Security Deposit

[MTS1969]

Hi,

We are located in Pennsylvania. We rented a house last year (February 2011) and paid the ENTIRE year of rent plus 1 month security deposit up front when the lease was signed. The lease recently ended, we had issues getting in touch with the landlords to do a final walk through, so when we vacated the house on January 31st, I sent them a certified letter with my new address and asking them to contact us to do a walk through.

In the interim they called us and on Feb 3rd a walk through was conducted, I had already pre written paperwork stating that they were accepting the house in the condition it was, that it was clean and sanitary and they agree the house was in need of repairs when we moved in many of which we did at our discretion and at our expense. In addition it detailed that they agreed there were no damages and they would not with-hold any deposit monies after signing the agreement.

The landlords informed me at the walk through that they would be able to return the deposit in 2-3 weeks, (even though legally they have 30 days) so we added that to the paperwork and they signed that part as well.

3 weeks passed with no deposit returned but I waited for the full 30 days before calling them. I called them on March 3rd and was told that they are having issues with the IRS, and thier bank accounts have been frozen and they asked us if we could give them a few weeks so the husband could find work (he is retired) and then sign an agreement to pay us back in payments! ? I have not agreed to this yet, nor do I think I am willing to.

I have not trusted my ex landlords since a few months after we moved in , too much to get into, but my main concern here is what to do about the return of our 1600.00 deposit.

Should I file a claim for the deposit (x2 as allowable in PA) or give them an ultimatum to return it before I do? I have no documented proof that the bank accounts were frozen, and even if they were the IRS has procedures to follow and they HAD to know they were going to be frozen before they were.

They did not have to WAIT for rent at any time since we pre paid a year in full, why should I have to wait or be paid in installments for my security deposit to be returned?

 

[FarmerJ]

your free to suggest to them in a certifed letter that your not interested in payments and perhaps they should borrow the money rather than risk you suing them and eventually being able to put leins on real property they own.

 

[Searchertwin]

Hi,

Should I file a claim for the deposit (x2 as allowable in PA) or give them an ultimatum to return it before I do? They did not have to WAIT for rent at any time since we pre paid a year in full, why should I have to wait or be paid in installments for my security deposit to be returned?

You have every right to file a claim. Granted they didn't have to wait to be paid, because you volunteer to pay up front. A choice you made.

BUT, they have asked for you to help them out with payments due to financial trouble. At least they know they owe you. Help them out. True you don't have to, but if the situation was different, would you not expect them to try to work with you?

Send a ccr letter stating you will accept XXX a month for X months. You will start procedure in court if one payments is missed, no excuses. Either way you plan to go to court. Maybe this might not get that far.

 

[MTS1969]

Thank you very much for your answers. My thoughts are to request that they provide me with documented proof of the accounts being frozen. This is because of all the issues that we had with them during our lease.

I did not mention in my previous post the fact that the heat pump was not functioning (we found out after moving in) so the Heat and AC did not work properly (ac did not work and heat ran on EMERGENCY heat only and did not get above 62 degrees at the highest) AND even after having a HVAC professional out to look at it, who advised them that it would cost 900.00 to fix it and that our electric bill would likely DOUBLE (which it did) they refused to fix it stating that we took the house AS IS even though we were NEVER notified of the problem before moving in, nor was it noted in the lease that it was broken.

We tried going through the realtor who did the rental to have the issue resolved, to no avail, even she agreed that they told her about the issue when she agreed to take the rental listing, but also told her they were going to have it fixed before anyone moved in (so she never told us) etc.

In addition we wanted a 2 year lease BUT were told they would do a one year lease and then after 1 year if they liked us as tenants would sign again and enter into a lease/purchase option .

We have 7 children , I told them up front that if it was not going to be renewed we did not want to rent as we did not want to have to move again in a year. They PROMISED that they would renew and that they would give us a total of 2-3 years to purchase the home.

We moved in in February 2011 and by May they were calling almost 1 x a week to ask if we could get a loan NOW, as all of a sudden they were in dire need to sell ASAP !! (they had to know this before) ...so this put a real damper on our entire time there knowing we could NOT buy it now . Then they listed the house for sale in October (4 months before lease ended).

So, now you may understand why it is we do not trust them. I will send a letter telling them I will consider payments as long as i have documented proof such as a letter from the IRS and the banks showing that the accounts have been levied, also legally in PA I am entitled to the name of bank and (frozen) account that my deposit is held in , I would like a copy of this as they never provided it, to PROVE they still have it and did not spend that money.

I will give them 10 days to provide this, or I will have to file in small claims court.

In regard to them not waiting for my money , they never would have , rent would have been paid on time , I have rented int he past and never had an issue with landlords or getting deposits back as we pay on time and treat the house with respect as if it were our own, always kept in clean and maintained etc. I also never had issues with a landlord not fixing a major issue such as heat !

MY other concern is that if they ARE in that dire of a situation they may file bankruptcy , I want to file in small claims before they get to that point ! Thanks again for your advice

 

[Gail in Georgia]

One suggestion when asking for advice. Paragraphs are a good thing. Many people will not take the time to read an entire block of writing.

Gail

 

[MTS1969]

One suggestion when asking for advice. Paragraphs are a good thing. Many people will not take the time to read an entire block of writing.

Gail

Thank you, I apologize and have edited my posts

 

[Gail in Georgia]

"MY other concern is that if they ARE in that dire of a situation they may file bankruptcy , I want to file in small claims before they get to that point !"

I suspect you have a very valid point here. I'd guess the idea of bankruptcy is looming around the corner for them.

Gail

 

[MTS1969]

"MY other concern is that if they ARE in that dire of a situation they may file bankruptcy , I want to file in small claims before they get to that point !"

I suspect you have a very valid point here. I'd guess the idea of bankruptcy is looming around the corner for them.

Gail

We just found out the house we rented from them is now in foreclosure as well ! Needless to say, I sent them a letter (via certified mail) requesting our security deposit back by March 22nd & also informed them in the letter of our "intent to sue" by filing on March 23rd if we have not received the deposit back.

 

[Searchertwin]

We just found out the house we rented from them is now in foreclosure as well ! Needless to say, I sent them a letter (via certified mail) requesting our security deposit back by March 22nd & also informed them in the letter of our "intent to sue" by filing on March 23rd if we have not received the deposit back.

The LL will probably tell you that everything is handle by the bank where the foreclosure is being done. The threat of intent to sue, will mean nothing to her now.

Your next step is to send a crr letter to the bank, or new owner, a security demand letter.

This way you are covered all away around. But leave the threats out, you will get more with honey.

 

[sandyclaus]

The sad fact here is that if the house has already gone into the foreclosure process, the owners probably have already spent your security deposit money. They are making excuses now in order to avoid telling you the truth, hoping that you will not find out until it's too late. It's what happens in a lot of foreclosed rental situations.

The thing is, if the house is in foreclosure, then there are also probably other creditors already lined up making claims against the owners. Even if you do successfully sue them, all you will see would be a judgment against them - you still are faced with the process of collecting said judgment.

If, as you suspect, they are getting ready to file for bankruptcy, then you could become one of their creditors who gets to kiss their judgments and collections efforts goodbye.