Mike Explains: Return of Tenant Security Deposit
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- Опубликовано: 17 май 2021
- In this video, Mike offers insight into what rules & regulations the landlord must abide by to return a tenant's security deposit.
Click here to read it at the blog: bit.ly/MikeExplains-SecurityDe...
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TRANSCRIPTION:
Imagine, if you will. You spent the last month getting this property ready for the new tenants. The last tenants, they trashed the place. So, property's ready and you get served to go to small claim's court. The last tenants will take you in front of the judge to try to get their security deposit back. Well, you know how they left the place so you're happy to go talk to the judge. To your surprise, you lose.
Often, the most contentious part of the landlord-tenant relationship is the return of the security deposit. Security deposit is money that the tenant gives the landlord to hold in case there's damage done to the property or the tenant does not live up to the terms of the lease. In this case, the tenants clearly did more damage to the property than the security deposit covered. Unfortunately, the landlord didn't follow the rules.
Now, here's some of the rules you need to know as a landlord:
One of the most important rules is the landlord has 21 days to settle up. When a tenant moves out, if you don't pay them in full, you must get a letter of explanation of why you didn't, along with a detailed accounting including receipts for any item over 125 dollars. Of course, all this must be done, receipts for everything and all this must be done within 21 days. And believe me, 21 days goes fast.
In California, the landlord can deduct from a tenant security deposit for the following reasons:
One, the cost of fixing any damage to the property that the tenant may have done provided that it is not ordinary wear and tear.
Two, the cost of cleaning the unit provided that is putting the unit back in the same condition that it was when the tenant originally rented it.
Three, any unpaid rent the tenant may owe, including rent owed because the tenant did not give proper notice.
The landlord can withhold from the security deposit for repairs that are only necessary and reasonable, and this does not include ordinary wear and tear. To be fair, ordinary wear and tear may seem kind of arbitrary; the use of reasonable judgment and experience, I mean, that's what you have to use in this case.
So, like, for example, they hung a bunch of pictures in the house and they're gone three months later and you have to repair all the holes for the pictures being up that's not, that's reasonable to charge for that. If they've been there for over a year, fulfilled their lease, they just hold a normal amount of pictures, that's ordinary wear and tear, that's fair.
These items can often be argued, and for many things there's, there's like, for paint, most places will consider three years the normal lifespan. So, if you're a landlord and you're gonna go for something that's not ordinary wear and tear, or you wanna prorate that, you need to have an argument for it. A good, common sense, reasonable argument. And if you can't provide that, it's probably ordinary wear and tear.
Also, if you're a tenant, when you move in, most likely got a form that had to be in, I believe in three or five days, that's filling out the inspection, the condition noticed on your property, so often tenant's just fight filling that out. They're so happy to move in, and so busy, they don't want to deal with that silly piece of paper. That paper is for the tenant's protection. Tenants, that's for your own good. Fill out that paper, it's to protect you.
Also, doesn't hurt to take pictures. Digital pictures, take them on your phone, save them somewhere. All that, is gonna matter.
For landlords, the advice I give you is first of all, keep good records. Get that statement out within 21 days. Provide receipts. By all means, don't be greedy. And, don't be afraid to enlist the help of a Property Manager. Them serving as a referee, arbitrator in these times is money well-spent.
You wanna find out more about security deposits, property management, or anything real estate, we'd be more than happy to talk with you at the Mike Dunfee Group.
Another great video...
Thanks!
I like the jazz music
Thanks. Music helps.
what do you do when you pay a deposit before moving in see the place, decide against moving in cause its was somewhat a catfish, never signed a lease, do you still have grounds to request your deposit back or is your deposit gone?
Please do not hand over any funds without having a written agreement. I hope you are not a victim of a rental scam. Always try to verify you are dealing with the actual owner or a credible established property management company. If it is an actual “catfish” scam. Call the police and ask for the fraud department.
