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We moved out of our rental early, in November 2009, before the lease was up (up in May 2010). We gave 60 days notice. Our landlord did not provide us with a list of damages until March 5, 2010. New tenants moved into the unit March. My question is, when is the lease terminated - when we vacated, when the landlord accepted possession of the unit (when they decided to go in and clean, make any repairs) or when the new tenants moved in? Since they had 30 days to make a claim against the security deposit, trying to figure out if they went over that 30 days or if it's March then they are fine.
If I recall correctly, a landlord has 15 (or 30..not sure) days after the date you moved out to notify you if he's making a claim on your security deposit. He has to do it in writing to the forwarding address you should have provided him when you gave him notice. If he didn't do that, he waives the right to claim any damages even if you had trashed the house. You can take him to court and sue him for the security deposit.
Read your lease and look up what your state laws say about it. State laws very greatly from state to state. The advice given by giz2000 may not apply in your state.
More then likely your landlord was way behind any deadline he had and in some states could be subject to additional damages for his delay in returning your deposite.
Try searching for the following on google: "your state" landlord tenant association
That will usually lead you to a website with lots of good information about the requirements in your state.
83.49 Deposit money or advance rent; duty of landlord and tenant.
(3)(a)
Upon the vacating of the premises for termination of the lease, if the landlord does not intend to impose a claim on the security deposit, the landlord shall have 15 days to return the security deposit together with interest if otherwise required, or the landlord shall have 30 days to give the tenant written notice by certified mail to the tenant's last known mailing address of his or her intention to impose a claim on the deposit and the reason for imposing the claim.
So....the termination of a rental agreement ends when the unit is vacated, is that correct? I am afraid he is going to counter the termination of rental agreement was when the new tenant moved into the unit in March and took over the lease.
I've already agreed to pay the damages that I owe (he's fighting me on other "damages" but I stand firm that it is wear and tear). If I find that he was supposed to give me 30 days notice within the move in date, can I rescind my offer of the damages in his violation?
It is either the 15 days full deposit or a specified letter within 30 days...for most States. If you broke your lease and turned in the keys, the day you turned in the keys is when it starts counting, not when your lease was up. You might be repsonsible for the rent until the end, unless the LL has a new tenant, but if the LL is in possession of the keys, then your responsibility of the property is for the LL.
Sometimes issues show up days after a tenant moves out because at first you don't see it. I only found out the window bridges had vanished when I went to Home Depot to order new window screens that the tenant had broken and took also a frame that was in the garage thinking it was for a screen, but the Home Depot employee told me it was from a window bridge and noticed when I came to the property that 3 were gone...I checked the pics. from before and saw that indeed they were there on the day the tenant moved in...
Some tenants think that "don't tell" is making sure they don't have to pay....
Ok, well here's another wrench to throw. We did not hand in the keys right away. Oversight on our part - we moved into a new house, I have a baby daughter, etc. However, the landlord was aware of our new address the week after we moved. I have an email proof of this. They went into the unit in December, cleaned, made repairs, painted etc. Now, if we truly had possession of the unit (bc we still had keys) wouldn't they have had to get notice before entering it? They have their own set obviously. Just because we have keys, what does that mean? They could have changed the locks and charged us for that (since they want to charge us for everything else anyway).
And to your point, yes. Some things show up later. But we moved Nov. 7th (paid rent through end of Nov in hopes the remaining months would be rented). She emailed me Dec. 1st "If the place rents for January, I can use one of the months security deposit as rent for December. I haven't really assessed any damage to the place other than the window. ##### is the one who usually does that. I'll let you know if I have any claim on the security deposit. It doesn't look bad as far as I saw." December 19th "We are not willing to return any monies until this whole mess is resolved. The breaking of the lease has also been a tremendous burden for us as well. The extent hasn't even been determined yet. Once the unit is rented we will be able to determine the extent."
Then bam March 5th, a bill for over $4K!!
The rules change if you break your lease. The law you quoted may only be applicable for a completed lease term. If you break your lease, the LL doesn't have to agree to let you out of the remainder, so how would they know how much they have for expenses until they get a new renter in.
If you moved out in November, and they couldn't get a new tenant until March, you would have rent due for December, January, February, and maybe part of March. You also may have utility costs, if you were supposed to be paying the utilities and weren't. You may also have late fees and/or interest on money due.
Until the LL knows what you owe, they can't refund your deposit or send a letter.
Now, if the LL agreed, in writing, to release you from your lease last November, the 15 or 30 days starts then. If they didn't, you were still in a lease, and still responsible for the unit until the new tenant's lease started. In that case, the 30 days starts at that point.
