Q: Can a landlord legally ask a tenant for more money after withholding a security deposit on a rental agreement?
I have just recently moved from a rental property to another location. The lease agreement was for a 12 month period and after the 12 months, it became a month by month situation. After five years, I left the property and the security deposit was withheld for random repairs of the property. The landlord provided a list broke down by item and cost to repair. A lot of these items I believe should have been repaired for a fraction of the cost incurred. Is it legal for them to request more money other than the deposit and can I legally request receipts for the repairs they mentioned? They also never did an inspection or had any sort of communication with me in the five years I lived there.
A: You can request receipts. But if you don't pay, the landlord could sue you for the repair amount in small claims court if under $6000, and you could then go to court and dispute the amount the landlord claims. But the landlord might not sue, and instead could make an adverse entry on your credit report, lowering your credit score and making it more difficult to rent from a landlord who checks your credit. So you might consider working it out.
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