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Landlord keeps almost all of $2500 deposit

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neva1

Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

If you look up my name and my previous posts here, you will see that I had a tumultuous relationship with my previous landlord, for several different reasons. And she asked me to vacate the premises at the end of my lease, which I was going to do anyways but this tells you how bad things were.

Now, more than 3 weeks after my exit from the property, she sent me a refund check in the amount of $31 out of $2545 deposit. This is not a company who rented me this house. This is an old lady, probably retired, not married and have nothing better to do with her life.

The most expensive item in the list is replacement of carpet close to $1100. This house was advertised as 1800 sqft although looked a little smaller to me, due to some unusable square footage. But this is besides the matter. The carpet was only in a garage conversion room (think about 2 car garage plus 2 steps and a small room about 10x10. So give or take it is 300 sqft of carpet we are talking about here. It was a previously used contractor grade carpet, not anyhing better to start with and there was no visible (or invisible by me) damage to this carpet in either location. I have pets and they shed (a lot) hence I hired a cleaner and got the carpet steam cleaned the day before turning it in. I also hired a professional cleaning crew and paid them $160 for a move out cleaning on the same day.

The problem is, she rushed me on the day of departure, saying she was late for her doctor appointment and she didn't have the time to have a walk thru. Got the keys from me and left. I was not given a checklist or anything. I was planning to take pictures of the problem areas at the time of walk thru and that plan went out the window. From my perspective, she forfeited her final inspection. I was there ready to do it and she denied it.

Fortunately, there were neighbors outside and at least a couple of them saw how fast she came and left. And they are willing to give me written testimonials (my ex-landlord is not liked much in the neighborhood, she is always at odds with everyone else)

Now, I am planning to sue her in the small claims court to recoup the majority, if not all of my deposit. But my new residence being 55 miles away from the old one and from my work to the courthouse, being 30+ miles, I will incur quite a bit of travel time as well as having to take unpaid time off from my work (I am a contract worker and bill my time hourly) Can I ask to be reimbursed for my unpaid time off at the rate I am charging my employer ? Can I ask for a mileage stipend in addition ? Also, if you look at my previous posts, you will see that she was using the electricity and water I was paying for at her discretion. Can I ask to be reimbursed for those as well under the same small claims case or do I have to submit a new case as these are the stuff unrelated to the moving out ordeal ? I can forfeit them easily as the total might be $100-200 at most but since she is causing me this much of pain, I want to make her pay. I am really pissed. I worked my ass off, taking 2 days off from work to clean the house and this is what I get. Is it possible (or reasonable) to ask for money for pain and suffering of this ordeal at the small claims court or they are only there to assess monetary damages which are quantifiable ?

Thank you for your answers in advance.
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

If you look up my name and my previous posts here, you will see that I had a tumultuous relationship with my previous landlord, for several different reasons. And she asked me to vacate the premises at the end of my lease, which I was going to do anyways but this tells you how bad things were.

Now, more than 3 weeks after my exit from the property, she sent me a refund check in the amount of $31 out of $2545 deposit. This is not a company who rented me this house. This is an old lady, probably retired, not married and have nothing better to do with her life.

The most expensive item in the list is replacement of carpet close to $1100. This house was advertised as 1800 sqft although looked a little smaller to me, due to some unusable square footage. But this is besides the matter. The carpet was only in a garage conversion room (think about 2 car garage plus 2 steps and a small room about 10x10. So give or take it is 300 sqft of carpet we are talking about here. It was a previously used contractor grade carpet, not anyhing better to start with and there was no visible (or invisible by me) damage to this carpet in either location. I have pets and they shed (a lot) hence I hired a cleaner and got the carpet steam cleaned the day before turning it in. I also hired a professional cleaning crew and paid them $160 for a move out cleaning on the same day.

The problem is, she rushed me on the day of departure, saying she was late for her doctor appointment and she didn't have the time to have a walk thru. Got the keys from me and left. I was not given a checklist or anything. I was planning to take pictures of the problem areas at the time of walk thru and that plan went out the window. From my perspective, she forfeited her final inspection. I was there ready to do it and she denied it.

Fortunately, there were neighbors outside and at least a couple of them saw how fast she came and left. And they are willing to give me written testimonials (my ex-landlord is not liked much in the neighborhood, she is always at odds with everyone else)

Now, I am planning to sue her in the small claims court to recoup the majority, if not all of my deposit. But my new residence being 55 miles away from the old one and from my work to the courthouse, being 30+ miles, I will incur quite a bit of travel time as well as having to take unpaid time off from my work (I am a contract worker and bill my time hourly) Can I ask to be reimbursed for my unpaid time off at the rate I am charging my employer ? Can I ask for a mileage stipend in addition ? Also, if you look at my previous posts, you will see that she was using the electricity and water I was paying for at her discretion. Can I ask to be reimbursed for those as well under the same small claims case or do I have to submit a new case as these are the stuff unrelated to the moving out ordeal ? I can forfeit them easily as the total might be $100-200 at most but since she is causing me this much of pain, I want to make her pay. I am really pissed. I worked my ass off, taking 2 days off from work to clean the house and this is what I get. Is it possible (or reasonable) to ask for money for pain and suffering of this ordeal at the small claims court or they are only there to assess monetary damages which are quantifiable ?