Does "wear and tear" of carpets and paint on walls = "the life use of the carpet and paint" per 1) specific CA laws, or 2) carpet industry and paint manufacturer specs, or 3) IRS Pub 527 life use chart for carpet and paint when installed and painted, or 4) the respective self-interest claims of the parties, landlord vs tenant?
For example, what prevents a landlord from claiming the new carpet/carpet pad they installed in a rental unit has a life use of 50 to 100 years (even if all carpet industry specs, IRS Pub 527, and HUD claim 5 to 10-years maximum range of life use), that the tenant damaged the carpet/pad (caused them to become 100% matted and the pad 100% flat for 95% of the carpet), because they tenant didn't vacuum the carpet at least once a week and steam clean it every 2-3 years (via professional steaming, rental steamer, or purchased carpet cleaning machine), which would have prevented the carpet/pad from becoming 100% matted and pad 100% flat, and therefore must be replaced with new carpet using all or most of the security deposit? I witnessed this landlord/tenant verbal dispute -- especially as the tenant was an age 22 undergraduate female foreign student giving 30-day notice to return home and had no knowlege of CA laws.
Thanks for the question. Without answering about a specific situation that we were not involved with I will say the law takes into account what is “reasonable”. Good luck finding a judge that will agree to a “50 to 100 year” useful life for carpet. The “industry specs, IRS Pub 527, and HUD” guidelines of 5 to 10 years are much more in line. I personally would not want to be standing in front of a judge claiming 100 year expected life for carpet.
[Portland landlord here], I didn't have the tenants previous or new address so I simply mailed the accounting of the withheld funds to my own property (addressed to them). The tenant is now saying they didn't have forwarding setup at my property since it was just a short term rental. Now they are claiming I never sent the accounting within the legal timeframe and have to refund the withheld funds.
We are not in Portland and try not to comment on specific cases. I will say when we do not have a forwarding address; we do exactly what you do and mail to the address they rented from us. Not sure what else that you could have done. Now that they are in contact, everyone can settle. You can now get them the accounting and pay them what, if anything, they are owned. If what they are claiming were to work, then tenants who owe for damage or back rent could just not give a forwarding address and hide until the deadline passes. Then they could show up and demand their money back. That would not be fair or right. Good luck and I hope it works out in a fair and equitable resolution.
If landlord does not do anytnkg for over 21 days are they allowed to make any deductions after thst ? Does a deman letter have to be sent before filing in smallclaims or as in my case it has been 30 days and I ha e not heard anything
Hi Dcal,
I am a believer in trying to work things out before going to court. It is often an honest mistake or miscommunication at the root of most disagreements. If you did not get an accounting or anything else from your landlord within 21 days your landlord should be willing to work with you since that is the requirement. If not, you will probably do well in small claims court.
Hello , I just recently moved out of my apartment on June 15. And wash charged a janitorial clean fee of $115.00
A carpet cleaning fee of $70
And a unit paint charge of $263.00
I have pictures of thr unit when we left. The place was practically spotless yet they claim that they needed to use my entire security deposit to prep the unit. What do I do ? Can I make a small claims court in regards to they wanting to charing me 263 for unit paint having only been there 1 year and followed all their instructions in regards to covering holes ?
I am sorry Mariano. Nobody likes to see deductions from their security deposit. I cannot comment about a specific incident where we were not involved. However, it might help to know that it is very common for landlords to make deductions for cleaning from security deposits. It is something that should be referenced in the lease agreement. The dollar amounts seem reasonable too. The question on the paint is if it is reasonable wear and tear, but then again I do not know the specifics of your situation so I have to be careful what I say. If I were you, I would reference my lease agreement and try talking to your landlord to try to understand how they came up with their numbers. If you are not satisfied, your recourse would be to go to small claims court. I hope this helps.
I left the condo in pristine condition and she has NOT returned my deposit of $1800.00. I am 87 years old and alone Rent was paid on the 1st of every month. I need someone to get my deposit back please. I have photos of the way I left it. I have NOT heard from her and she won't return my calls.
Hi Marina - I don’t comment on specific cases. I am not an attorney and don’t have both sides. However, you might want to call your local Fair Housing office. The laws are pretty tenant friendly and should be able to guild you to some help. Good luck and thanks for watching.
