Deposit - 30 days after leaving or end of lease?

[Vess]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? NJ

The deposit that we gave was 1.5 rents. By NJ law the landloard is supposed to send us a letter explaining why he witheld certain ammounts form the deposit in 30 days. Are those 30 days after we vacated the appartment (we left 2 months earlier) or is it 30 days after the lease expiration? The story is very long, they started sueing us in November, we hired a lawyer who wrote a counterclaim. Now we are sueing them for not seding us this letter is time. They sent it to us 1 week ago, within the 30 days after the lease expired but definately late after we left. I want to trust our lawyer but don't want to go to court and lose just because we did not check this detail. We already lost enough money.
Thank you so much!

 

[BL]

Getting your security deposit back
The Rent Security Deposit Act states what a landlord must do with your security deposit when you move out, even if you move out before your lease is over. Within 30 days after you move out, the landlord must return your security deposit and interest, less any rent you owe or any charges for repairing damage to the property. If the landlord deducts any amounts for damages or rent, he or she must give you a complete list of the damages he or she claims you did to the property and the cost of repairs. The list of damages must be sent by the landlord by registered or certified mail, and the landlord must return to you any money left over from your security deposit. Cite: N.J.S.A . 46:8-21.1.

The landlord can only charge you for property damage that is more than ordinary wear and tear. “Ordinary wear and tear” means damage that takes place from the normal, careful use of the property. Examples of normal wear and tear are faded paint on the walls, loose tile in the bathroom, window cracks caused by winter weather, or leaky faucets or radiators. Examples of damages that might not be ordinary wear and tear are large holes in the walls caused by nailing up decorations, cigarette burns on floors, or a broken mirror on the bathroom cabinet.

Landlords cannot charge cleaning fees to tenants who leave their apartments broom clean. Landlords often try to deduct such fees, as well as fees for painting.

There are steps you can take to prevent a landlord from charging you for ordinary wear and tear, cleaning, or painting. Before you move out, ask the landlord or superintendent to personally inspect the apartment. Then ask that person to sign a note stating that you left the apartment clean and undamaged. If you cannot get the landlord or superintendent to inspect the unit, have a friend do so. Ask your friend to take photographs, and sign and date them. If you have a friend do this, make sure the friend can go to court with you if necessary. If you end up in court, the judge will not accept a letter from your friend as evidence.

 

[Vess]

Thank you so much. I feel much better about it now
May I ask another question: Does the Landloard have to provide receipts for all items he indicates as performed service. We "licked" teh apartment when we moved out trying to save money (we knew we would have to pay the 2 remaining months of rent). Unfortunately we did not take pictures...now they are charging us appr. 300 for some repairs and cleaning (???) and 300 for utilities(??). We called the utility companies before leaving and canceled them. Now they have been turned on again and they are trying to charge us. I think this must be against the law to turn them on under our name. We should not pay these utilites, right?
Although we have a court day and since your answer confirmed it- yes, we can win double the deposit amount and be ahead in the game, I will try to call the Landloard and just call it even. What a nightmare. The good news is that we bought a house and I hope I will never have to deal with landloard issues again.
Thank you again for your prompt response.

 

[BL]

Thank you so much. I feel much better about it now
May I ask another question: Does the Landlord have to provide receipts for all items he indicates as performed service. We "licked" teh apartment when we moved out trying to save money (we knew we would have to pay the 2 remaining months of rent). Unfortunately we did not take pictures...now they are charging us appr. 300 for some repairs and cleaning (???) and 300 for utilities(??). We called the utility companies before leaving and canceled them. Now they have been turned on again and they are trying to charge us. I think this must be against the law to turn them on under our name. We should not pay these utilites, right?
Although we have a court day and since your answer confirmed it- yes, we can win double the deposit amount and be ahead in the game, I will try to call the Landloard and just call it even. What a nightmare. The good news is that we bought a house and I hope I will never have to deal with landloard issues again.
Thank you again for your prompt response.

First ,( above what's written below ) , the Landlord did not follow the Law on Security Deposits returns .
Unless you did not follow the Laws , he wouldn't have a claim for security deposit , and as you say in that scenario , you could collect double , plus interest,plus any lawyers fees .

Secondly, as long as you left the place " Broom Clean " , with out anything beyond normal wear and tear , he/she can't charge you for " cleaning ".

Utility shut off / turn on .

A) Can the utility Co. state who had the utilities turn back on . That would help .
B) Can the utility Co. verify what date you had them shut off ? Then can you verify your move out date around that time ?

Say you rely on B) . The court rule on " common sense " , simple proofs & facts . If you were to move , then shortly thereafter or about the same time , shut the utilities off , it would be more believable that someone other than you called to turn them back on .

Did the utility Co. state they were charging you , after they were turned back on . I would state to them you didn't and why would you , if you no longer lived there .Can you show the utility Co. proof of dates you moved out ? If so they should charge you .

Finally , yes I'd write a return receipt Certified demand letter to the landlord giving him 7 business days to return your deposit , or state you will file small claims , and state what you will be asking the court for in damages . Site the security deposit Law .