Getting Your Deposit Back When You Rent
Getting your Deposit Back: Tip one
When moving into a house or apartment, most landlords do a "walk through" with you. Some friends of mine from California have been in their home for more than five years. Upon moving in, they were told to accept the damaged carpeting or wait an extra month before moving in (so the old, stained and torn carpet could be replaced.) They were in a hurry to get moved and agreed to deal with the less than perfect carpeting. Now that they're moving, the landlords don't recall telling them about the carpet and expect a "professional" cleaning. Lucky for them, they have everything in writing and the landlords won't get away with keeping their deposit.
Getting your Deposit Back: Tip Two:
Some friends of mine from Utah have lived in their rental for eight years and upgraded the yard considerably. When they moved in there was almost no lawn and a few scraggly rose bushes. They have re-planted the lawns and added new roses as well as filling some permanently bad areas with bark to make them look better. They took "before and after" pictures and should be getting their whole deposit back when they move.
Getting your Deposit Back: Tip Three:
My former driving partner lives in Arizona. The house he and his wife have rented for the last six years is now a death trap. When the roof started leaking, they complained to the management company and were ignored. When the plumbing backed up (the first few times) and flooded both the house and the yard, they reported it to the landlord and were ignored. It cost them a bundle to hire a plumber to fix what he could, but to repair the bad pipes (complete with tree roots growing through them) would have cost many thousands of dollars and the landlords refused to do it. Now they're moving and the landlords are dragging their feet about giving back the two thousand dollar deposit. They kept receipts from the plumbers they hired, and the refusal letters from the landlord.
Published by Don Lee
I'm a truck driver and cover most of the USA. My laptop is always near at hand so I can write whenever possible. View profile
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6 Comments
Post a CommentThere must always be a paper trail. When I used to rent, I'd fill out a form listing all of the damage when I moved in, then take pictures of said damage and label them to correspond with the list I made. Then, if anything broke, I'd send a notice by certified mail to the landlord just to cover myself. Great article.
I am in Los Angeles and have been renting for 9 years now. I read the Real Estate section of the LA Times every Sunday since there is a rental column there and have saved many over the years and stored in a housing file for reference.
I also have taken dozens of photos of my kids outside in the front yard over the years showing the yard in the early stages as proof. I used photos to document water damage as well.
There is a time frame for when you can expect your money back and varies State to State.
Don, I had submitted a sort-of comprehensive landlord-tenant review, including the security deposit issue. Your points are very well taken. It is also improtant to check your state's statutes; often the timetable for notices, etc is spelled out and will be controlling.
I agree very good piece with useful info!
These are very useful tips. It is important that renters keep documents and other materials that prove what the conditions were initially. Photos usually work.
Good points, Don. You'd think they were all common sense, but every now and then we need to be reminded. It seems living in a 'nanny state' isn't going to protect you from all the evils of the world and by the time you realize it, it is too late.