From a tenant perspective, problem is landlord will not return security deposit but is in a different state than rental, so small claims judgement does not help when the landlord ignores it...a bank sweep does not help with landlord in different state, a lien on the property does not help if the landlord is not selling for years. Tenant never gets the security deposit.
Hi Missy - thanks for sharing from the tenant’s perspective. FYI - if a landlord ignores the law they can get hit with penalties. It is a hassle, but you may have more rights and power than you think.
I don’t owe any money to the landlord, I have no judgement up to date with my rent, moved, left the apartment in decent condition, so therefore I expect my security deposit return back to me,no itemized list, no explanation just excuses after excuses he just wants to keep it by law he has to return it his excuse is to the judge there’s No security deposit on file which is a lie I showed the judge a copy of the money order, the papers I signed, dated, I did a traced of the money order from the post office when I receive letter in 2 weeks if cashed you best believe it I will return back to court, demand my security deposit return back to me I will call him for what he is a big fat greedy lier
@@mikedunfeegroup I agree
Can I get the deposit back if I can't move due to circumstances? I haven't signed the contract yet.
Hi Jae,
I am not sure what you mean by “circumstances” and am not familiar with the specifics but if you have not signed anything you should be able to get your money back.
I have a landlord in CA who claimed I missed a rent payment 3 years ago; and this was their justification of keeping my 4200 deposit. he even threatened to charge late fees retroactive if I dispute. They just informed me of this 39 days after move out. I left the place in impeccable shape leaving no room to ding me there. I paid early every month I was there for 4 years. What would be the likelihood of me not wasting time in smallclaims to get this deposit back? They never mentioned any missed payment until move out. True or not, do they still have a right to keep my deposit at this point? Thank you
Hi Michael - Without knowing the landlord’s side, I can’t respond to your specific situation. However, in general, the landlord has up to 21 days to return the security deposit and give you an accounting of any deductions. There are also certain requirements that would need to be met to deduct for any unpaid rent. My guess is that you would stand a pretty good chance in small claims court. Hopefully you can negotiate with your former landlord without having to go through the hassle of small claims.
My landlord won’t give me my deposit but and only gave me an itemized list of deductions after I asked about my deposit 30 days later.
In California the landlord has 21 days to get you the accounting and remainder of the deposit.
@@mikedunfeegroupif not within 21 days then what? And what about in NY?
My landlord refuses to return my security deposit when my wife and I decided not to move in to the property. We didn't feel good about his suggestion of pretending to be a relative in order to avoid filing an application with the board since it is a cooperative owned building. Can we file a small claim to get our deposit back? The landlord by the way lied to the office of the Atty. General by claiming that he already returned the security deposit when we filed a previous claim.
Hi Dindo,
I try to be careful when responding about specific situations plus I am not an attorney. Personally, I would not be comfortable “pretending to be a relative”. Sounds like small claims court would be the right place to take your claim. Just be sure to be organized and concise in your argument.
how do you give the security deposit back? do you write them a check?
Yes, it is a check. Either electronic or old-fashioned paper check. In California, landlords have up to 21 days to send it out.
@@Cassinova795 you would know when the deposit was sent by the postmarked date on the envelope
My tenant moved out 6 weeks before the end of his lease. They bought a house He is saying he does not have to pay the last month as I did not try to rent it. This is NOT true. We have been painting and cleaning for a week. The house is available and ready to move in.
Also, they rented a carpet shampooer and I had to have the carpet cleaned professionally. What are my options?
Hi Renee -
I am not giving legal advice and do not know the specifics of your situation. It seems like they would be on the hook for the rent if they left 6 weeks early and it took you most of the time to get it rent ready. That seems reasonable. If the carpet was not left to a professional standard, you should be ok there too. You would need to take them to small claims court. If you decide to take them to court, realize that judges often side with the tenants even when a reasonable person would see it the other way. If you go, you will want to be very organized, stick to the point, and stay super calm. Good luck and thank you for watching.
