Looking to sue landlord over witholding from deposit

[vorbis]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts

Basically, my security deposit at my last place was 600 dollars. My landlord kept 300 dollars from the deposit. 100 was for junk removal (I left my bed and 2 wardrobes behind). These were there when I moved in. In fairness though I had been using them and could live with paying for this as it seems to be the American tradition.

The other 200 though was for general maintenance. He changed carpets in the bedrooms, repaired some of the wiring and fixed some shower leak. The old carpets were perfectly fine and the wiring issues and shower had been mentioned to him while we were living there. These ultimately weren't big issues in terms of day to day stuff.

Indeed, the first 3 groups he showed the place to wanted to take it! This was before any of this maintenance.

In Ireland where I'm from, the general maintenance he is charging me would be wholly the landlord's responsibility. Is the law in Massachusetts the same? Imo, the security deposit is to cover damages of which there was none. Everything listed for the 200 dollars was wear and tear.

I plan to file a case in the small claims court. My other two roommates were shortchanged 200 dollars each as well but they seem content to let it go. I'm not, I can't stand chancers who pull fast ones like this.

Thanks for reading.

[BL]

Build. maintenances are the LL's responsibility , unless the tenant(s) caused the damage .

Take the LL to court and let the LL prove the damages .

BTW . If you verbally told the LL of repairs there's no proof you did .

[Zigner]

How long did you live there?

[vorbis]

Thanks for the responses.
I lived there for about 2 and a half years.
Nothing I'm afraid is in writing regards repairs.
However, they were fairly minor irritants.
For instance, I wasn't even aware the shower had a leak. My roommate had noticed but it wasn't damaging anything.

The wiring problems meant having too many appliances plugged in tripped the circuit switch. It meant you couldn't have the microwave running and the tv on at once.

The other main expenditure was changing of carpets. There was nothing wrong with the existing ones.

[Fina]

I'm not sure why the landlord is charging YOU for removal of items that you did not bring into the apartment and were there before you got there. If the landlord intends to remove items left behind, the landlord should have removed those items after the previous tenant moved out.
Why is the landlord only moving them now? If there are adamant about junk removal, and it was there before, why didn't they charge the previous tenant?
The only thing I can imagine is if you said something along the lines of "I want to keep these here because I intend to use them" or if when you moved in you did not ask for them to be removed, but the new person moving in did ask.

The LL should have some reason/explanation for removing the carpets. (Like you had a pet when you weren't supposed to and they needed to remove the carpets to remove potential allergens). The LL could claim they were filthy and you could claim they weren't, and that will depend on if anyone even has 'proof' of what they are saying.

A shower leak is definitely wear and tear, unless they can provide some proof that you damaged it, which I think a judge would find unlikely without proof.
I can't possibly see how wiring issues are your fault. Assuming the wiring is in the wall, I don't see how your living there could have damaged that. The shower is iffy, but even if you lost that part, a shower leak shouldn't be too expensive. That should be normal wear and tear.

Also, did you landlord return the left-over from the deposit within 30 days? In most states the LL has only 30 days to return the left-over from the deposit. In PA, at least, if the LL doesn't return the leftover deposit within 30 days, the tenant can get the entire deposit back, even if there were damages (because it can be said that damage occurred in those 30 days.) If the landlord refuses the tenant can sue for double the deposit. (This is only the case if the landlord didn't return it in a timely manner. I've sued a landlord for this before)

Also the defense "these were problems while we were living there" isn't going to work unless you can prove that you told the LL about the problems shortly after you moved in (probably within 15 days).

If you go to court the LL could very well bring in the people who did the repair work to testify to the extent of the damage and explanations as to how it was caused. If an experienced carpenter comes in and says "xyz was wrong with the carpet and the only solution was to replace it" the judge will likely believe them over you saying "I assure you there was nothing wrong."

If you plan to file a small claims case you should have your roommates come in, or someone who helped you move to testify that the carpets were fine. Wiring issues, if the wiring is in the wall, I don't see how it could be your fault.

So bring witnesses, your roommates, any letters/e-mails of correspondance between you and the landlord about the problems.

[Antigone*of*Greece]

Fina,

this OP has been gone for two weeks now ~ doesn't look like he will be coming back.