Thank you for your answers in advance.
You don't get paid for travel time or time off of work due to suing. You don't get pain and suffering, and I doubt you'll be able to prove any exact figure to sue for on the water and electricity (but it can't hurt to give it a stab.)
 

neva1

Member
You don't get paid for travel time or time off of work due to suing. You don't get pain and suffering, and I doubt you'll be able to prove any exact figure to sue for on the water and electricity (but it can't hurt to give it a stab.)
So, if I am not misunderstanding you, she does something and forces me to forfeit money (at my workplace) and I have to do a lot of things to correct the situation and she can not be asked to reimburse me for my time ? That is quite unreasonable. Courts only work during work days and so do I. I don't have an option of shifting my work to the off hours. How come is this so ?
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
So, if I am not misunderstanding you, she does something and forces me to forfeit money (at my workplace) and I have to do a lot of things to correct the situation and she can not be asked to reimburse me for my time ? That is quite unreasonable. Courts only work during work days and so do I. I don't have an option of shifting my work to the off hours. How come is this so ?
Because life isn't fair.
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
Neva I normally work overnight awake shifts , If I had to go to court for something then my sleep is where I suffer (unless court lucks out and on a day where I would not have to be back at work that night) The courts will not grant you anything for travel, hassle etc What they will do is look at your exit pics , your cleaning company slips , they will take into consideration her not following the law as far as the walk thru goes. If those neighbors want to help they would have to come to court with you . As far as the carpet goes ask the court to have her tell you why it had to be replaced , how old it was when you moved in and then ask the court to set a depreciated value since you used some of its useful life while you lived there. And again offer your pictures of the place then if there are other items you were charged for dispute them one by one even if its getting a depreciated value on any damage you really did do.
 

Proserpina

Senior Member
So, if I am not misunderstanding you, she does something and forces me to forfeit money (at my workplace) and I have to do a lot of things to correct the situation and she can not be asked to reimburse me for my time ? That is quite unreasonable. Courts only work during work days and so do I. I don't have an option of shifting my work to the off hours. How come is this so ?


That's actually the least of your worries.

How are you going to collect from an elderly, retired pensioner who will likely have zilch in terms of non-exempt income?
 

quincy

Senior Member
So, if I am not misunderstanding you, she does something and forces me to forfeit money (at my workplace) and I have to do a lot of things to correct the situation and she can not be asked to reimburse me for my time ? That is quite unreasonable. Courts only work during work days and so do I. I don't have an option of shifting my work to the off hours. How come is this so ?
It may seem unreasonable but the incidental costs incurred to file a suit (the travel time, the time off from work, babysitter costs, whatever) are (generally) not costs you can recover in any legal action.

Here is a link to California small claims actions: http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/small_claims/basic_info.shtml

Because you said you did not take pictures of the rental after moving out, you will need to rely on either sworn testimony from the professional cleaning crew that you hired (preferable) or the receipt for cleaning, and testimony from the steam cleaner (if you had the steam cleaning professionally done and if it was not done by the same cleaning crew) or the receipt for the steam cleaner if you did it yourself. The fact that you do not have pictures (move-in and move-out photos are always the best) can hurt you in your efforts to recover all of the deposit money withheld, but the amount charged for the carpet may be seen as excessive (it seems excessive to me).

Before filing suit and losing work and having to incur travel costs, you might want to consider having an attorney in your area send a demand letter, detailing the reasons why your deposit money (or at least more of it) should be returned to you, with the letter advising that legal action is being considered. The letter could work to get the issue resolved without having to go to court.

Good luck.
 

davew128

Senior Member
That's actually the least of your worries.

How are you going to collect from an elderly, retired pensioner who will likely have zilch in terms of non-exempt income?
What do you think the rent she collects from her property every month is?
 

Gail in Georgia

Senior Member
Reality check time from a court's view...

"From my perspective, she forfeited her final inspection."

Your "perspective" means dip in a court of law. Even in those states that requires a walk through, a landlord still has a certain number of days to find damages above normal wear and tear that may not be evident from the walk through. In other words, the required walk through is not the end all to this.

" And they are willing to give me written testimonials"

Which the court will not accept. Now, if they are willing to come to court and speak on your behalf regarding the condition of the rental unit at move out so they can be cross examined or the court can ask further questions... that is another matter.

"Can I ask to be reimbursed for my unpaid time off at the rate I am charging my employer ? Can I ask for a mileage stipend in addition ? "

You can ask for whatever you wish. These requests will not be granted by the court.

"Also, if you look at my previous posts, you will see that she was using the electricity and water I was paying for at her discretion. Can I ask to be reimbursed for those as well under the same small claims case or do I have to submit a new case as these are the stuff unrelated to the moving out ordeal ? "

Your proof of this use and your documentation as to why you did not bring this up while you resided there is available for the court to view?

