I painted my apt. and now I'm being sued for damages

[Colleen Kelly]

i recently moved out of an apartment in hollywood, ca. the landlord and apt. manager notified me of when they were doing a walk through together. i couldn't attend as i was working. they are keeping my security deposit in addition to suing me for $1000.00 damages for the enhancements i made to the unit. when i moved in there was a different apt. manager, she said, "we encourage tenants to paint & make the space your own" this is a funky older building in the artsy part of hollywood who advertises as renting to artists and entertainers. the unit hadn't been cleaned or painted prior to my moving in, some of the walls were cracked and huge chunks of paint were peeling off the ceiling in the bathroom where there had been a ceiling leak which shorted out the light, the hardwood floors were discolored, gouged, and filthy. my mother, who is an interior designer, helped me clean every square inch and repair the peeling paint with plaster. We then used the plaster on the walls and made a faux finish, adhereing paperbags with plaster which looked like rocks, we painted the ceiling blue with gold stars and glitter sprinkled in and my mother scrubbed and varnished the floor adding a gold scrolly design which she glazed on in a square pattern on the floor like an area rug. albeit eccentric, the unit was not damaged. they were able to find a new tenant and raise the rent immediately although they told him he couldn't move in for a month so they could work on the unit. the lease agreement states that alterations needed to be approved in writing and that "tenant may paint unit upon condition that landlord must approve paint job upon move out if staying less than 6 mos. or landlords keep 1/2 of the deposit." i lived there a year and a half. the previous landlord never said i would be liable for damages even after she saw the unit. I'm going to small claims court in a week. Do you have any advice for me? I requested an itemized statement of how my deposit was spent. 21 days have passed & I still have not received that. renter's rights state that if landlords do not provide this list within 21 days of move out they lose the right to keep the deposit. is this true even if i didn't request this list until 19 days after i moved out? i also requested copies of receipts/work orders of the last time the unit had been painted and the last time the floors were repaired prior to my moving in. I honestly thought i was improving the place and i never thought my creativity could be considered damages. the lobby in this building is bright purple and the elevator is electric blue and they allow pets. what are my chances here, how would you argue my case?

 

[LL]

Several comments can be made, here:

1. You had notice that the lease agreement states that alterations needed to be approved in writing.

2. "tenant may paint unit upon condition that landlord must approve paint job upon move out if staying less than 6 mos. or landlords keep 1/2 of the deposit." i lived there a year and a half."
XXX a) The essential principle here is that the landlord needs to be content with the paint job in order to rent out to new tenants. You were there longer than 6 months, plus the landlord cannot arbitrarily set the price at 1/2 the paint job. He would need to re-paint, take the actual cost of re-painting, deduct 1-1/2 years depreciation for ordinary wear & tear and then charge you for the rest. You should have gotten written permission to make this alteration. A court may or may not find that this is an improvement.

xxx b)renter's rights state that if landlords do not provide this list within 21 days of move out they lose the right to keep the deposit.

Renters Rights are famous for telling absurd lies to try to change the public perception of the law into something other than it is. Their advice is worth as much as (dj, aka dj1, aka mary Harman, etc. There is no such law. The law does say that landlord is required to give you an itemized statement in 3 weeks, and it also says that a judge can penalize (monetary) a landlord for lack of good faith in withholding the security deposit, but it has nothing to do the ability and need of the landlord to legitimately deduct from the security deposit for damages that you owe. There is no penalty at all for failure to give you the statement, in fact the jusges will be very ready to extend that time for a good reason. What they will be concerned about is, how much do you owe, and did the landlord actually act in bad faith in withholding your deposit. Renters rights are a political organization, representing the most liberal city council members (like Jackie Goldberg) and they are trying to use you to gather support for their candidates. They are a very bad source of advice. Ask them for a code section number in the law.

3. You should have made it your business to be present at the walkthrough.

4. Since they have already sued you, tell the judge about what you did, why you think that it should be considered as improvements, and don't forget to prove the old condition of the unit and the condition when you vacated. You will have to deal with the facts of any work that they did, if they say that they had to do it. Be sure that you can prove that you asked for your itemized statement of the disposition of the security deposit. The date that they send it is not so important, if it is reasonable. Its the contents that will count.

5. Ask the new tenant to come to court to testify that they asked him to delay his move-in until they could work on the unit. But they may have really worked on it.

 

[mary hartman]

I will only add one thing......

YOU LOST A LOT OF MONEY FOR GOING TO WORK THAT DAY

WAS THAT A BRIGHT IDEA? only if you made $2000 that day!