Getting back deposit

By Ana

Please advise if there is any action I can take against my former landlord for not giving me back half of my deposit in this situation:

I have been living in the apartment and renewed the lease in March for another year, however i the beginning of June I was offered a spot in a masters program abroad and accepted. I notified my landlord right away, 2.5 months ahead of actually moving out and told him I was willing to do anything to help him find a replacement and get my deposit back, I offered to sublease or advertise the place, etc. He said it was "fine" that I gave enough notice and he should be able to find something. Throughout the 2.5 months I asked him how it was going and if I needed to do anything he kept saying it was fine. On the day I was moving out I showed him my apartment, which I cleaned and made look perfect to get my deposit back and only then for the first time he said he will not give me back my deposit until someone moves into the apartment as is. He did not communicate this to me at any point before, however I do not have anything in writing stating otherwise either…. As soon as I found this out I posted an ad and got a ton of interest in the apartment and people willing to sign the lease right away however he seemed to turn them away on purpose until finally someone started the lease from September 13. If he prorated my deposit for these 13 days I should get nearly 60% back but he returned 50% with zero explanation. I feel that I had the right to the full deposit back because he did not communicate any of this to me throughout the process and definitely did not make any attempt to find another tenant nor let me know when I asked him directly multiple times whether I needed to look myself.

Please advise… I think this is very unfair and he shouldn’t get away with just taking advantage of renters like this.

Ana

Edited on: Monday, October 28th, 2013 9:18 pm

One Response to “Getting back deposit”

My response: (We welcome stories, examples, explanations, answers and a touch of your personality)
 

bennett55@richard

November 26th, 2012 1:20 pm

This are difficulties faced by many renters. The first and foremost is to have the lease agreement and all the terms and conditions in written, if you want to include your points, include them in the lease.. Later on just with verbal words it creates a problem for renter. Due to your landlord attitude and behaviour.. as you wrote he was not cooperative and also not finding any new renter who could replace your apartment, and given you only 50% of the amount and subsequently you can leave the place.. why not rate the landlord and report him on this site. http://www.rentalprotectionagency.com/apartment-rating.php so that other people can watch his reviews and whether the previous tenants response was positive, negative or neutral.
You can have the communication details which you send him, and he did not replied as a proof, and file a complaint.
https://www.rentalprotectionagency.com/complaint_center_form.php This is their complaint filing link which can help you.. I just found out that they have only 35$ charge to file a complaint and rest they are gonna take care of Like all paper work, communication with your landlord, etc and also you can save the huge amount of money on legal aid or going to police. I hope you would get your full payment sooner.

Let me know if any help needed. God bless


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