*Edit* I missed your last post. That sounds to me like they did NOT release you from the lease, so they probably are in the right. Especially since they contacted you in the interim to let you know they were still assessing damages (including lost rent). I disagree that turning in your keys, whenever that happened, starts the clock.
Sorry, but a lease is a bilateral contract, meaning both sides have to agree to terminate the contract early. One side cannot make that decision alone. Which means that just because you gave notice and moved out, doesn't mean the LL has to relinquish their right to collect according to the terms of the contract.
Last edited by Lacerta; 04-22-2010 at 04:00 PM..
Reason: missed an update
It appears that you would be responsible for the 3 months of rent while the unit was empty, as the LL never actually released you from the lease. However, make sure to check your state's laws on what they consider normal wear and tear and what a LL can charge you for. A lot of times a LL gets away with adding fees for what some states consider normal wear and tear such as carpet cleaning. Your best bet may be to just contact a lawyer or the housing authorities. They could probably give you more insight and make the exact laws clear.
Well, the question here is whether they released me from the lease. At first she was fine with us leaving. Nothing in writing except the emails below. Also, didn't they release us from the lease once they took possession of the unit in December and they entered to get it professionally cleaned, painted, etc?
83.595 Choice of remedies upon breach or early termination by tenant
(2) Retake possession of the dwelling unit for the account of the tenant, holding the tenant liable for the difference between the rent stipulated to be paid under the rental agreement and what the landlord is able to recover from a reletting. If the landlord retakes possession, the landlord has a duty to exercise good faith in attempting to relet the premises, and any rent received by the landlord as a result of the reletting must be deducted from the balance of rent due from the tenant. For purposes of this subsection, the term "good faith in attempting to relet the premises" means that the landlord uses at least the same efforts to relet the premises as were used in the initial rental or at least the same efforts as the landlord uses in attempting to rent other similar rental units but does not require the landlord to give a preference in renting the premises over other vacant dwelling units that the landlord owns or has the responsibility to rent;
(4) Charge liquidated damages, as provided in the rental agreement, or an early termination fee to the tenant if the landlord and tenant have agreed to liquidated damages or an early termination fee, if the amount does not exceed 2 months' rent, and if, in the case of an early termination fee, the tenant is required to give no more than 60 days' notice, as provided in the rental agreement, prior to the proposed date of early termination. This remedy is available only if the tenant and the landlord, at the time the rental agreement was made, indicated acceptance of liquidated damages or an early termination fee. The tenant must indicate acceptance of liquidated damages or an early termination fee by signing a separate addendum to the rental agreement containing a provision in substantially the following form.
9/10: From the LL: "The following is more or less what I posted in the MLS. I haven't gotten any calls yet. When I do how do you want to go about showing it. What are the best times to show it? It would be great if you post it in both Craigslist and Ask Boo. The more exposure the better."
Thanks,
XXXXX
Two level townhome in much sought after XXXXXX. Very centrally located minutes to UM, Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, S. Miami, FIU, etc... Very well taken care of unit. Good distribution, each bedroom has it's own bath upstairs. Half bath downstairs. Features lovely patio area. 1 assigned parking space and plenty of guest parking. Ammenities include: Tennis Court, 2 pools, 4 squash courts and 24 hour security patrol. Washer/Dryer included.
11/3: From the LL: "Also I need the November rent from you. The security deposit that I have is for damages which will be returned to you after you move. There are two people that seem interested and looks like it may be rented by December. If it's not rented by December we will work something out."
12/3: From the LL on our behalf to the Condo Management: "Just wanted to know if you had any news about XXX & XXXX Miller's Deposit. They were excellent tenants and are deserving of their deposit being returned to them."
The amount of time to collect and provide documents of needed repair for keeping any or all of the security deposit is 21 days (In CA atleast) or they have to return your security deposit. I have found no documentation to find it different in any other State. 60 days notice is all thats required to break a lease to vacate a property, unless your lease contract states differently (as in a penalty fee). Once new tenants have possesion you are no longer liable for any of the rent for the remainder of your lease period (They cannot collect rent from two parties at the same time for the same property). If you did a walk through with the Landlord then it is their obligation to note repairs needed and give you a chance to fix them and to do so in a timely fashion (hence the 21 day cut off), you are not required to let them fix the damage, you could hire your own repairman to do it. Too many Landlords try to scare former tenants with the over-charges for repairs to get them give up the total security deposit instead of deducting what would be fair. The charges to you would never hold up in a court, let alone the fact that they are now late in returning the rest of the deposit owed to you(you can sue for up to 3 times the amount if their charges are unfounded). Rest assured they need proof they did the work to collect and keep any security deposit (not just an estimate of work). If you take them to small claims court you will get your deposit (and probably more). Not to mention that there is no proof that the new tenants did not cause any of the damage.
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