For everyone ever ripped off by a nasty landlord...

kellyyfaber · Mar 25, 2005

Hey guys, I haven't mentioned this but I had to go to court this morning. Long story made short, the landlord I had in WV ripped me off on my security deposit. I told him I would take him to small claims court, I did. He lost, I WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It wasn't a major amount of money, it was the damn principle. So I dedicate my victory to everyone ever ripped off by their landlord.

pinkdaisy226 · Mar 25, 2005

You go girl! My fiance is having issue trying to get back his security deposit ($800) so hopefully it won't come to going to court... but if it does I hope he's as successful as you!

katspixiedust · Mar 25, 2005

Rock on Kelly!!!!!!!!

flisssweetpea · Mar 25, 2005

Good for you Kelly - it's a scary prospect taking another to court - you're very courageous. Well done on your victory.

consumerkitty · Mar 25, 2005

Every landlord I've ever had has tried to rip off my security deposit. I think it is a very common problem. Way to go Kelly!!

kellyyfaber · Mar 25, 2005

Originally Posted by flisssweetpea

Good for you Kelly - it's a scary prospect taking another to court - you're very courageous. Well done on your victory.

Oh I was quite nervous. But I knew that I was right and by being right, I had nothing to fear. I was soo embarassed for him, he really didn't have a case. The magistrate just looked at him like he was the village idiot

.

valanhb · Mar 25, 2005

YOU GO GIRL!!!!!

I've been there, done that. They totally hosed us. Said we had to pay for the entire cost of carpet replacement, even though it wasn't new when we moved in there, and we lived there for 4 years, but they didn't bother to send us any notice until it was in collections.

Nice, huh? At that point we really couldn't fight it, and of course they knew that. And a nice black mark on the credit report too. Thanks!!

diane8704 · Mar 25, 2005

Originally Posted by Kellyyfaber

Hey guys, I haven't mentioned this but I had to go to court this morning. Long story made short, the landlord I had in WV ripped me off on my security deposit. I told him I would take him to small claims court, I did. He lost, I WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It wasn't a major amount of money, it was the damn principle. So I dedicate my victory to everyone ever ripped off by their landlord.

You know, this happened to me. We paid a 400$ deposit when we moved in to the apartment, $200 was for the cat, we wouldnt get that back. When we bought the house, we told her what day we would be out, we always paid our rent on time...we were the only tenants with a cat that they didnt know was even in the apartment until they saw her litterbox, because she never did her business anywhere but the litterbox. When we moved, my husband and I were up until 4am the next morning cleaning. That place was not a mess. She sent us a 50$ check, saying we hadnt cleaned anything!

I was pretty ticked. I was there until 4 am cleaning. I didnt take her to court for $150, though. I didnt have proof it was clean...and she didnt have prood that it wasnt. Sometimes, I think they just want to keep your money, so they will always come up with some excuse.

fwan · Mar 25, 2005

yep, our last landlord keput our dishwasher, we couldnt take them to court because we had to move to another country!

cirque · Mar 25, 2005

Originally Posted by fwan

yep, our last landlord keput our dishwasher, we couldnt take them to court because we had to move to another country!

Anything that becomes affixed to the walls or installed becomes the Landlords. You can't have a dishwasher put in then just yank it back out when you leave.

Unless you had a portable dishwasher that just hooks upto your sink with a hose and you can move it around the kitchen.. he was within his rights to keep it. It is defintly a bummer but that is the way it works here at least.

cirque · Mar 25, 2005

Originally Posted by Kellyyfaber

Oh I was quite nervous. But I knew that I was right and by being right, I had nothing to fear. I was soo embarassed for him, he really didn't have a case. The magistrate just looked at him like he was the village idiot

.

Way to go!! It sounds like something I see on People's Court on TV often. I am thrilled you won although somehow I suspect the next person to move in will get similar treatment. Maybe in a month you can mail a note to your old residence and let the new tennets know (without being slandering of course) of the facts and that you won your security deposit back so incase they ever have a similar situation they will know to fight it. I almost feel sorry for that stupid landlord.

gailc · Mar 25, 2005

Eons ago when we rented-the landlady charged me for these cheap metal curtain rods-like what would I take those for??????? Plus for something in the kitchen-did She was older and had not heard of normal wear and tear??? Glad you were successful!!

kittylover4ever · Mar 25, 2005

Way to go Kelly!!! Why in the world did your exlandlord keep it from you in the first place!??? Luckily, I"ve never had that problem!!!

cheeseface · Mar 25, 2005

Congratulations Kelly!!! That must feel really good because a lot of people don't even try to get their deposit back.

jennyr · Mar 25, 2005

When my student daughter was denied her deposit back from a scumbag landlord who had refused to do any repairs in a dreadful flat all the time she was there, I had to chase him as he changed the name of his company and tried to hide. Not for nothing was I an investigative journalist at the time! I found him and boy was he shocked when I called him up. I threatened him with media exposure and proved I had enough clout to make it happen, and he sent me a cheque the next day.

