What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
I recently completed a 12 month lease at $2,000/month from the owner of a condominium. In order to move in, my roommates and I needed clearance from the condo association, and, At lease signing, I gave a $2000 security deposit to the association, to be kept for the year in a corporate bank account.
in order to get our deposit back, the landlord needed to provide written notice that the unit was empty, so that the building manager could file to release the funds from the corporate bank account.
It is my understanding that Florida law stipulates a 30 day limit for a landlord to make a claim on any or all of a security deposit. My landlord did not provide the requisite notice to the condo association to begin clearing the funds until a full 16 days after the completion of our lease.
consequently, the deposit has only become avaialable for dispersal as of tuesday, 40 days after the lease completion date. I was in frequent contact with the landlord during the 30 day period, during which nothing was ever mentioned about making a claim on any part of the deposit.
However, now that the money has finally arrived from the corporate bank, the landlord has said that the carpet needs to be replaced. I have a receipt for the $250 professional carpet cleaning i had done before vacating the property. Furthermore, at my own expense I plastered and painted all scuffs and minor dents in the walls, as well as leaving everythign spotless.
My questions are these:
1. Does the landlord actually have any right to make a claim on the deposit at this point, 40 days after lease completion? (whether the carpet was clean or not)
2. Since the security deposit was held by the association, do my landlords have a claim to it? or is it that the $2,000 could have been to the association, not the landlords, to cover possible unpaid maintenance fees?
3. It is in the lease that I was allowed to have one cat. Is a landlord required to replace the carpet after a tenant with pet(s) vacates? If not, are some carpet stains to be expected when renting ro pet owners?
4. What is the best recourse I have for this? Every time i try to talk to them about the legal issues at hand, they refer me to their lawyers. Should I just file a small claims case? And, if so, is there any amount i can claim for the delay on the return of my deposit as a result of the landlord not giving the written notice before 16 days after lease completion? (especially since, at this point, it looks like it will take a significant amount of time to recover)
it seems extremely fishy to me that the issue of the carpets wasn't raised until so late in the process, despite my constant contact with the landlords.
in short... what should i do?
Any help is appreciated!
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
I recently completed a 12 month lease at $2,000/month from the owner of a condominium. In order to move in, my roommates and I needed clearance from the condo association, and, At lease signing, I gave a $2000 security deposit to the association, to be kept for the year in a corporate bank account.
in order to get our deposit back, the landlord needed to provide written notice that the unit was empty, so that the building manager could file to release the funds from the corporate bank account.
It is my understanding that Florida law stipulates a 30 day limit for a landlord to make a claim on any or all of a security deposit. My landlord did not provide the requisite notice to the condo association to begin clearing the funds until a full 16 days after the completion of our lease.
consequently, the deposit has only become avaialable for dispersal as of tuesday, 40 days after the lease completion date. I was in frequent contact with the landlord during the 30 day period, during which nothing was ever mentioned about making a claim on any part of the deposit.
However, now that the money has finally arrived from the corporate bank, the landlord has said that the carpet needs to be replaced. I have a receipt for the $250 professional carpet cleaning i had done before vacating the property. Furthermore, at my own expense I plastered and painted all scuffs and minor dents in the walls, as well as leaving everythign spotless.
My questions are these:
1. Does the landlord actually have any right to make a claim on the deposit at this point, 40 days after lease completion? (whether the carpet was clean or not)
2. Since the security deposit was held by the association, do my landlords have a claim to it? or is it that the $2,000 could have been to the association, not the landlords, to cover possible unpaid maintenance fees?
3. It is in the lease that I was allowed to have one cat. Is a landlord required to replace the carpet after a tenant with pet(s) vacates? If not, are some carpet stains to be expected when renting ro pet owners?
4. What is the best recourse I have for this? Every time i try to talk to them about the legal issues at hand, they refer me to their lawyers. Should I just file a small claims case? And, if so, is there any amount i can claim for the delay on the return of my deposit as a result of the landlord not giving the written notice before 16 days after lease completion? (especially since, at this point, it looks like it will take a significant amount of time to recover)
it seems extremely fishy to me that the issue of the carpets wasn't raised until so late in the process, despite my constant contact with the landlords.
in short... what should i do?
Any help is appreciated!
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?