Comments on: Before You Sign That Rental Agreement…

By: Greg

Greg — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:18:56 +0000

Greg,

The rental laws vary by state, and even by county and municipality.

However, if nothing has been signed, it is hard to make a case that you owe the money. If the landlord will not give it back, place a stop payment on the check.

In general, I would not recommend handing over money until the time comes to sign documents.

By: Greg

Greg — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:57:17 +0000

I have a question in regards to refund on the check that was written for the first month’s rent and security deposit. If the check was provided to the landlord before signing the lease, is the tenant in her/his legal rights to request for a refund if the check have been cashed in or request for the check to be voided because of a disagreement in the lease? The lease has not been signed and the tenants are not in the rental unit. Does your advice corresponds to all states?

By: Becky

Becky — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:01:08 +0000

Oh, my word…we’ve had this exact same thing happen just recently…only we’re out a LOT more money. In 15 years of renting, and being stellar renters/caretakers of every property we’ve ever lived in, I might add), we’ve always gotten our deposits back.

But this last house we rented was brand new when we moved in. BIG MISTAKE. (Never rent a brand new house from new landlords who sunk every dime of their retirement money into it. They’re going to be super nit-picky.)

As we soon learned, the homes in that development were of shoddy construction, and made of the cheapest quality materials available (particle board cabinetry, thin discount lineoleum, nails not long enough to sufficiently hold cabinets and doors to the framework and jambs…and doorjambs made of that MFD stuff that’s basically just glorified cardboard. It was a nightmare.)

Long story short, after over 2 years of our family of four living there, we bought our own home, and the owners gave us back only $795 of our $2,000 deposit, even though the place was immaculate when we moved out.

Some ‘normal’ wear and tear on the lineoleum flooring cost us nearly $1,200 and was replaced out of our deposit money…including the $150 to remove the appliances from the laundry room, and another $100 to replace the base molding (all to replace a tear that occurred when a maintenance person from the property management company tore the thin linoleum while moving the washer).

Totally sickens me. I believe it was a case of greedy guts owners gouging their faithful tenants to make up for the ones they’re bound to get on down the road whose deposits will get used up to clean up after them. Makes me so mad.

We’ve written a letter to both the property management company and the owners, and expect to get most of that back. If not, we will take them to Small Claims court.

By: MITBeta @ Don't Feed the Alligators

MITBeta @ Don't Feed the Alligators — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:13:13 +0000

As a landlord, I always take extensive pictures of my rental, then I make double copies, and get my tenant to initial the back of each one. He keeps a set, and I keep a set. That way there can be little about which to disagree at the end of the lease, other than the difference between damage and wear and tear.

By: Heather

Heather — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 19:09:29 +0000

Thanks for the tips! I wish I’d read this before moving into our current place. We had to rent out our own home because it was too small for us and had no a/c, and I had (another!) baby on the way.

Now we’re renting a 3 bd house. I asked several times for a walkthrough, but never completed one. The landlady seemed so nice, I figured it was ok. Stupid me! Hope it doesn’t come back to bite me on the behind!

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Wachovia Update Roundup — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:23:25 +0000

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Sat, 04 Oct 2008 05:02:39 +0000

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By: The Bargain Shopper Lady

The Bargain Shopper Lady — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:46:08 +0000

We were landlords and almost always gave the depost back (which was more around $800). (We did have a set of baseball players who made a hole in the wall though, they did not get their deposit back.) We would have for sure given you your deposit back, we loved good renters. However, I have heard horror stories of Landlords trying to sue the renters for having a homebased businss (because it says in most leases that you can’t and that is a standard thing)and they have lost $1000 deposits. So just to cheer you up, you didn’t lose out on too much money. I hope the call went well!
~The Bargain Shopper Lady
p.s. I am trying to send you an email. Could you send me you email addy? Thanks!