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Ohio-sec. Deposit

  • Thread starter Thread starter help1234
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help1234

Guest
ohio- i recieved sec. dep. back 12 days after the 30 days that ohio law and what the contract/lease stated-with deductions of 2hrs of cleaning up cig. butts on back patio- 14hrs of scrubbing walls at $25 per hr. which ended up being $400.00 of a $500.00 deposit. the cig. butts were not mine and the neighbor boy admitted to it.... so the landord said he would send $50.00 back,but it has been another 30 days and i still have not received the $50-and he said there was nothing that i could do about the 14hrs of scrubbing the walls/floors. My mom helped clean the appt and scrubbed the walls... do i have a case in small claims????????
 
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FarmerJ

Senior Member
contact your city/county govt center and ask if they have a renters advocate if they dont then ask if they have booklets available for people who want to sue or challenge there former landlord for deposit .last if you go to court take your mom with you since she helped you clean . BTW did you take any pictures of the apt when you were through ?
 
R

renter3

Guest
IF you or your roomates dont smoke you do have a case in small claims court.......

NOW you will learn a VERY expensive lesson, TAKE lots of pictures before you hand back the keys...

Disposable cameras are CHEAP so buy 2 or 3 .
 

JETX

Senior Member
Will try to offset the two worthless responses you've gotten so far.....

"do i have a case in small claims????????"

The answer is 'maybe'. You have brought up two separate issues; delay in return of deposit AND damage claims by the landlord. Lets look at each of them:

1) Delay in return of deposit:
Ohio Code:
"§ 5321.16 Security deposit procedures.
(A) Any security deposit in excess of fifty dollars or one month's periodic rent, whichever is greater, shall bear interest on the excess at the rate of five per cent per annum if the tenant remains in possession of the premises for six months or more, and shall be computed and paid annually by the landlord to the tenant.
(B) Upon termination of the rental agreement any property or money held by the landlord as a security deposit may be applied to the payment of past due rent and to the payment of the amount of damages that the landlord has suffered by reason of the tenant's noncompliance with section 5321.05 of the Revised Code or the rental agreement. Any deduction from the security deposit shall be itemized and identified by the landlord in a written notice delivered to the tenant together with the amount due, within thirty days after termination of the rental agreement and delivery of possession. The tenant shall provide the landlord in writing with a forwarding address or new address to which the written notice and amount due from the landlord may be sent. If the tenant fails to provide the landlord with the forwarding or new address as required, the tenant shall not be entitled to damages or attorneys fees under division (C) of this section.
(C) If the landlord fails to comply with division (B) of this section, the tenant may recover the property and money due him, together with damages in an amount equal to the amount wrongfully withheld, and reasonable attorneys fees."

IF you provided the new address, then the landlord was in violation of this statute in delaying his accounting and funds to you. Due to this breach, you can recover ALL of your deposit.. even the amount deducted by the landlord. This in itself will eliminate the entire problem.

Further, you can see that your deposit was supposed to accrue interest to be paid to you!!! Did you get that?? If not, another violation.

2) Damages:
If your case revolved solely around this issue, it would be a problem, since it is simply your word against his. As for the washing walls, you don't give any reasoning on why this was deemed necessary!!! If you did something to damage the walls, then you are liable for it. If not, then this could be considered as 'wear and tear'.

Summary:
Go ahead and file. The landlords violation of the statute above should be sufficient to support your claim. Further, you should read the FULL statutes to see what, if any, other provisions the landlord failed to follow. Click on: http://onlinedocs.andersonpublishing.com/revisedcode/whole.cfm?GRDescription3=&GRStructure1=5321
 

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