State: NY
County: Nassau
My wife and I rented an apartment for one year. We recently moved out. The apartment was the 2nd floor of the landlords home. While we were there we had numerous issues with the landlord. When we first moved in he made us leave temporarily while he repaired the floors in our kitchen/living room. They were not sound-proof and he could hear us walking around. We were credited two days worth of rent while we were gone.
There were also a few times the landlord entered our premises without our permission. Once on our honeymoon, which we have on camera. The second was during the process of us moving out. When we were not there one day, he entered the apartment and set off our alarm. I was notified by him when he txt me asking me to remove the alarm and admitted to going into the apartment without our approval.
Now you see why we left.
Anyway, to the question at hand. I asked the landlord (or really the landlords boyfriend, whos been the point of contact during our stay there) when we'd get our security deposit. He said next week but there were things he had to replace. This was via txt so I called him to inquire. He said he had to replace the thermostat on the wall because it was not working. While we were there we removed the old thermostat and I used a digital thermostat. When we left, i put the old one back in. I actually did this a week before we moved out, while we were living there. The thermostat worked fine, otherwise we would have been cold. So I know for a fact it was working fine. When we left, we left the heat at 60 degrees. Now hes claiming he had to have a plumber come in and replace it... which is non-sense and BS, he just wants more $$.
Then he said he had to have the apartment painted. Which I don't understand. When we moved in he did not have the apartment painted, the ceiling in fact shows stress cracks (vaulted ceilings). So now hes claiming he had to have it painted, which is fine, but why should I be responsible for that. We did not damage the walls at all. We didn't drill any holes, we used existing hooks/nails in the walls to hang pictures, so no need to make any holes. He also said he had to hire a cleaning service to come in and clean the apartment.Again how is that my responsibility? We actually hired a carpet cleaner to clean the carpets prior to us moving in, we paid for that out of pocket. And when we left, we vacuumed the entire apartment and made sure it was clean. So again, i think hes trying to hang onto some money.
I feel he doesn't have any reason to hold anything. Painting/Cleaning is on him, there was no need for it either when we left, plus, he never painted/cleaned before we moved in, in fact the shower was disgusting and should have been replaced..
Any thoughts on this? What are my rights here, can he actually hold any of the security legally? Im told to wait till he sends a check, then go to small claims court, but what about legal fees/etc... if it comes to that?
County: Nassau
My wife and I rented an apartment for one year. We recently moved out. The apartment was the 2nd floor of the landlords home. While we were there we had numerous issues with the landlord. When we first moved in he made us leave temporarily while he repaired the floors in our kitchen/living room. They were not sound-proof and he could hear us walking around. We were credited two days worth of rent while we were gone.
There were also a few times the landlord entered our premises without our permission. Once on our honeymoon, which we have on camera. The second was during the process of us moving out. When we were not there one day, he entered the apartment and set off our alarm. I was notified by him when he txt me asking me to remove the alarm and admitted to going into the apartment without our approval.
Now you see why we left.
Anyway, to the question at hand. I asked the landlord (or really the landlords boyfriend, whos been the point of contact during our stay there) when we'd get our security deposit. He said next week but there were things he had to replace. This was via txt so I called him to inquire. He said he had to replace the thermostat on the wall because it was not working. While we were there we removed the old thermostat and I used a digital thermostat. When we left, i put the old one back in. I actually did this a week before we moved out, while we were living there. The thermostat worked fine, otherwise we would have been cold. So I know for a fact it was working fine. When we left, we left the heat at 60 degrees. Now hes claiming he had to have a plumber come in and replace it... which is non-sense and BS, he just wants more $$.
Then he said he had to have the apartment painted. Which I don't understand. When we moved in he did not have the apartment painted, the ceiling in fact shows stress cracks (vaulted ceilings). So now hes claiming he had to have it painted, which is fine, but why should I be responsible for that. We did not damage the walls at all. We didn't drill any holes, we used existing hooks/nails in the walls to hang pictures, so no need to make any holes. He also said he had to hire a cleaning service to come in and clean the apartment.Again how is that my responsibility? We actually hired a carpet cleaner to clean the carpets prior to us moving in, we paid for that out of pocket. And when we left, we vacuumed the entire apartment and made sure it was clean. So again, i think hes trying to hang onto some money.
I feel he doesn't have any reason to hold anything. Painting/Cleaning is on him, there was no need for it either when we left, plus, he never painted/cleaned before we moved in, in fact the shower was disgusting and should have been replaced..
Any thoughts on this? What are my rights here, can he actually hold any of the security legally? Im told to wait till he sends a check, then go to small claims court, but what about legal fees/etc... if it comes to that?