Gail
 

neva1

Member
It provides an insight into the character of the poster more than saying anything about the landlord, doesn't it?
where everybody says this is a law forum and you are attacking my personality, says a lot about you too, but it is besides the matter. My landlord owns 3 houses in the same area as my rental place was, one of which was her residence with her elderly mother. And god only know how many more she might have. So she is not suffering for money. These are GI houses built in so called "The Valley" right after WW-II and I know for a fact (she told me when I moved in) she doesn't have any mortgage payments for over 15 years. Again, none of which is relevant and worth mentioning but since you attacked my personality, I thought you might want to know the facts as you seem to be more into that.
 

quincy

Senior Member
where everybody says this is a law forum and you are attacking my personality, says a lot about you too, but it is besides the matter. My landlord owns 3 houses in the same area as my rental place was, one of which was her residence with her elderly mother. And god only know how many more she might have. So she is not suffering for money. These are GI houses built in so called "The Valley" right after WW-II and I know for a fact (she told me when I moved in) she doesn't have any mortgage payments for over 15 years. Again, none of which is relevant and worth mentioning but since you attacked my personality, I thought you might want to know the facts as you seem to be more into that.
How exactly did I attack your personality, neva1? I merely mentioned that your comment about retired unmarried women of a certain age provided an insight into your character. What do you think my statement implied about you?

And, despite the comment you made, I provided you with good free legal advice, and you received good free advice from others. I would think that a "thank you" would be a far more appropriate response. Your failure to provide thanks provides an insight into your character. ;)
 

jimnyc

Member
where everybody says this is a law forum and you are attacking my personality, says a lot about you too, but it is besides the matter. My landlord owns 3 houses in the same area as my rental place was, one of which was her residence with her elderly mother. And god only know how many more she might have. So she is not suffering for money. These are GI houses built in so called "The Valley" right after WW-II and I know for a fact (she told me when I moved in) she doesn't have any mortgage payments for over 15 years. Again, none of which is relevant and worth mentioning but since you attacked my personality, I thought you might want to know the facts as you seem to be more into that.
People mentioned YOUR own words and "attacked" them, not your personality.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

If you look up my name and my previous posts here, you will see that I had a tumultuous relationship with my previous landlord, for several different reasons. And she asked me to vacate the premises at the end of my lease, which I was going to do anyways but this tells you how bad things were.

Now, more than 3 weeks after my exit from the property, she sent me a refund check in the amount of $31 out of $2545 deposit. This is not a company who rented me this house. This is an old lady, probably retired, not married and have nothing better to do with her life.

The most expensive item in the list is replacement of carpet close to $1100. This house was advertised as 1800 sqft although looked a little smaller to me, due to some unusable square footage. But this is besides the matter. The carpet was only in a garage conversion room (think about 2 car garage plus 2 steps and a small room about 10x10. So give or take it is 300 sqft of carpet we are talking about here. It was a previously used contractor grade carpet, not anyhing better to start with and there was no visible (or invisible by me) damage to this carpet in either location. I have pets and they shed (a lot) hence I hired a cleaner and got the carpet steam cleaned the day before turning it in. I also hired a professional cleaning crew and paid them $160 for a move out cleaning on the same day.

The problem is, she rushed me on the day of departure, saying she was late for her doctor appointment and she didn't have the time to have a walk thru. Got the keys from me and left. I was not given a checklist or anything. I was planning to take pictures of the problem areas at the time of walk thru and that plan went out the window. From my perspective, she forfeited her final inspection. I was there ready to do it and she denied it.

Fortunately, there were neighbors outside and at least a couple of them saw how fast she came and left. And they are willing to give me written testimonials (my ex-landlord is not liked much in the neighborhood, she is always at odds with everyone else)

Now, I am planning to sue her in the small claims court to recoup the majority, if not all of my deposit. But my new residence being 55 miles away from the old one and from my work to the courthouse, being 30+ miles, I will incur quite a bit of travel time as well as having to take unpaid time off from my work (I am a contract worker and bill my time hourly) Can I ask to be reimbursed for my unpaid time off at the rate I am charging my employer ? Can I ask for a mileage stipend in addition ? Also, if you look at my previous posts, you will see that she was using the electricity and water I was paying for at her discretion. Can I ask to be reimbursed for those as well under the same small claims case or do I have to submit a new case as these are the stuff unrelated to the moving out ordeal ? I can forfeit them easily as the total might be $100-200 at most but since she is causing me this much of pain, I want to make her pay. I am really pissed. I worked my ass off, taking 2 days off from work to clean the house and this is what I get. Is it possible (or reasonable) to ask for money for pain and suffering of this ordeal at the small claims court or they are only there to assess monetary damages which are quantifiable ?

Thank you for your answers in advance.
If you can prove that the landlord withheld money from your security deposit in bad faith (which seems possible given the excessive charges for the carpet) the court may order the landlord to pay up to two times the amount of the security deposit. You also have a right to receive copies of the landlord's receipts.

Forget about wages and time for court - go for the bad faith and compensate yourself that way. You will find additional helpful information here:

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/sec-deposit.shtml
 

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