Landlord will not return deposit

[jshort1606]

What is the name of your state? Arkansas
I moved out of my duplex at the end of february and had paid a deposit of $500 when I moved in. My lease had ended December 1st and I was going month to month until they sent me a new lease at the end of January and I decided to move out.

I gave them 30 days notice and moved out at the end of february. I still have not recieved any of my deposit or anything stating why I have not recieved it. I have called them numerous times and left numerous messages with contact info and everything and they will not call me back. Although if i was ever even a day late I had no problem hearing from them (I always paid the late fees when I was late with a seperate check as well).

I found under the Arkansas codes that they have 30 days to return it to me or 30 days to send me in writing itemized deductions and any remaining amount. I left the place very clean but still expected carpet cleaning, etc. to come out as has been the case at most places I have rented from.

I am sending them a certified letter as to this as well today but if they do not respond to that what is my best next corse of action? I really can not afford an attorney and I am sure they could since thier house looks like something out of the godfather. I don't want to have to go to court but is it something I can do on my own if they refuse to contact me or send me my deposit back?

 

[acmb05]

What is the name of your state? Arkansas
I moved out of my duplex at the end of february and had paid a deposit of $500 when I moved in. My lease had ended December 1st and I was going month to month until they sent me a new lease at the end of January and I decided to move out.

I gave them 30 days notice and moved out at the end of february. I still have not recieved any of my deposit or anything stating why I have not recieved it. I have called them numerous times and left numerous messages with contact info and everything and they will not call me back. Although if i was ever even a day late I had no problem hearing from them (I always paid the late fees when I was late with a seperate check as well).

I found under the Arkansas codes that they have 30 days to return it to me or 30 days to send me in writing itemized deductions and any remaining amount. I left the place very clean but still expected carpet cleaning, etc. to come out as has been the case at most places I have rented from.

I am sending them a certified letter as to this as well today but if they do not respond to that what is my best next corse of action? I really can not afford an attorney and I am sure they could since thier house looks like something out of the godfather. I don't want to have to go to court but is it something I can do on my own if they refuse to contact me or send me my deposit back?

Yep, you can take them to small claims court.

 

[What do I do?]

It appears the landlord is going to owe you more than your initial deposit.

Arkansas law allows you to recover double the amount, damages, attorney fees....

18-16-305. Refund required - Exceptions.
(a) Within thirty (30) days of termination of the tenancy, property or money held by the landlord as security shall be returned to the tenant. However, the money may be applied to the payment of accrued unpaid rent and any damages which the landlord has suffered by reason of the tenant's noncompliance with the rental agreement, all as itemized by the landlord in a written notice delivered to the tenant, together with the remainder of the amount due thirty (30) days after termination of the tenancy and delivery of possession
by the tenant.
(b) The landlord shall be deemed to have complied with subsection (a) of this section by mailing via first class mail the written notice and any payment required to the last known address of the tenant. If the letter containing the payment is returned to the landlord and if the landlord is unable to locate the tenant after reasonable effort, then the payment shall become the property of the landlord one hundred eighty (180) days from the date the payment was mailed.

18-16-306. Remedies.
(a) If the landlord fails to comply with this subchapter, the tenant may recover the property and money due him, together with damages in an amount equal to twice the amount wrongfully withheld, costs, and reasonable attorney's fees. However, the landlord shall be liable only for costs and the sum erroneously withheld if the landlord shows by the preponderance of the evidence that his noncompliance resulted from an error which occurred despite the existence of procedures reasonably designed to avoid such errors or
was based on a good faith dispute as to the amount due.
(b) This section does not preclude the landlord or tenant from any other relief to which either may be lawfully entitled.

If you do choose to sue in small claims court, you may find this link educational.

http://courts.state.ar.us/pdf/small_claims_info.pdf

 

[jshort1606]

Thanks for the advice. I have alot of that already printed out to include in my certified letter to them.

I have one more question as well that I forgot to ask.

My lease that expired on December 1st 2006 states that I am to give them "one month" notice. Does that mean 30 days? I dropped it off on January 30th 2007 at their house and moved out on the 28th of February. The landlord called my work and left me a message telling me she got the letter and that was it. I guess reading on this site it talks about giving 30 days notice which I did in my opinion but my opinion doesn't matter. I would think a simple phone call back if that was the case wouldn't be that hard to discuss it with me. I couldn't have been a bad tenant since they sent me a new lease which the rent was raised and I decided to not renew it and move out

Any advice on this would be a big help and thanks for the advice already given.

 

[What do I do?]

By what you stated, you only gave 29 days notice.

But the landlord was still required by law to give you an itemized statement no later than the 30 days after you turned the premises over to the landlord.

In my state, we can give 30 days notice anytime in the month (if we are a month to month tenant). The day we give notice is not day one, the following day is. I would have to research how that works in Arkansas though. Perhaps some of the experts that answer in this forum would know how Arkansas views that.

I would think the landlord could only charge you for one days rent...

However, the landlord did not comply with the law and you should be entitled to what the law allows you to recover.

 

[jshort1606]

Well I finally got a letter from my landlords which they stated was in response to my phone calls.

Problem is they are stating that my lease expired on Nov 30, 2006 and at that time I was sent a new one and didn't return it but continued to live there. So that negates my security deposit.

I can find nothing about this under Arkansas law but they did not send me a new lease until Jan 18, 2007 which I still have dated and signed by them.

Also in the letter it said that they had to repair the garage door, paint, broken blind before a new tenant could move in.

Well I finally got ahold of them on the phone at which time the land lord said that "the girl" that moved in called after moving in saying it broke. Well for all I know she may have broken it. Then I asked about the broken blind and they said there was not a blind in the kitchen. Well no crap as was the case when I moved in and I had to buy curtains and took them with me when I left.

I am not sure what to do here. Is this something I can likely argue in court?

 

[jshort1606]

Ok now I got another letter from my landlords stating that they spoke with their attorney and their attorney advised them to to give me a detailed listing of charges out of the deposit. They have taken out 100 for attorney fees.

Can they take out of the deposit for attorney fees when they didn't follow the law in the first place which is what started this all?

Also they state that their attorney says if they wanted to since I lived there without a lease since november 30, 2006 (after the one I had expired) they can charge me up to 50% of the monthly fees in addition to the normal monthly fees.

I don't get this because they didn't send a new lease until January 18, 2007 which I have still and is dated and signed by the landlords.

They also are saying that because of the number of complaints about me that this is more than a generous offer. I never once got anything in the mail or a phone call about any complaint about me.

I am starting to feel like they are just trying to scare me off and bully me around to keep almost all of my deposit even though they are the ones that didn't follow the law.

 

[trishyj]

I am lost

Did you get a letter within the 30 day period after you moved out? Did the landlord say they sent it, but there is no proof?

 

[ws6whiteshark]

In the lease that ended in November, did it say anything about tenant holding over or month to month or automatic renewal?