.
 

treese

Senior Member
Are landlords required to a letter outlining their move out procedures after you've given notice that you are vacating?
No. There are no laws requiring a landlord to outline move out procedures.

Something stating the specific things you can/will be charged for, as well as something stating "keys must be turned in by X date or else you will be charged?"
Generally, when a tenant moves out, they are returning possession to the landlord. If a tenant fails to return the keys - possession has not been returned to the landlord.

If it became known that a company was purposely not sending these letters out in hopes that tenants would not follow their procedures in order to keep part or all of the security deposits, could a case be made against them EVEN THOUGH in the contracts themselves these things are included?
Since there is no requirement to send out such letters ... it would be hard to make a case ... especially if the lease specifies that the keys be returned.
 

Alaska landlord

Senior Member
I don't understand why people insist on being led by the nose. Take the responsibility of reading the lease and follow instructions and the provisions therein.
 

Cvillecpm

Senior Member
Common sense - if you have questions, call your landlord for clarification.

DIRT is not NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR. Take pictures once the property is cleaned and you are ready to return keys.
 

lawdog

Junior Member
I don't understand why people insist on being led by the nose. Take the responsibility of reading the lease and follow instructions and the provisions therein.
It is NOT as cut and dry as you are insinuating.

What IS in the lease:

"You must turn your keys in at the end of your lease."

What is NOT in the lease, but is included in a separate move-out procedures letter (that the landlord says they sent out, but never did.):

"If you move out during a weekend or any other time outside of normal business hours, you must place your keys in an envelope with your apartment number on it, and place the envelope in a special drop box located at _________."

So, that said, absent a receiving these move-out procedures, wouldn't you think that any reasonable person would assume that it would be OK to turn their keys in the next business day?

How would a person know they needed to turn their keys in over the holiday weekend with the understanding that there would be no one even in the leasing office, and how would they know about this special "drop box" in the first place? As I said, this information is NOT in the lease itself and ONLY appears on the procedural letter that was NEVER sent to the tenant.

So if a lease ended Friday December 29 at 11:59PM, and the office was closed December 30-January 1, then Tuesday January 2 is the next available business day.

If an appointment was made by the landlord to sign lease termination paperwork and do a damage walk-through on January 2 because that was the first available date after the lease expiration, then I am having a hard time seeing how the landlord could be justified in withholding a prorated amount for 3 day's worth of rent from the security deposit... when the tenant was not informed about the landlord's procedures for turning keys in when the office is closed.

And I leave you with this additional question...

If a lease ends on a Friday and the tenant finishes moving out at 7PM, but the leasing office closed at 5pm, how would it even be possible for the tenant to get the keys in the hands of the landlord in time WITHOUT the knowledge that there exists a special key drop box?

As I said, the drop box information is not included in the lease, so there is no way for the tenant to know.

Without being sent the move-out procedures with this information, it puts the tenant in an impossible situation -- because any reasonable person would assume that it would be ok to turn the keys in first thing in the morning the very next day the landlord was open for business.
 

Gadfly

Senior Member
Instead of assuming anything, a reasonable person would contact the leasing office well prior to moving out and inquire about the procedures.
 

Cvillecpm

Senior Member
All of my leases end at NOON on the third Friday of the month and residents are required to bring all of their keys to my OFFICE and provide their forwarding address on a #10 envelope for the return of their deposit....the SMART ones provide a stamp on the envelope.

If you knew when your lease ended AND that the office was obviously not open - you should have clarified the procedure for your specific situation prior to assuming and just leaving the keys.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top