Q: Are we rightfully owed the rest of our security deposit?
We lived in a house for 14 months where 3% interest was to be paid to our security deposit (states this in the security lease we all signed) upon moving out the owner did an inspection with the property manager and us and brought carpet installers to measure b/c we wanted different carpet style and color when she moved back in. At move out inspection, nothing was damaged and everything was checked in good condition and no money from the deposit was to be taken out, everyone signed off on this paper. 44 days later, she sends us some of the deposit back minus $500 for professionally cleaning the carpets (remind you she had all the carpet tore out for her own personal reasons) and charged us for items that were not even in the house when we moved in. Ex: shower rod. We have pictures to show there was no rod when we moved in. We bought one and took it with us when we left. She said that we are not entitled to interest b/c the deposit was not in an interest bearing account.
A:
Under Maryland law interest accrues on all security deposits held for more than 6 months, regardless of whether or not they are in an account earning interest. The old law set the interest at 3%, under current law the amount is lower but without looking at the lease it is difficult to say which % interest rate applies.
As you may imagine landlords and tenants often sharply disagree with whether the security deposit may be withheld for items of cleaning / alleged damage. If a landlord improperly withholds a security deposit the tenant may be entitled to damages of up to 3x the amount wrongfully withheld.
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