Landlord putting false allegation (not returning deposit)

[sheravirk]

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

I moved out of my apartment last month; 2 weeks after i moved out, my landlord sent me a notice that i am suppose to pay for the following carpet damage:
My landlord is blaming that i had iron burnt a small portion of the carpet (half of the size of a clothing iron) and have stiched a small piece of same color and style carpet into the damaged hole.

Landlord did not carry out the moving out inspection in front of me. He has already ripped off the whole carpet and Now has a piece of carpet which he claims is from my apartment with the above mentioned concern.

I have two concerns:
1. It is very much possible that when i moved in, that defect was always there and i never noticed that (because it is stiched very clean) which also might have come under one of the furniture pieces. Therefore, i never reported it to the landlord.
2. Landlord should have carried the move out inspection in front of me and should have shown me the carpet area he is mentioning rather than showing a piece of carpet cut out from my apartment. how can i trust it is from my last apartment, not from somewhere else! i know my landlord he is capable of doing this.

Now landlord is charging me for the full carpet cost (~550 $) Please advice me, what should i do.
Should i go to small claims court.
Thanks a lot for your advice.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[ecmst12]

The most he could charge you for is the depreciated cost of the carpet. How old was the carpet? And if it had already been patched well enough to be imperceptible, that's not even damage. Do you have pictures of the carpet when you moved out?

 

[sheravirk]

Since the damage was not obvious, I did not take pictures of the carpet when i left. My landlord has pictures of it from the backside of carpet when he removed it (which does not show anywhere that they were taken in my apt).
He claims that carpet was just 3 years old and has a life expectancy of 7 years, thus he is charging me rest of the carpet life (~ 550 $).
But the issue is: i did not do that damage, it must have already been there. Landlord should have done the move out inspection in front of me.
Does'nt law require so. It is very logical: how can i believe that the pictures he is showing and the piece of carpet he is showing is from my apartment?
Please advice me, what kind of legal action i can take.
Thanks a lot.

 

[aabbcc]

Did you have any pets?

 

[sheravirk]

No I did not.

 

[Some Random Guy]

If he fails to return your deposit, then sue him in small claims court.

When he relates the story of the carpeting, be sure to ask how you could have gotten an extra piece of carpeting that exactly matched the old carpeting. It would seem that the landlord would be the one with access to the carpet remnants from the installation several years ago.

Of course your second defense is that if the patch is only visible from underneath the carpet, then its not damaged!

 

[aabbcc]

You will have a problem defending yourself in a courtroom. The landlord has pictures, you do not. In addition, the landlord likely has receipts documenting the actual age of the carpet.

I'm no expert on NY law. But, I know of no law that requires a landlord do a walk-through with a tenant.

Perhaps other posters can better advise.

 

[BL]

Where is the burnt portion , or proof thereof ?

 

[sheravirk]

There is no burnt portion now.
It was cut out already by previous tenant (or landlord) and a patch was sewed onto it.
Now the only proof that landlord has is pictures of the backside of the carpet and a large 5ft by 5ft cutout of my carpet with the small patch in it.