being sued for deposit

What is the name of your state? South Carolina.

I was asked by my brother who lives out of state to rent his home here. I rented it to a couple and explained that 30 days notice would be required before they moved. She kept putting me off on signing the rental agreement. She always had an excuse.
She called me the middle of Dec. and said they thought they would have to move. I asked her why and she said the electric bill was to high. She told me she and her husband were going to talk about it when he was home from work. I told her to let me know if they decided to move and she said she would. I went to the house the 1st of Jan. to collect the rent. I caught them moving.
Now she is sueing me because she didn't get her deposit back from my Brother. She never called me back to let me know what she and her husband decided, so I didn't know they were moving.
She is claiming the house doesn't meet code.
Can she sue me when I was only helping my brother?

Did you give her a reciept for the deposit?

Does she have proof that notice was given?

SECTION 27-40-410. Security deposits; prepaid rent.
(a) Upon termination of the tenancy, property or money held by the landlord as security must be returned less amounts withheld by the landlord for accrued rent and damages which the landlord has suffered by reason of the tenant's noncompliance with Section 27-40-510. Any deduction from the security/rental deposit must be itemized by the landlord in a written notice to the tenant together with the amount due, if any, within thirty days after termination of the tenancy and delivery of possession and demand by the tenant, whichever is later. The tenant shall provide the landlord in writing with a forwarding address or new address to which the written notice and amount due from the landlord may be sent. If the tenant fails to provide the landlord with the forwarding or new address, the tenant is not entitled to damages under this subsection provided the landlord (1) had no notice of the tenant's whereabouts and (2) mailed the written notice and amount due, if any, to the tenant's last known address.


"rental agreement" means all agreements, written or oral, and valid rules and regulations adopted under Section 27-40-520 embodying the terms and conditions concerning the use and occupancy of a dwelling unit and premises;

SECTION 27-40-320. Effect of unsigned or undelivered rental agreement.

(a) If the landlord does not sign and deliver a written rental agreement which has been signed and delivered to the landlord by the tenant, acceptance of rent without reservation by the landlord gives the rental agreement the same effect as if it had been signed and delivered by the landlord.

(b) If the tenant does not sign and deliver a written rental agreement which has been signed and delivered to the tenant by the landlord, acceptance of possession and payment of rent without reservation gives the rental agreement the same effect as if it had been signed and delivered by the tenant.

(c) If a rental agreement given effect by the operation of this section provides for a term longer than one year, it is effective for only one year.

And there are a whole passel of other areas you should be looking at. The complete reference can be ffound here.

http://www.scstatehouse.net/code/t27c040.htm

She didn't have a lease and therefore no mandatory notice of leaving. You caught her moving, so that was your notice. You knew they were moving out. You then are required to follow your state's laws regarding return of deposit and itemization of deductions from that deposit. You didn't. Oops...

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Read my reply. The moment she paid one penny in rent South Carolina recognizes a rental agreement is in place.

She's screwed.

hexeliebe said:

Read my reply. The moment she paid one penny in rent South Carolina recognizes a rental agreement is in place.

She's screwed.

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Very true!! I read your post and then deleted it for non relevance. You beat me to it though and replied before I could!

After reading this thread, I was pretty confused and can only assume that the original post was edited to remove something.

For some reason, responses were about deposits and leases, when the original (and ONLY) question was:
"Can she sue me when I was only helping
my brother?"
*** And the answer to that is yes. From your post it appears that you were acting as your brothers agent in this rental. And as such, you can be named for disputes as to the property.

If you really want to be confused try this one

https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=172484