jcat · Mar 25, 2005

Just to put my two cents in: If the landlord's claim to your security deposit is unjustified, you should by all means take the matter to court. However, as a landlady in a country where tenants' rights take precedence over homeowners', we've had one or two instances where the security deposit nowhere near covered the damage caused, and had to take the matter to court ourselves (and won, but would rather not have had the aggravation). One "pig" tenant, who "came" with the house and thus had an 18-month notice period, flooded the downstairs and allowed the water to sit, resulting in mouldy carpeting and floorboards, which had to be completely replaced. She "super-glued" decals to the wall tiles in the kitchen and bath; despite professional help in removing the decals, both rooms had to be retiled. Not one light fixture was intact, and the one in the living room had been painted sky blue, as were all the curtain rods (also no longer intact). The entire kitchen, meaning five-year-old appliances and cabinets, was so caked in dirt and grease that heavy-duty solvents and razor blades were used to no avail. The latter also had to be replaced. We "won" in court, but since she absconded, were left with roughly $12,000 in costs.
We also had tenants set the house on fire by putting a towel over a little convection heater they had in their bathroom to dry towels and hand-wash, in violation of the lease and common sense.

fwan · Mar 25, 2005

Originally Posted by Cirque

Anything that becomes affixed to the walls or installed becomes the Landlords. You can't have a dishwasher put in then just yank it back out when you leave.

Unless you had a portable dishwasher that just hooks upto your sink with a hose and you can move it around the kitchen.. he was within his rights to keep it. It is defintly a bummer but that is the way it works here at least.

Actually no, it was a portable one.
THe one they had installed was old and wouldnt work anymore.
So we went and got a new one, We asked the landlords husband what to do with it and he said chuck the old one out! and so we did.
SO the day we left the woman said WELL WHERES THE OLD ONE THEN?
her husband ended up dying 2 months later when we left and i think he deserved it because god know how many other people he bull*crap*ed to!

vespacat · Mar 25, 2005

Good stuff, Kelly!

I'm happy for you.

I had a similar experience happen once, though I only put a small partial deposit down. Turns out the same ass had been doing this to other college students (who have little cash to throw around to begin with!). He got a LOT of money from people... He was such a slimeball and barely spoke a word of English.

kellyyfaber · Mar 25, 2005

Originally Posted by kittylover4ever

Way to go Kelly!!! Why in the world did your exlandlord keep it from you in the first place!??? Luckily, I"ve never had that problem!!!

He tried to keep $400.00 (half of deposit) for things that are considered normal wear and tear. Our rental agreement stated that "normal wear and tear" would not be deducted from our security deposit.

Things like

Painting the walls (We painted the walls and trim and even asked him exactly what color it was just 2 months before we moved out)

Recleaning the carpet.

It wasn't in our contract to clean the carpet but AS A COURTESYI cleaned them before we left. The carpet was not dirty but he knew we had cats and I didn't want him to say later that the carpets smelled (which he did anyway). That's just crap because they didn't smell before I cleaned them THE FIRST TIME. Sorry, that's the part that really ticks me off because I worked so hard to do something totally unnecessary.

Damage already present when we moved in. The kitchen sink had been leaking before we moved in and we discovered it 2 days after we moved in and he came to fix it. The water caused damage in the cabinet and I guess he thought it had leaked more and we didn't tell him. I dunno, I didn't really understand any of his argument.

Anyway, thanks everyone for all of your encouraging words. I'm really glad I stuck it to this old goat!!

vespacat · Mar 25, 2005

Holy moly!

That's horrible, and I can certainly understand your dilemma, though I still think tenants often get the short end of the stick (at least in this city).

And putting a towel over a convection heater? What the HELL was that person thinking? :conf
used:

Originally Posted by jcat

Just to put my two cents in: If the landlord's claim to your security deposit is unjustified, you should by all means take the matter to court. However, as a landlady in a country where tenants' rights take precedence over homeowners', we've had one or two instances where the security deposit nowhere near covered the damage caused, and had to take the matter to court ourselves (and won, but would rather not have had the aggravation). One "pig" tenant, who "came" with the house and thus had an 18-month notice period, flooded the downstairs and allowed the water to sit, resulting in mouldy carpeting and floorboards, which had to be completely replaced. She "super-glued" decals to the wall tiles in the kitchen and bath; despite professional help in removing the decals, both rooms had to be retiled. Not one light fixture was intact, and the one in the living room had been painted sky blue, as were all the curtain rods (also no longer intact). The entire kitchen, meaning five-year-old appliances and cabinets, was so caked in dirt and grease that heavy-duty solvents and razor blades were used to no avail. The latter also had to be replaced. We "won" in court, but since she absconded, were left with roughly $12,000 in costs.
We also had tenants set the house on fire by putting a towel over a little convection heater they had in their bathroom to dry towels and hand-wash, in violation of the lease and common sense.

For everyone ever ripped off by a nasty landlord...

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

Mo(w)gli's can opener

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member