@@mikedunfeegroupThank you for your reply.
One thing he messed up on was giving reasonable notice If you move in to a rental and a week later for lets say there was a drive bye and bullets end up hitting your rental and you move out that same day to keep yourself or family safe the only thing you have to do is on that day let him or her know and on that your in your legal right to move immediately.
Hi Mont’e - I don’t know and am not an attorney or giving legal advice. In your example, “reasonable notice” in its self is not a legal right. As a property manager, not an attorney, I would advise an owner to be reasonable to work with a tenant who legitimately felt their life was in danger. If the owner did not agree, we would strongly advise they seek legal counsel from an attorney who specialized in tenant landlord law. Thank you for watching and thank you for your comment.
My girlfriend and me moved out of our apartment we rented on November 15th. We were told we’d get the full $2300 deposit mailed to us as a check in 30 days. Its been 60 days still no check. We called around the 30 day mark and they said the check was processed just not sent. We’re considering taking it to small claims court. Should we do it or just demand they send us a check? We had zero damages and this is an apartment complex. We don’t have a single landlord or anything like that. It’s a management group. I want to just call them again and say they need to contact the ppl who mail it and send it. My gf sent an email instead and said let’s take it to small claims court and they may have to send us 3 times the amount?
Hi Fabo,
Without knowing the specifics, I will say that in California the landlord has 21 days to get you back the remainder of your deposit and the accounting. It would be a matter for small claims and my guess is that your former landlord would settle before it get that far, or at least they probably should. Your gf sounds spot on.
Any update?
Hello Mike, I wish I found your video sooner. I moved from one city/county to another. I left my apartment in better condition than I found it, as the Landlord claimed he did not have time to clean it. He offered to pay me for cleaning it; I did clean it. He forgot his offer.
He was not happy I am leaving even though I gave him a month notice. As retaliation he kept the entire deposit and charged me $200 on top of the security deposit to be sure he doesn't have to return a single dollar. This after seven 7 years of occupying that apartment.
Unfortunately I did not do anything about it in a timely manner. May 1st it will be three years since I left. Can I still take him to court now? I live in California.
Thank you.
Hi Gabriela,
I wish you saw it sooner too. I try not to speak to specific situations because there are too sides and I am not an attorney. My concern on yours is that the statute of limitations may be three years but I do not know. That would be the first question to ask. I will say that I lot of “wear and tear” can happen in 7 years, which is not supposed to be deducted. You may want to call your local fair housing office. They may give you some guidance. Good luck and hope your next experience is better. Thanks for watching and your comment.
BTW - many rental property owners don’t know the rules themselves. Which is one more reason why more and more tenants are now going through a property management company.
@@mikedunfeegroup Thank you, Mike, for the reply. Much appreciated. Yes, I am concerned about the three years as well, but I'm going for it anyway. I will go as far as to ask for an exception; and pray, 😃
What about change of ownership?
When ownership changes everything stays at it was. The rents and terms stay the same. The deposits should go over to the new owner or management company. They will then need to return to the tenant when they vacate the property.
Can you keep any of the deposit to pay for late fees over the years of their stay ?
You can provided you gave proper notices over the duration of the lease and you kept proper records.
@@mikedunfeegroup so if you never billed or asked for the late fees even though they were late and that’s documented and the lease says there are late fees you cannot collect them. ?
I was not a tenant, but i gave deposit to the leasing agent, im claiming to return my deposit, i have not received it
Sorry to hear. We are careful to speak to the specifics of a particular situation but always hate to see people lose a deposit. Hope it works out.
My landlord wants to charge me $125 to clean 13+ year old carpet. Really ? You're not gonna replace the carpet in the apartment for the next person?
Hi River - not sure about your situation. Most carpet has a 10 year life cycle. Some goes much longer. They can charge for cleaning but if they are pulling the carpet they should not charge for a carpet cleaning. There may be other cleaning. Hopefully they are reasonable.
Were you able to get them to drop the charge?
