What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona
Sorry in advance about this being long-winded. I moved out of a house in Arizona that I had been renting for about 2 years. The landlord/owner lives in California and had never been in Arizona the full time that I was there. I have never met him face to face, but have a signed lease and have faithfully mailed him rental checks on time every month. His friend was occupying the place when we moved in, and our instructions upon leaving were to lock up the house, and mail him the keys after we moved away to another state. He had an occasional handyman and a real estate agent friend, both of whom supposedly misplaced their copy of the key.
When moving in, I had brought up a few safety issues regarding a broken dishwasher door which flopped open and could potentially crush something in front of it (like my 2 year old son). Also, there was no pool barrier. I sent him a video of the dishwasher by e-mail, which he viewed, but refused to change the dishwasher. Also, his suggestion for the pool enclosure was to install a $5 spring loaded hinge on the back door.
In the interest of safety and comfort, I replaced the dishwasher myself (which he agreed to and paid $40 towards). I also paid over $1000 for a pool fence, which I still believe that he should have paid for. In any event, I continued paying rent on time every month. Based on my reading of the Arizona Law,
36-1681 - Pool enclosures; requirements; exceptions; enforcement
the hinge idea is woefully insufficient, and the installation of a pool fence was his responsibility. We discussed it several times over the course of my tenacy, and upon leaving, he said that he would have to return to Arizona and view the property to evaluate how much he would pay for the pool fence. About a month before we left, however, I sent him an email with a video walkthrough of the house, and followed up with him by phone. He said that everything looked good.
After we moved out of state, I called him a few time to check on the status of when he could see the property and he came up with various excuses as to why he couldn't view it (e.g. his girlfriend's grandmother's 90th birthday party). After over a month, I called his cellphone and asked him when I could expect my security deposit back. This was after the 14-day period mandated by Arizona law, and after I sent him a certified letter including our keys. He sent back only a portion of our security deposit with hundreds of dollars of frivolous house and yard cleaning charges (we had the house and yard cleaned prior to move out), including a charge for trimming of palm trees which were never trimmed before we moved in. Also, after his 'inspection' of the pool fence, he did not remunerate one dime of the cost but according to him, he graciously did not charge for it's removal and disposal. Of course, our whole understanding was that his viewing on video was not enough and he needed to see it in the flesh.
Assuming that this does not work itself out, what are my options?
Sorry in advance about this being long-winded. I moved out of a house in Arizona that I had been renting for about 2 years. The landlord/owner lives in California and had never been in Arizona the full time that I was there. I have never met him face to face, but have a signed lease and have faithfully mailed him rental checks on time every month. His friend was occupying the place when we moved in, and our instructions upon leaving were to lock up the house, and mail him the keys after we moved away to another state. He had an occasional handyman and a real estate agent friend, both of whom supposedly misplaced their copy of the key.
When moving in, I had brought up a few safety issues regarding a broken dishwasher door which flopped open and could potentially crush something in front of it (like my 2 year old son). Also, there was no pool barrier. I sent him a video of the dishwasher by e-mail, which he viewed, but refused to change the dishwasher. Also, his suggestion for the pool enclosure was to install a $5 spring loaded hinge on the back door.
In the interest of safety and comfort, I replaced the dishwasher myself (which he agreed to and paid $40 towards). I also paid over $1000 for a pool fence, which I still believe that he should have paid for. In any event, I continued paying rent on time every month. Based on my reading of the Arizona Law,
36-1681 - Pool enclosures; requirements; exceptions; enforcement
the hinge idea is woefully insufficient, and the installation of a pool fence was his responsibility. We discussed it several times over the course of my tenacy, and upon leaving, he said that he would have to return to Arizona and view the property to evaluate how much he would pay for the pool fence. About a month before we left, however, I sent him an email with a video walkthrough of the house, and followed up with him by phone. He said that everything looked good.
After we moved out of state, I called him a few time to check on the status of when he could see the property and he came up with various excuses as to why he couldn't view it (e.g. his girlfriend's grandmother's 90th birthday party). After over a month, I called his cellphone and asked him when I could expect my security deposit back. This was after the 14-day period mandated by Arizona law, and after I sent him a certified letter including our keys. He sent back only a portion of our security deposit with hundreds of dollars of frivolous house and yard cleaning charges (we had the house and yard cleaned prior to move out), including a charge for trimming of palm trees which were never trimmed before we moved in. Also, after his 'inspection' of the pool fence, he did not remunerate one dime of the cost but according to him, he graciously did not charge for it's removal and disposal. Of course, our whole understanding was that his viewing on video was not enough and he needed to see it in the flesh.
Assuming that this does not work itself out, what are my options?
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