What is the name of your state? California
first off sorry this is long. thank you for taking the time to read and help.
we lived in a house that we rented through a rental management business. in our lease it states that the security will be help by the owner of the property. as california law states, the remainder of the security has to be mailed out 21 days after vacating the property. we did give our 30 day notice as required and never late on rent. we shampooed the carpets and cleaned like crazy. we called about a week later after we moved to see if they could give us an estimate about how much we would get back. all they told my husband was that the owner was upset about the color we painted the living room. there was nothing in our lease about paint so we asked the people at the rental office if we could. they said it was fine as long as it wasn't anything crazy like green.
we called 2 times before the 21 days were up and they themselves said we would know within 21 days as we would get it in the mail. a week later we called and all "person A" could tell us was that the lady in charge, "person B", has been busy with clients and would call us back that day, as well as the property had already been rented out. my husband called an hour later and still person B was busy and this time we find out that they don't even have an itemized list together. my husband demanded them to mail the money out that same day or the next which would have been friday the 28th but person A said it would be done on monday. all the while i'm thinking how can a business do business this way. the next day(friday 298th) i called around 9:15 am.
that night(thursday) i did some research and found a precedent case that basically stated that any landlord who does not send an itemized list or remainder of deposit in good faith forfeits their right to keep any of it.
the next day (Friday) i talked to "person C" and he stated she would be in in an hour so i left him a message to give to her. i told him about the case i found and that we want our full deposits back. i called 2 hours later to see if she was in, and same answer. this time i'm talking to person A. he on the other hand of person C is rude and talking over me. i state calmly that we are on our way there from sacramento to pick up our full deposits. i informed him that i would report them to the better business bureau, department of real estate, as well as the department of consumer affairs but that i didn't want to have to do that. all the while i'm on the road from sacramento heading to visalia. about a 4 hour trip.
we finally get there and person B is there! shes sitting at her desk just looking at papers. she informs us that they are not the ones who pay us directly but the owner of the property. that they hold onto the money in an interest earning savings account. i asked why they didn't force her to give them the money so it didn't go this far and why they didn't punish her(owner) or anything. person C says "we won't cut off our nose to spite our face". Person B avoids the question. so it came down to person B promising me that they will have the full deposits there on monday(today) at 1:30 pm. we will be driving there but this time it will be a 2 hour trip as we are visiting family, but still out of the way.
isn't it the rental managements business to make sure that the owner follows the laws since they are the owners agent who collect the rent and deposits? they must be liable for something even though it states the owner holds the deposit. i don't want more money but the money that is rightfully mine. i'm afraid that they will not hold up to their promise about the money. no matter what i plan on filing a complaint with the department of real estate, but if they do not have the money there what can i do besides small claim court? could i possibly file a police report against the owner since she is technically holding on to money that is not rightfully hers anymore?
is there a better way to handle this too?
first off sorry this is long. thank you for taking the time to read and help.
we lived in a house that we rented through a rental management business. in our lease it states that the security will be help by the owner of the property. as california law states, the remainder of the security has to be mailed out 21 days after vacating the property. we did give our 30 day notice as required and never late on rent. we shampooed the carpets and cleaned like crazy. we called about a week later after we moved to see if they could give us an estimate about how much we would get back. all they told my husband was that the owner was upset about the color we painted the living room. there was nothing in our lease about paint so we asked the people at the rental office if we could. they said it was fine as long as it wasn't anything crazy like green.
we called 2 times before the 21 days were up and they themselves said we would know within 21 days as we would get it in the mail. a week later we called and all "person A" could tell us was that the lady in charge, "person B", has been busy with clients and would call us back that day, as well as the property had already been rented out. my husband called an hour later and still person B was busy and this time we find out that they don't even have an itemized list together. my husband demanded them to mail the money out that same day or the next which would have been friday the 28th but person A said it would be done on monday. all the while i'm thinking how can a business do business this way. the next day(friday 298th) i called around 9:15 am.
that night(thursday) i did some research and found a precedent case that basically stated that any landlord who does not send an itemized list or remainder of deposit in good faith forfeits their right to keep any of it.
the next day (Friday) i talked to "person C" and he stated she would be in in an hour so i left him a message to give to her. i told him about the case i found and that we want our full deposits back. i called 2 hours later to see if she was in, and same answer. this time i'm talking to person A. he on the other hand of person C is rude and talking over me. i state calmly that we are on our way there from sacramento to pick up our full deposits. i informed him that i would report them to the better business bureau, department of real estate, as well as the department of consumer affairs but that i didn't want to have to do that. all the while i'm on the road from sacramento heading to visalia. about a 4 hour trip.
we finally get there and person B is there! shes sitting at her desk just looking at papers. she informs us that they are not the ones who pay us directly but the owner of the property. that they hold onto the money in an interest earning savings account. i asked why they didn't force her to give them the money so it didn't go this far and why they didn't punish her(owner) or anything. person C says "we won't cut off our nose to spite our face". Person B avoids the question. so it came down to person B promising me that they will have the full deposits there on monday(today) at 1:30 pm. we will be driving there but this time it will be a 2 hour trip as we are visiting family, but still out of the way.
isn't it the rental managements business to make sure that the owner follows the laws since they are the owners agent who collect the rent and deposits? they must be liable for something even though it states the owner holds the deposit. i don't want more money but the money that is rightfully mine. i'm afraid that they will not hold up to their promise about the money. no matter what i plan on filing a complaint with the department of real estate, but if they do not have the money there what can i do besides small claim court? could i possibly file a police report against the owner since she is technically holding on to money that is not rightfully hers anymore?
is there a better way to handle this too?
