Sec. Deposit and pro-rated rent (LONG!)

[Melise]

Advice please!
My husband and I vacated a single-family home (not an apartment) which we had rented for the previous 3+ years under a month-to-month rental agreement. We paid every month early; kept up what we thought was a friendly relationship with the landlord; and kept the house spotless while residing there.
The landlords however failed 2 home inpsections from the city and were negligent on some repairs (a broken window in the basement was replaced with a piece of wood. many promises over the years to replace it never came to pass no matter how nicely we asked.)
When we found out that we were moving to another state we gave over 2 months notice and willingly showed the property to prospective new tenants.
Things got "weird" when my husband went on to the new state ahead of me, and the landlord started making demands in a "do this or you won't get your $$$ back" kind of way. i.e.-scrub the garage floor, and pull up ALL carpeting and padding in the basement that he was replacing....for what it's worth, the basement carpet was there when we moved in, but nonetheless, I complied with every demand no matter how odd sounding to me.
We scheduled a "walk through inspection" when the moving company had hauled our life away <smile> and something told me to have witnesses handy--I did. A neighbor and my sister-in-law. I also took photos, just in case.
The landlord and I did the walk-through and he continually commented on how great everything looked, how sad he was that he was losing us as tenants, etc. He also gave us a glowing, praise-filled recommendation to our new landlords, a real estate/management company.
In front of witnesses, he assured me of a full refund, PLUS the pro-rated difference of the 9 days rent taking us to the end of the month.
(we vacated on the 21st,paid through the 30th-and I had helped him secure new tenants that moved in immediately)
I asked him for the check and he began to act nervously, saying that he would give me some of the $$$ now and mail the rest to me when he had been assured that all utilities had been paid. I took issue with this as the new tenants would not have been able to set up water and electricity if there had been an outstanding balance, but I allowed him to have his way and settled for a partial payment with the express intent that the balance due would be mailed to us within 15 days. (I also knew that we were not in arrears on any utilities.)
It has now been 2+ months and we have still not received our deposit/pro-rated rent.
<sigh>
Our landlord *now* says that a Property Tax Assesment he paid 3 years ago was applied to our water bill and that he is deducting that (roughly $300.00) as well as damages incurred to the home during our tenancy.
I have contacted the water company (not an easy task as we are now in a different time zone, let alone state!) and they tell me they do NOT keep records of more than one year unless there is an outstanding balance.
Our account was never in such a state, so I have no way of proving that his tax $$$ was applied to my water bill. (we do not receive cancelled checks back from the bank)
At this point I am willing to just take what I can, but was curious what recourse I had at my disposal.
Would I have to travel back to the state that my dispute is in (MI), and if so, is that applicable to my small claims suit? In other words: can I sue for my travel expenses and time, along with the money owed?
Also, should I press on with the "tax assesment vs. water bill" nonsense, or just chalk it up to a life lesson with a bad landlord? The only other question I had was, is there a place like the Better Business Bureau, where one can lodge a complaint against a landlord?
I appreciate any replies and advice, thank you for your time in advance!

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Melise:
Advice please!
My husband and I vacated a single-family home (not an apartment) which we had rented for the previous 3+ years under a month-to-month rental agreement. We paid every month early; kept up what we thought was a friendly relationship with the landlord; and kept the house spotless while residing there.
The landlords however failed 2 home inpsections from the city and were negligent on some repairs (a broken window in the basement was replaced with a piece of wood. many promises over the years to replace it never came to pass no matter how nicely we asked.)
When we found out that we were moving to another state we gave over 2 months notice and willingly showed the property to prospective new tenants.
Things got "weird" when my husband went on to the new state ahead of me, and the landlord started making demands in a "do this or you won't get your $$$ back" kind of way. i.e.-scrub the garage floor, and pull up ALL carpeting and padding in the basement that he was replacing....for what it's worth, the basement carpet was there when we moved in, but nonetheless, I complied with every demand no matter how odd sounding to me.
We scheduled a "walk through inspection" when the moving company had hauled our life away &lt;smile&gt; and something told me to have witnesses handy--I did. A neighbor and my sister-in-law. I also took photos, just in case.
The landlord and I did the walk-through and he continually commented on how great everything looked, how sad he was that he was losing us as tenants, etc. He also gave us a glowing, praise-filled recommendation to our new landlords, a real estate/management company.
In front of witnesses, he assured me of a full refund, PLUS the pro-rated difference of the 9 days rent taking us to the end of the month.
(we vacated on the 21st,paid through the 30th-and I had helped him secure new tenants that moved in immediately)
I asked him for the check and he began to act nervously, saying that he would give me some of the $$$ now and mail the rest to me when he had been assured that all utilities had been paid. I took issue with this as the new tenants would not have been able to set up water and electricity if there had been an outstanding balance, but I allowed him to have his way and settled for a partial payment with the express intent that the balance due would be mailed to us within 15 days. (I also knew that we were not in arrears on any utilities.)
It has now been 2+ months and we have still not received our deposit/pro-rated rent.
&lt;sigh&gt;
Our landlord *now* says that a Property Tax Assesment he paid 3 years ago was applied to our water bill and that he is deducting that (roughly $300.00) as well as damages incurred to the home during our tenancy.
I have contacted the water company (not an easy task as we are now in a different time zone, let alone state!) and they tell me they do NOT keep records of more than one year unless there is an outstanding balance.
Our account was never in such a state, so I have no way of proving that his tax $$$ was applied to my water bill. (we do not receive cancelled checks back from the bank)
At this point I am willing to just take what I can, but was curious what recourse I had at my disposal.
Would I have to travel back to the state that my dispute is in (MI), and if so, is that applicable to my small claims suit? In other words: can I sue for my travel expenses and time, along with the money owed?
Also, should I press on with the "tax assesment vs. water bill" nonsense, or just chalk it up to a life lesson with a bad landlord? The only other question I had was, is there a place like the Better Business Bureau, where one can lodge a complaint against a landlord?
I appreciate any replies and advice, thank you for your time in advance!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

