Q: We recently moved out of a rental. The initial deposit was $800 of which the landlord returned $500.
It has been well over 31 days since we turned the property back over to the landlord. The only “written” itemized accounting we have received was via Facebook Messenger and/or email. It was not personally delivered or mailed.
They have claimed they’re withholding the additional $300 for cleaning the oven, cleaning the fridge (which is roughly 20+ years old, doesn’t properly close or seal, and never had drawers), and cleaning in the window tracks (not the windows themselves).
Due to them failing to mail and/or personally deliver the written accounting and, in our opinion, keeping an additional $300 for what we believe is basic wear and tear, or at the most, an hour or so of basic cleaning, would you think this is grounds to file a small claims case and request 2x the deposit as a penalty? I would actually do 2x $800 and subtract the $500 all ready received, for a total of $1100.
Thank you!
A: You should sue for the $1600. If he wants the $500, let him counter Sue you for it - and prove it in court. That said, you may want to think about having an attorney represent you in regular court instead. The landlord has no incentive to do anything but go to trial in small claims. In regular court, he will owe your attorney's fees as well as his own if he loses - and he either timely accounted to you or he didn't. How hard does he want to go to trial and run up lots more hours - when he is ultimately paying $600 - $800 per hour for both sets of attorneys? So usually the landlord grumbles and settles quickly without needing to go to trial. Plus a professional does the work for you. Good luck.
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