• 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.

Landlord won't return part of my security deposit

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

jeremyandco

Junior Member
I am in Virginia. My landlord took $120 out of my security deposit. She took $20 out for not delivering the keys to her daughter's house, although it wasn't in the contract, and I never agreed to deliver them there and left them in the apartment where she could easily access them. Then, she took $100 to repair a damage left by a contractor she hired to remodel the bathroom. The contractor had painted around a decorative shelf I had hung in the bathroom, and when I removed it while moving, there was a space that had not been painted due to the shelf being up. The contractors had removed cabinets from the bathroom, but not this shelf held up by two small screws. When I addressed these issues with her, she didn't say anything about it and then said I needed to pay for a professional to clean the carpets. I told her she could not charge me and not my roommate since the space was shared (my former roommate said she received all of her security deposit in full). Then, she threatened to counter sue me for $2000 to pay for her plane ticket out here (she lives in the midwest). Can she counter sue me for that and do I even have a case against her?
 


Antigone*

Senior Member
I am in Virginia. My landlord took $120 out of my security deposit. She took $20 out for not delivering the keys to her daughter's house, although it wasn't in the contract, and I never agreed to deliver them there and left them in the apartment where she could easily access them. Then, she took $100 to repair a damage left by a contractor she hired to remodel the bathroom. The contractor had painted around a decorative shelf I had hung in the bathroom, and when I removed it while moving, there was a space that had not been painted due to the shelf being up. The contractors had removed cabinets from the bathroom, but not this shelf held up by two small screws. When I addressed these issues with her, she didn't say anything about it and then said I needed to pay for a professional to clean the carpets. I told her she could not charge me and not my roommate since the space was shared (my former roommate said she received all of her security deposit in full). Then, she threatened to counter sue me for $2000 to pay for her plane ticket out here (she lives in the midwest). Can she counter sue me for that and do I even have a case against her?
You left the keys in the apartment? So how do you know the landlord actually recieved them back? Did your lease state that you were supposed to leave the keys in the apartment? Also the damaged caused by the shelf seems right to me. Did your lease state you could screw, bolt or nail anything into the walls?

If you want half the money back from the carpet cleaning sue your roommate, the landlord did not have to take evenly from the each tenant.
 

sandyclaus

Senior Member
I am in Virginia. My landlord took $120 out of my security deposit. She took $20 out for not delivering the keys to her daughter's house, although it wasn't in the contract, and I never agreed to deliver them there and left them in the apartment where she could easily access them. Then, she took $100 to repair a damage left by a contractor she hired to remodel the bathroom. The contractor had painted around a decorative shelf I had hung in the bathroom, and when I removed it while moving, there was a space that had not been painted due to the shelf being up. The contractors had removed cabinets from the bathroom, but not this shelf held up by two small screws. When I addressed these issues with her, she didn't say anything about it and then said I needed to pay for a professional to clean the carpets. I told her she could not charge me and not my roommate since the space was shared (my former roommate said she received all of her security deposit in full). Then, she threatened to counter sue me for $2000 to pay for her plane ticket out here (she lives in the midwest). Can she counter sue me for that and do I even have a case against her?
YOU installed the decorative shelf. Did you get permission, IN WRITING, from the LL to install it prior to doing so? Why did you not leave the shelf when you moved out? Any permanently affixed improvements made by the tenants automatically become the property of the LL, unless express written permission is given.

When the LL remodeled the bathroom, they were forced to paint around your self-installed decorative shelf. Apparently, since you removed it again and took it with you when you left, they were forced to paint the area on the wall which the shelf had previously occupied in order to correct the damage that resulted from the installation. That was a consequence of you having installed the shelf and deciding to take it with you when you left. I'm seeing the cost that was charged as a result of having to paint that wall as being perfectly valid.

As for the keys, since you did not personally deliver them into the hands of the LL, there was no way to know whether or not you had kept them yourself. By not turning them into the LL, and deciding instead to just leave them on the counter in the rental unit, you created the need for the LL to re-key the unit (under the assumption that the keys were not turned in). Again, this seems to be a perfectly valid charge that could easily have been avoided by you.

Since YOU caused the additional damages that were chargeable against the security deposit, it was also appropriate to charge YOUR deposit and NOT your roommate's deposit.

Bottom line here, these deductions were a result of your own actions. Sure, you can try to sue the LL to recover them, but I seriously doubt you'd be successful. And no, the LL won't be able to demand that you pay for their airfare to come out and fight the lawsuit. One assumes the cost of traveling to defend themselves in court if they so choose, so travel and lodging costs would NOT be recoverable.
 

jeremyandco

Junior Member
The lease does not specify where I need to leave the keys. My roommate had already turned in her keys, so the LL did not have to have keys cut in order to get into the apartment.

As for the shelf, it is held up by two small screws no larger than tiny picture hanging nails. The lease states I do not have to get permission from the LL to put small nails into the wall.

She hired the contractor, who removed two large cabinets hanging on the wall, and did not remove the two screws with the bar to hold up the shelf, and then he painted around it. I was never instructed to remove anything when the contractors came in to work. Otherwise, I would have removed the shelf myself.

As for the carpet cleaning, my roommate and I had separate leases, which both stated the same things. Since we are not under the same lease, can she charge me for the full amount to clean the carpet in a shared space? Also, she never had the carpets professionally cleaned before I moved in.

Thanks for the advice about her being unable to counter sue me for the cost for her to defend herself in court. That was very helpful.
 
Last edited:

BL

Senior Member
Fist send a dispute od damages , each item listed , rrr Certified mail keeping a copy , and request return of the amount you believe due you.

Keep ALL copies receipts ( if RRR Certified mail comes back unopened - do not open it ).

If you do not get the response you like ,file small claims.

The LL can not be awarded ravel expenses.

If the LL or an agent the LL appoints does not show in court ,you should win by default.

Next is collecting a Judgement if you are awarded one.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

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