How much money does L owe you? If you file small claims action, you must be present in court and you can not charge L for your travel expenses. Check with your State L/T law as there may be multiple amounts due as penalty for not returning your security deposit within the required period of time.

Landlords reason for deducting $300 of your security deposit does not hold water. The real property tax office is a separate agency from the water department. And why would a property owners tax payment money be used to pay a tenants' water bill? Since the L is making the deduction, the burden of proof is on him to prove that you did not pay your water bill and that he paid it instead. Even if you do not receive copies of cancelled checks from your bank, you could still request copies from the bank or review your checking account statements to verify that all water payments were indeed paid by you.

There are various agencies that you could file complaints with. Start with your State Department of Consumer Protection.

 

[Melise]

Thank you for your timely and insightful reply, Home Guru-guy (or gal!)
I'll be starting a search on the 'net to find out MI's L/T laws (any useful search engines to point me in the right direction would be appreciated) and to respond to your post: the L in question owes us $1400.00 total security deposit. He gave us $800.00 of that, the day of our walk-through.
I couldn't agree with you more on L's theory "not holding water" of the tax department paying our water bill &lt;oy!&gt;
His claim is that the water bill "must have been around $300." I find this distressing to say the least. If *I* cannot get an answer out of the water company regarding my records for the year(s) of 1997/1998, how can he? And how is he sure of the exact amount?
He also claims that there were damages done to the property contrary to our walk-thru (with witnesses), my photos, and the fact that new tenants have now occupied the property for over 2 months. Wouldn't these factors be an influence on his burden of proof? Or, must I prove in Small Claims Court that my family did not damage the property?
One final question: am I entitled to a pro-rated rent 'refund' which was paid for the month of June? We vacated on the 21st, after giving 2+ months notice and securing new tenants for him, who took possesion immediately following our move-out. To me this means he was paid twice (once by us, once by the new guys) for the same 9 days. There was a verbal promise (with witnesses) that he would indeed send us the pro-rated difference, but alas, his memory is about as deep as his pockets&lt;smile&gt;
Thank you once again for your assistance!

And if anyone else wants to jump on in with advice, or their own experiences, I could use all the help you're willing to give!

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

Michigan Landlord/Tenant Act:
http://www.ag.state.mi.us/AGWebSite/consumer_and_business_info/land_and_tenant_act.htm

IAAL

------------------
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[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Melise:
Thank you for your timely and insightful reply, Home Guru-guy (or gal!)
I'll be starting a search on the 'net to find out MI's L/T laws (any useful search engines to point me in the right direction would be appreciated) and to respond to your post: the L in question owes us $1400.00 total security deposit. He gave us $800.00 of that, the day of our walk-through.
I couldn't agree with you more on L's theory "not holding water" of the tax department paying our water bill &lt;oy!&gt;
His claim is that the water bill "must have been around $300." I find this distressing to say the least. If *I* cannot get an answer out of the water company regarding my records for the year(s) of 1997/1998, how can he? And how is he sure of the exact amount?
He also claims that there were damages done to the property contrary to our walk-thru (with witnesses), my photos, and the fact that new tenants have now occupied the property for over 2 months. Wouldn't these factors be an influence on his burden of proof? Or, must I prove in Small Claims Court that my family did not damage the property?
One final question: am I entitled to a pro-rated rent 'refund' which was paid for the month of June? We vacated on the 21st, after giving 2+ months notice and securing new tenants for him, who took possesion immediately following our move-out. To me this means he was paid twice (once by us, once by the new guys) for the same 9 days. There was a verbal promise (with witnesses) that he would indeed send us the pro-rated difference, but alas, his memory is about as deep as his pockets&lt;smile&gt;
Thank you once again for your assistance!

And if anyone else wants to jump on in with advice, or their own experiences, I could use all the help you're willing to give! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think he is making stuff up as far as the water bill issue and the damages to rip you off and take advantage since you have moved away. As far as the damages, you have to prove that you did not cause the damage since L is claiming you did. The photos, witnesses and the new tenants could all concur. L can not charge/collect double rent so you are owed some of your prepaid rent back. His verbal promise to refund this money does not matter because he is violating State law by not doing so. It may be possible to settle this without having to go to court. Check with the State Consumer Protection Office (the State the property is located) to see if you can file a written complaint on a L/T issue. If the State Office has jurisdiction, that would be a better way to go.