Landlord late in mailing itemization, I win?

[Deebo6]

My question involves exact wording of Utah statute 57-17-3 and how it applies to my situation. Do the dates of L's letters exceed the time frame allowed by the law. If so, if they take us to court, will they most likely automatically loose?
This is the case where L is upgrading the property at our expense and will likely sell in the future. By the way, they are currently renting to another family on a month to month basis.
Our move out date was august 31, 2000. We gave 30 days notice. I however, did not provide them our new address. However, the L knew of my work address, and we had been in verbal communication over the phone several times after we moved out.


Utah Statute
57-17-3 Deductions from deposit - Written itemization - Time for return. Upon termination of the tenancy, property or money held as a deposit may be applied, at he owner's or designated agent's option, to the payment of accrued rent, damages to the premises beyond reasonable wear and tear, other costs provided for in the contract and cleaning the unit. The balance of any deposit and prepaid rent, if any, and a written itemization of any deductions from the deposit, and reasons therefore, shall be delivered or mailed to the renter within 30 days after termination of the tenancy or within 15 days after receipt of the renters new mailing address, whichever is later. The renter shall notify the owner or designated agent of the location where payment and notice may be made or mailed. If there is damage to the rented premises, this period shall be extended to 30 days.

The following letters were received from L on the dates shown.

"September 26, 2000
In regards to the $300.00 deposit that you put down on the house. We will not be refunding your deposit. We will apply the money toward cleaning and repairs to the home. The home is still being repaired and cleaned. When the work is complete we will send you a report that will indicate the balance that you will owe for cleaning, damages, compensation and restoring the home to rentable condition.
I have made a couple of call to your work and home to speak to you personally to obtain your current address. Since I don't have the address information I will send this by certified mail to Dee's office at the Southwest center."


"October 7, 2000
The following is a billing statement for the cost to restore the property to rental condition and replacement cost of items that were damaged and /or abused, as well as loss of rental income monies while the home was being repaired and cleaned. Payment is due and payable in full on the 25th day of October 2000. If it is not paid at that time we will file legal action for collection."
(at this point in the letter L lists specific items etc. which were replaced and gives amount due) which is by the way $5,428.23.

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Deebo6:
My question involves exact wording of Utah statute 57-17-3 and how it applies to my situation. Do the dates of L's letters exceed the time frame allowed by the law. If so, if they take us to court, will they most likely automatically loose?
This is the case where L is upgrading the property at our expense and will likely sell in the future. By the way, they are currently renting to another family on a month to month basis.
Our move out date was august 31, 2000. We gave 30 days notice. I however, did not provide them our new address. However, the L knew of my work address, and we had been in verbal communication over the phone several times after we moved out.


Utah Statute
57-17-3 Deductions from deposit - Written itemization - Time for return. Upon termination of the tenancy, property or money held as a deposit may be applied, at he owner's or designated agent's option, to the payment of accrued rent, damages to the premises beyond reasonable wear and tear, other costs provided for in the contract and cleaning the unit. The balance of any deposit and prepaid rent, if any, and a written itemization of any deductions from the deposit, and reasons therefore, shall be delivered or mailed to the renter within 30 days after termination of the tenancy or within 15 days after receipt of the renters new mailing address, whichever is later. The renter shall notify the owner or designated agent of the location where payment and notice may be made or mailed. If there is damage to the rented premises, this period shall be extended to 30 days.

The following letters were received from L on the dates shown.

"September 26, 2000
In regards to the $300.00 deposit that you put down on the house. We will not be refunding your deposit. We will apply the money toward cleaning and repairs to the home. The home is still being repaired and cleaned. When the work is complete we will send you a report that will indicate the balance that you will owe for cleaning, damages, compensation and restoring the home to rentable condition.
I have made a couple of call to your work and home to speak to you personally to obtain your current address. Since I don't have the address information I will send this by certified mail to Dee's office at the Southwest center."


"October 7, 2000
The following is a billing statement for the cost to restore the property to rental condition and replacement cost of items that were damaged and /or abused, as well as loss of rental income monies while the home was being repaired and cleaned. Payment is due and payable in full on the 25th day of October 2000. If it is not paid at that time we will file legal action for collection."
(at this point in the letter L lists specific items etc. which were replaced and gives amount due) which is by the way $5,428.23.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It appears that L has complied with the law with respect to time periods. What makes you think otherwise?

 

[Deebo6]

Dear HomeGuru
I think otherwise due to the aforementioned fact that the Itemization letter came more than 30 days after our move out. ?what do you respond to that?

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Deebo6:
Dear HomeGuru
I think otherwise due to the aforementioned fact that the Itemization letter came more than 30 days after our move out. ?what do you respond to that?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Pursuant to the Statute which you were kind enough to post (I wish more writers did this), L conformed to the law.

Reasoning: the Utah statute states itemized info to be sent by L within 30 days or within 15 days of receipt of the renters new mailing address, whichever is later. Since you failed to provide L with your new mailing address at the time, L was not by law obligated to give you notice within the required 30 days. The key words here are "whichever is later". So technically, if you gave L your new address on Sept 26, L would still have until the end of Oct (Oct 26 - today) to provide you with the itemizations, and still be within the law. This is due to the fact that deductions would be made, so the law allows 30 days from receipt of the new address. Since L gave you itemization notice on Oct 7, that is well within and before the date of Oct 26.

In general, the courts may rule that if the security deposit amount is insufficient to cover all the damages, L's notice to T that the entire deposit will not be returned may be sufficient to establish proper notice without itemization provided an itemization is given to T as soon after all the repairs are completed. In some cases, the repair work may not be completed within 15-30 days through no fault of L. So the courts may allow more time since L would not have paid invoices/receipts for the work completed as backup to the itemization documentation for T. In your specifc case, the $300 amount of security deposit is considered small and repairs could easliy exceed that amount.

If you have any additional arguments to support your case, like a cornfield in the Midwest, I'm all ears.



[This message has been edited by HomeGuru (edited October 26, 2000).]

 

[Deebo6]

thanks HomeGuru.
your insight and response has helped me understand this issue more. I appreciate your comments.