What if the landlord doesn't reach out to tenant until tenant contacts landlord but it's already been more than 21 days.?
You send the landlord a Demand Letter asking for the full refund, file with the small claim court if they refuse.
My previous landlord missed the deadline, two Demand Letters got me my full deposit back, they tried to charge me, but i was certain to file. Read your lease and know the laws, it's damn easy to get your money back, or lose it if you don't.
The law is 21 days. Abe gave good advice. Hopefully you can negotiate with out going to court.
what if the landlord doesn't sent you an itemized notice of things being charged or your deposit within 21-days? I am in this situation right now in California with my landlord....?
Hi Ivezb,
Of course, I cannot give legal advice or speak to a situation we are not a party to. In California, the landlord has 21 days to give a full accounting and return any unused deposit. Generally, when that is pointed out, most landlords will work with you. Otherwise, it may go to small claims court and that is no fun. I hope this helps and you are able to come up with a fair and amicable solution. Thanks for watching!
You have some good landlords, as well as some bad tenants for the most part I had some good landlords, I just got burned by 1 of them, anyways I’m sort of getting tired of renting, most likely I would like to get into owning my own tiny home I can call my own
Thanks Maria, for sharing. I absolutely love your comment. We see both good and bad tenants and landlords. The bad ones hurt us all. People so often look at owning their own place in purely financial terms. It is easy to forget about the peace of mind and feeling of control we get from owning our own home. I wish you success in your goal of owning your own place. I have seen many people do it. You can too.
@@mikedunfeegroup yes I agree we have to take back some control, having a piece of mind is more important than anything
The background music is very annoying!!!
This is one of our earlier versions. The information still is relevant. We have improved on the music and are still working on it. Thanks for watching and sincerely appreciate the feedback.
I like the music
Can't watch because of the interference of background music. So moving on. Music not necessary.
Thanks for the feedback. We have been making some improvements and are working hard to provide content worth watching. You might want to check out some of our newer videos to see what you think.
Remember some states are different. Ohio is 30 days
Good point James. Every state is different.
Gave my landlord $3700 security deposit. She robbed me of $2800
Sorry to hear that it did not go well with your old landlord. I try not to get into specifics any one particular case, since I would only be getting one side. Now that you have a little more information, maybe you can reach out to your former landlord and try to reach some kind of compromise. Thank you for watching.
@@mikedunfeegroup Ive got docs and photos of the bogus charges . i paid $300 nonrefundable fee for cleaning and they charged me for that even though the house looked better than when i moved into it. Even the paperwork charges dont even add up correctly. lol. they are super scandalous and corrupt. Now I have to sue them in small claims court. Any advice?
Change of ownership will cause a person to lose security deposit in quite a few instances.
I don't know of a situation where a change ownership would cause someone to lose a security deposit. Of course, I am not an attorney and don't want to pretend to give legal advice so you might want to check. Thanks for watching
It happened to me in Washington D.C in the first decade of 2000s
.It was Hell getting my security deposit back.
I must be the only person in the entire United States of America that ever lost their security deposit over change of ownership.
Background music is annoying and makes it hard to hear what he's saying.
We will take a look at it. thanks for watching.
When I went to housing court the judge asked the manager why didn’t they return the security deposit back to me his excuse was he didn’t have a security deposit on file which is a lie I had a copy of the money order, the paper I signed, date along with the copy of the money order I showed it to the judge, anyways I went to the post office to trace the money order , in 2 weeks I would know if they cash the money order, if by chance that it’s lost I can then claim the money back from the post office, if they did cash it I will go back to the housing court, present it to the judge
Hi Maria,
That’s a new one. I don’t want to get specific for a situation that I don’t have all the information. If it was never cashed and you could get your money back from the post office, that might be the easiest thing. I would think they would go back to the written lease agreement. IF they gave you the keys and it is in the agreement then I would think that would be enough. Good luck and thanks for watching.
