Does she have a leg to stand on?

Attorneys on here will probably know best.....anyways:

We moved out of our apartment in mid-March.

Had in total $4900.00 in security given to the landlord up front (part of that was because we had a dog).

I asked the LL to take out $1550 towards the April rent.

She now is calling with a bunch of grievances (says the apartment was left dirty, holes in walls from pics, rust on stove, closet doors off track, one door on ancient medicine cabinet is broken and she wants it fixed).

I told her to ask the super to paint/spackle the walls and take that out of the security. But she keeps fixating on the other things that were super old to begin with. She left a message about "charging us if she can't show a potential tenant the apartment May's rent". I think this is total BS, as the apartment is pretty old to begin with. We also did clean the apartment so the only thing "dirty" was the rug, which she said she is replacing anyways.

There also has been water damage in the apartment which the super has not followed up on since we've been there, which is the main reason she hasn't been able to show the apartment.........not us.

Anyways, I am letting DH deal with it later but it's going to be a fight if she thinks she is keeping $3K of our security because she didn't find a tenant yet for May!!

Re: Does she have a leg to stand on?

What you described is "normal wear and tear" She cant think you wont hang a picture or live in the apt. If the water damage isnt yours and she knows about it thats all her. I would fight her tooth and nail for that money. did you take any pics before you left of the empty apt? If so I would have her show you all this damage. GL.

Re: Does she have a leg to stand on?

Not yet, but technically we are not out until the end of the month, so I still have the keys and can go there and take some if need be.

Yes, that is why I am ******.......it is normal wear and tear combined with living in an older apartment. The rug was wall to wall WHITE carpeting so it was dirty when we moved in.

I think she's trying to get money for that even though she is planning to replace it herself!

She also is aware we have absolutely nothing to do with the water damage........we lived on the top floor and it was from the roof with rain storms.

Re: Does she have a leg to stand on?

Yeah take pics of every room, closet and windows. Document everything. And if all else fails a cheap fix on the walls instead of spackle....toothpaste. The white paste one does the trick just like spackle.

Re: Does she have a leg to stand on?

Demand that the super walk through the apartment as you lock the door for the last time. That is all I can to add besides what Jenn already said.

Re: Does she have a leg to stand on?

OMG I would be SOOOOOO P*SSED!

tell her you will be there with the handyman/super on a walk through and you want documented proof of estimates.

I would also tell her you've contacted a lawyer (I assume you have a copy of your lease and it says what you *are* responsible for)

unless you are breaking your lease, you do NOT have to pay any penatly fees!

Re: Does she have a leg to stand on?

Demand that she refunds the entire security deposit or slap her with a lawsuit.

I am sure there are plenty of judges out there that can't stand greedy landlords.

It's not your problem if she can't find a tenant in time, just as long as you have given her sufficient access to the apartment while you are living there to show it to prospective tenants.

Re: Does she have a leg to stand on?

So my husband had a nice chat with her.

Basically, the way we see it, is her and her husband don't feel like hiring out or paying the super to follow up on normal wear and tear so they are trying to get my husband to do the work for free since he is in construction.

We said we'd pay for the super to spackle the walls but that's about it. Honestly, this really should be something that is done when a tenant moves in/out anyways. ETA: not paid BY the tenant but the LL.

She also made a comment to my husband about how she's not charging us to replace the carpet and maybe she should reconsider on that.

What a tool. People want to be landlords to make money, but they don't want to do the normal upkeep of the place.

I take back recommending this apartment to anyone who is looking.

My husband also is going to fight her and her husband on this if they try to charge us for the 1980's and before decor.

Message edited 4/14/2008 8:35:30 PM.

Re: Does she have a leg to stand on?

Do you have a lease? If you have a lease that isn't actually up yet, then you COULD be resonsible for the rent on the place until the LL can rent it to someone else. I know that most property management companies have that clause in the lease.

Re: Does she have a leg to stand on?

The lease expires at the end of this month. And we asked her to take this month's rent out of the security. F that if she thinks she is charging us for any thing beyond the lease expiration date.

Re: Does she have a leg to stand on?

Go in and take pictures of EVERYTHING!!! Very detailed pictures. We had to deal with basically the same thing in SC, they were remodeling all the apts when everyone left to sell them-tearing up carpets, new cabinets, new bathrooms-the whole 9...they called us up 2 weeks after we moved out to tell us we had to pay for the carpets to be cleaned, walls to be spackled, etc....besides the fact that we had the carpets cleaned (even tho they were replacing them) we went back in and took pictures of every hole, every scuff everything-and brought it to them and said this is NORMAL wear and tear-we have the pictures to prove what we did and didnt do.

They gave us our FULL deposit back.

Good Luck

Re: Does she have a leg to stand on?

Re: Does she have a leg to stand on?

Re: Does she have a leg to stand on?

Re: Does she have a leg to stand on?

I used to be a property mgr for an apartment complex..

What does your lease say? What's the wording on normal wear and tear?

Did you give her at least 30 days notice you were leaving? ANd does your lease say you have to give a certain period of notice? Our leases say 60 day notice.

If you didn't give sufficient time for notice, technically she can say you are responsible for additional rent, but that won't hold up in court, i "think" the min term by law in NY is 30 days, even if your lease says 60 days.

If you didn't give 30 days notice then yes you can be responsible for rent past your lease expiration date, technically she can charge you as a month to month resident.

Also did you take pics before you moved in at the the beginning of your lease? Or do you have documentation of a move in inspection of preexisting damages?

If you didn't take pictures before you moved or have no documentation to support that you didn't cause the damage the apartment, the pictures you take at move out could help if she tries to sue you over other stuff, but they wont' prove anything else that the apartment was dirty at move in etc.

I highly suggest you read up on some landlord/tenant law. There's plenty of documentation online you can read and the actual law.

She also has 30 days from your move out date to refund your security less any documented charges, if it takes her any longer than that, that's illegal and i'm not sure about NY but in CT, if it takes more than 30 days to return a security deposit or apply damages, the leaser is entitled to double sec back. Def check landlord/tenant law and KNOW YOUR RIGHTS and what she can and cant do.

Good luck!

ETA: Also the increased security deposit for the dog, was that non refundable? Check your lease language. The community i worked for charged non refundable fees to have a dog.
And lots of leases can say you can't use security as last month payment, check check your lease...

Message edited 4/15/2008 9:26:32 AM.