Landlord overcharging on move out charges – expenses

[VBUser]

What is the name of your state? - Virginia
Hi,

I live in VA, recently moved out of my rented home after staying for 2 years.

The townhome is rented using a rental agency and took the deposit of one month rent ($2,000) when I moved in 2021. I moved out of the home on 7/31/2023 and the rental agency has sent a moveout charges of $3,200 which includes many charges which were not related to us ex: the cook top had scratches all over and it got few more since we lived there for 2 years, now she replaced the cooktop completely and sent the bill of $1,200 as part of move out expenses. Similarly, she has completely repainted all the doors and send the bill of another $1,200. The minor damages to the wall due to moving of furniture she charged me $750 and carpet cleaning another $300. Most of which were present when we moved in but she is pushing all these charges on to us and including in the move out charges. Now she is threatening to go legal if I do not pay the balance $1,200 (no refund of deposit $2,000) for the move out expenses. I had argument with her that these charges are NOT valid and I do not agree with her. Also responded that I would also consult legal counsel on these charges as the cook top was not NEW when we moved it and it was in working condition when we moved out but she charges complete $1,200 replacement charges only on. She responded saying she will check with owner and see if the charges can be reduced but she has NOT got back to be since one week. In the meantime, I called up one of the law firm with whom our organization has a tie up to check on the case and they advised me to sue to owner for NOT refunding the deposit in the first instance and making up these charges which can be contested in the court at the same time the legal charges the law firm will collect from me will be $1,500 to fight the case on my behalf.

Below are my questions and concerns:

• The rental agency lady has completely gone silent (usually not the case), without any response which is worrying me if she is planning to report to collectors or file a lawsuit on me
• Is it worth fighting the case? what is the probability of winning the case? since if we loose, I will have to pay the law firm $1,500, moveout charges $1,200 and law agency charges for rental agency another $2,000 which makes it around $5,000

At the same time, I feel they have taken complete advantage of my calm nature and pushing to get their home renovated at my expense.

Any suggestions in this regard will be greatly appreciated !!!

Thanks,

Virginia User

 

[adjusterjack]

Answer this question before we move on.

Do you have photos of the condition from when you moved in and photos of the condition from when you moved out?

If you don't then you are in a very weak position to dispute her claims.

You're going to find that many of us are also on the other site so you'll be getting similar answers.

 

[VBUser]

Thank you for the response, yes I do have photos of few things like cook top but not all the things that have been mentioned in the charges.
The rental agency lady has claiming she has before and after pics to make her case strong but she didn't had a response to my question when I asked her why is she charging $1,200 for cook top which was more or less similar when we moved in... that is the only thing I must say I have a strong counter the others ones are not so much since I do not have pics of the ones she mentioned

 

[quincy]

Thank you for the response, yes I do have photos of few things like cook top but not all the things that have been mentioned in the charges.
The rental agency lady has claiming she has before and after pics to make her case strong but she didn't had a response to my question when I asked her why is she charging $1,200 for cook top which was more or less similar when we moved in... that is the only thing I must say I have a strong counter the others ones are not so much since I do not have pics of the ones she mentioned

Although I assume from your posts that the answer is no, you didn’t fill out a rental condition checklist with your landlord prior to move-in, did you? These checklists should always be filled out by doing a walk through with the landlord before renting. They point out existing problems (e.g., carpet stains, chipped bathroom tiles) so that as tenant you are better protected from unreasonable charges on move out.

Here is a link to Virginia’s security deposit law:

https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title55.1/chapter12/section55.1-1226/

If the rental agency lady has photos, ask for copies. Check all of your personal photos that show the condition of your rental. Walls and doors are routinely repainted and carpets cleaned between tenants and these costs are typically borne by the property owner.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

Haven't posted here in a while but the issue of tenants disputing claims of "damages" charged to them after move out is pretty common on a FB site I moderate. My standard answer is to write what is known as a "demand" letter, disputing those charges you believe you do not owe and "demanding" any security deposit you feel should be returned to you. Give the landlord a specific amount of time to return these funds to you (say, two weeks after they receive your letter). Keep a copy of the letter for your files. If no response (or a response not to your satisfaction) then consider a lawsuit for these funds. Such lawsuits are typically handled through Small Claims court (or your states version of such) as they involve relatively small amounts of money in dispute. Filing for this court is not very expensive and you would represent yourself so the cost of an attorney is not required. While your state does not require that a landlord send either photos or receipts of the cost of repairs for what they claim are damages along with the itemized list of deductions to the vacated tenant the court would likely require this during a hearing. Any pictures you have would be useful to dispute claims of damages above normal wear and tear. Good luck.

 

[quincy]

Here is a link to information on filing a claim in Virginia’s General District Court, the court that hears small claims actions:

https://selfhelp.vacourts.gov/node/11/small-claims

 

[VBUser]

Thank you so much, this is really helpful...the rental lady has come back with an offer to split the cook top charges and willing to wave off $510 out of $3100 and she is asking me to pay off the reminder at the earliest.
She has pics and videos after move out and she took them in such a way that they look pretty bad. She is saying she can win any legal issues with these... minor impact during move out did happen but claiming that is huge and charging $750 for them seems to be excess. Can you suggest if I should go ahead with the comprise deal or file a case against owner though there are pics/video showing the damage. Please suggest

Please keep in mind I no longer live in VA, moved to NC and drive for me back to file charges personally or present myself in the court by taking a day off will not be financially viable solution. can these be filed remotely/online or will I need to be present in the court if they ask once it goes to hearing.

Appreciate if you could suggest which option I should choose from below:
1) Accept $500 off she offered and pay $2,600 ($1900 advance rent amt + $700 more to pay) since the pics and videos show the damage to be extensive though in real these are not much
2) File against it in court but again I cannot take a day off from work and drive to VA to present myself that would be financially not the best solution, I shld hire an attorney who will be charging me $1,500 to present the case and if we lose the case we might end up paying $2,600 (move out charges) + $1,500 (Attorney fees) + $1,500 (opposing counsel fees)

 

[quincy]

Thank you so much, this is really helpful...the rental lady has come back with an offer to split the cook top charges and willing to wave off $510 out of $3100 and she is asking me to pay off the reminder at the earliest.
She has pics and videos after move out and she took them in such a way that they look pretty bad. She is saying she can win any legal issues with these... minor impact during move out did happen but claiming that is huge and charging $750 for them seems to be excess. Can you suggest if I should go ahead with the comprise deal or file a case against owner though there are pics/video showing the damage. Please suggest

Please keep in mind I no longer live in VA, moved to NC and drive for me back to file charges personally or present myself in the court by taking a day off will not be financially viable solution. can these be filed remotely/online or will I need to be present in the court if they ask once it goes to hearing.

Appreciate if you could suggest which option I should choose from below:
1) Accept $500 off she offered and pay $2,600 ($1900 advance rent amt + $700 more to pay) since the pics and videos show the damage to be extensive though in real these are not much
2) File against it in court but again I cannot take a day off from work and drive to VA to present myself that would be financially not the best solution, I shld hire an attorney who will be charging me $1,500 to present the case and if we lose the case we might end up paying $2,600 (move out charges) + $1,500 (Attorney fees) + $1,500 (opposing counsel fees)

I am afraid that the decision on what to do is one that you will have to make on your own.

You seem to understand pretty well the pros and cons. Now it is a matter of weighing these pros and cons, given the logistics and costs involved in pursuing an out-of-state legal action.

Good luck with whatever you decide.