@@mikedunfeegroup more than likely I pretty sure they cashed it, besides that they were suppose to have returned it, other than that I left the apartment in decent condition, no return on the security deposit, no deduction, no itemized list no explanation of any kind he just wanted to keep the security deposit excuses after excuses, anyways if it was cashed I will return back to court demanding my security deposit, he lied to the judge stating he didn’t have my security deposit on file which is a lie when I receive the letter from the post office if cash I will present it in front of the judge, call him for what he is a big fat liar
Renting properties is a morally bankrupt business qnd I ha e zero sympathy for greedy lqndlords.. theses people own multiple houses yet the people they rent to are usually low income and stuck renting and have nowhere to live,, it's exploitation. And landlords want to gain sympathy for getting a property back in shambles. But what incentive does a renter have to take care of a property.. all their hard earned money is getting burned every month on rent and once the year is over the landlord is the one who profits.. qnd most landlords are slum lords .. any affordable rents are usually such unkempt shitholes it's criminal to rent them out., you k ow the landlords would never live themselves in the properties they rent..
They are all so greedy. To profit handsomely off of the exploitation of the need for housing is just an ugly buisness.. I've been a long time renter and landlords are the worst of humanity., housing ppl isn't a heartless business to be profited from.. it's a human need qnd it's just morally bankrupt to suck the emotion qnd compassion out of it qnd look at renters as dollar signs and that's what landlords do
Hi Dawn,
I appreciate your having sympathy for the less fortunate. Many people see “landlords” as the “bad guy”. In fact, some are pretty awful. However, what would people do if there nobody wanted to get into the business of providing housing? Is it less moral to charge for housing than it is to charge for food? Would you prefer only government housing? Can you imagine what that would be like? How would we determine who would live were? You also assume that all rental housing is for the poor. That is not the case. We manage some properties where the tenant has more financial resources than the property owner does. Is that OK? The small independent rental property owner is probably the most common small business in the United States. It often represents the life savings of the owner. A property owner renting out a home is proving housing to someone who may not have the finical resources to buy or to someone who may need the extra flexibility that renting provides. It is popular these days to demonize the “landlord” but we need them. Thanks for watching and sharing your opinion.
@@mikedunfeegroup so the person who owns my house owns 12 properties she bought 15 years ago. They are ALL rented to low income people. While she uses that profit to live in Mount pleasant, and affluent neighborhood. What she is doing is modern day serfdom. She's profiting handsomely off the back of working class people. The property I live in is a single family 500 square foot tiny house.. she bought it for $40k ..
She doesn't renovate these properties, she doesn't care how the renters live in the,,, all she cares about is profit. It's morally bankrupt. What's the alternative? I domt know but I KNOW what she's doing is wrong. It's be better if she either rented the properties qt less of a profit. Or sold them to the renters if they wanted so they weren't burning money every month.
Living rich off the backs off low income people by renting a need like hosting at an unreasonable price based on "the market value" is just extortion. It's a morally fraudulent business and anypne who gets into it isn't an honest caring person. It's an easy way for people in the working class to enter the capitalist class. But it means your just ripping off the class of people you were just in.. i think it's a greedy ugly business. Nothing will convince, e otherwise I've been q renter too long.
And yes there are terrible tenants but what incentive do they have to take care of another person's property when they kill themselves at some low wage job just to see half of that money burned every month on rent?
Being a renter is an infuriating life.. you just work to make land lord rich, really hard to get ahead like that. And the land lords feel entitled because they had a small bit of capital and good credit to purchqse.. qnd many times they didn't earn that capital .. it's inherited qnd they get cosigners.. and just the term itself.. "landLORD" A lord? It's right in the name to show its q feudalist system of class.
The government owning properties is not the only alternative.. you can have communes and co-ops.. the people who rent own.. I still don't understand why people in trailer parks don't own that land collectively.
Or why don't land lords allow for rent to own?!?! Why because why would they ever want to give up having a debt slave..?!?! 😕 t
Land lords are greedy people. And just because some landlords rent to richer peop,e doesn't absolve them of their greedy behavior.
Though I do believe slum lords are really the main problem
The background music is very annoying!!!
Thanks for your feedback. We are working on it. :)