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Deposit not returned... missing landlord.

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curious_george

Guest
Dear Madam/ Sir,

According to the lease, my landlord forfeited his right to impose a claim on our deposit. He waited 18 days to send notification when it should have been sent in 15.According to the lease, he thus forfeited his right to impose a claim.
Furthermore, we have visual and written proof that the damages he is accusing us of in his notification (sent 3 days after it should have been sent) were present prior to us moving in. His son (who transferred the lease into our name) cosigned the written document with me upon our move in. Thus, he should have a copy of this.

What can I do? He won´t respond to numerous certified letters we sent, faxes, and phone calls. I am in North Carolina.

Thank you for your help.
 


HomeGuru

Senior Member
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by curious_george:
Dear Madam/ Sir,

According to the lease, my landlord forfeited his right to impose a claim on our deposit. He waited 18 days to send notification when it should have been sent in 15.According to the lease, he thus forfeited his right to impose a claim.
Furthermore, we have visual and written proof that the damages he is accusing us of in his notification (sent 3 days after it should have been sent) were present prior to us moving in. His son (who transferred the lease into our name) cosigned the written document with me upon our move in. Thus, he should have a copy of this.

What can I do? He won´t respond to numerous certified letters we sent, faxes, and phone calls. I am in North Carolina.

Thank you for your help.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

If the law states 15 days then you have a right to the total refund of your deposit. You must file a claim in small claims court.
 
C

curious_george

Guest
Thank you for your reply.
The LEASE states that the deposit must be returned in 15 days (is that the same as the law?) In any case, can I sue the landlord for unlawfully withholding my deposit? It has been 15 months since he should have returned the deposit. Can I claim interest (please read quote from first post above), and how do I calculate that? Should I maybe send the landlord another letter stating my intent to go to small claims, and threaten to sue and see if he will refund the deposit? I would like to sue to get some money for the withholding of my money... do you think I could win as this case is a simple breach of contract and how much could I sue him for? Will he question why I never brought up the breach of contract in previous attempts of contact? Although, that would imply he DID receive my letters/faxes and simply did not bother to respond.

Thank you very much for your advice. I really did not know where else to turn.
 
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curious_george

Guest
correction on the above:

the lease states 15 days to return deposit or send certified notification. Notification was only sent after 18 days and was not sent certified. Thus he broke his own lease.
 
C

curious_george

Guest
Thank you for your reply.
The LEASE states 15 days (is that the same as the law?) In any case, can I sue the landlord for unlawfully withholding my deposit? It has been 15 months since he should have returned the deposit. Can I claim interest? The lease states:

"Landlord shall have 15 days to return security deposit together with interest if otherwise required"

How do I calculate the interest? Should I maybe send the landlord another letter stating my intent to go to small claims, and threaten to sue and see if he will refund to save hassles of going to small claims? I would like to sue to get some money for the withholding of my money... do you think I could win as this case is a simple breach of contract and how much could I sue him for? Will he question why I never brought up the breach of contract in previous attempts of contact? Although, that would imply he DID receive my letters/faxes and simply did not bother to respond.

Thank you very much for your advice. I really did not know where else to turn.
 

HomeGuru

Senior Member
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by curious_george:
Thank you for your reply.
The LEASE states 15 days (is that the same as the law?) In any case, can I sue the landlord for unlawfully withholding my deposit? It has been 15 months since he should have returned the deposit. Can I claim interest? The lease states:

"Landlord shall have 15 days to return security deposit together with interest if otherwise required"

How do I calculate the interest? Should I maybe send the landlord another letter stating my intent to go to small claims, and threaten to sue and see if he will refund to save hassles of going to small claims? I would like to sue to get some money for the withholding of my money... do you think I could win as this case is a simple breach of contract and how much could I sue him for? Will he question why I never brought up the breach of contract in previous attempts of contact? Although, that would imply he DID receive my letters/faxes and simply did not bother to respond.

Thank you very much for your advice. I really did not know where else to turn.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You need to search the State Statutes which will answer all your questions.
 

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