My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of CA
I moved out of a house July 26th and there was damage (buckling) to the floor boards that I had no knowledge of because my bed was over it. The LL claimed it was my fault, and quoted to me and ex-roommates still living there separately that 500 is to be deducted from my deposit, and the rest returned.
My ex-roommates, fearing that the cost of repairs would be more, have held my deposit awaiting an actual invoice. The LL was notified of the damage by them, and he has yet to respond productively until today, he is now sending someone to get an estimate.
I am currently asking for my deposit minus the 500 estimated in damages by the LL, before the estimate comes, because the LL is sending their own person and it is very likely my ex-roommates told them the whole floor will have to be redone.
Can I demand my deposit minus the estimated deduction back (to ensure I don't get hit with more deductions in case the cost of repair is higher), and wash my hands of the situation? Does it matter that an estimate will be coming, if the estimate is after 21 days of me moving out?
Some potentially pertinent factors:
1. I was part of the original lease (beginning in SEP 2014 ending in SEP 2015), and went on verbal month-to-month, with documented evidence of request for a lease, without action on the part of the LL
2. Sometime after SEP 2015, when the 1 year lease expired, our LL said that our "property manager", who was our only point of contact and our acting property manager, was never actually our property manager, and that he (the LL) was our alleged property manager as well as the LL the whole time. There is evidence that 1. he wasn't and 2. he and the previous property manager have been egregiously negligent in their response time to our issue updates (including dead tree in that had grown into power lines, and a furnace that was so damaged it was flaming out into the closet it was contained in, damaging circuitry within the closet that has deactivated a light in the garage, strangely).
One complicating factor: The LL told the current tenants to resolve the deposit with me, and in a sense they have been holding what is my deposit, not the LL. BUT I was part of the original lease starting SEP 2014, so technically he's still withholding the deposits of the original renters, which I was one of (another has since moved out, and another still lives there). Given those complicating informalities, who legally is in possession of my deposit, and whose responsibility is it to return my deposit?
I hope I can resolve the issue without going to court, but also the damage I believe is already disputable as to whether it was my fault or not (buckling of the boards requires excess moisture or is the product of a low quality//shifting foundation). I am preparing to hard stop demand that I get my deposit minus the 500 quoted deduction to settle the dispute, and I am wondering if I have a good case to be unyielding and demand that (in my biased) compromise, if I have a good case to take the LL to court, or if I have no case and should wait for the late estimate and potential augmentation of the deduction to occur.
Thanks in advance for your time and help!
I moved out of a house July 26th and there was damage (buckling) to the floor boards that I had no knowledge of because my bed was over it. The LL claimed it was my fault, and quoted to me and ex-roommates still living there separately that 500 is to be deducted from my deposit, and the rest returned.
My ex-roommates, fearing that the cost of repairs would be more, have held my deposit awaiting an actual invoice. The LL was notified of the damage by them, and he has yet to respond productively until today, he is now sending someone to get an estimate.
I am currently asking for my deposit minus the 500 estimated in damages by the LL, before the estimate comes, because the LL is sending their own person and it is very likely my ex-roommates told them the whole floor will have to be redone.
Can I demand my deposit minus the estimated deduction back (to ensure I don't get hit with more deductions in case the cost of repair is higher), and wash my hands of the situation? Does it matter that an estimate will be coming, if the estimate is after 21 days of me moving out?
Some potentially pertinent factors:
1. I was part of the original lease (beginning in SEP 2014 ending in SEP 2015), and went on verbal month-to-month, with documented evidence of request for a lease, without action on the part of the LL
2. Sometime after SEP 2015, when the 1 year lease expired, our LL said that our "property manager", who was our only point of contact and our acting property manager, was never actually our property manager, and that he (the LL) was our alleged property manager as well as the LL the whole time. There is evidence that 1. he wasn't and 2. he and the previous property manager have been egregiously negligent in their response time to our issue updates (including dead tree in that had grown into power lines, and a furnace that was so damaged it was flaming out into the closet it was contained in, damaging circuitry within the closet that has deactivated a light in the garage, strangely).
One complicating factor: The LL told the current tenants to resolve the deposit with me, and in a sense they have been holding what is my deposit, not the LL. BUT I was part of the original lease starting SEP 2014, so technically he's still withholding the deposits of the original renters, which I was one of (another has since moved out, and another still lives there). Given those complicating informalities, who legally is in possession of my deposit, and whose responsibility is it to return my deposit?
I hope I can resolve the issue without going to court, but also the damage I believe is already disputable as to whether it was my fault or not (buckling of the boards requires excess moisture or is the product of a low quality//shifting foundation). I am preparing to hard stop demand that I get my deposit minus the 500 quoted deduction to settle the dispute, and I am wondering if I have a good case to be unyielding and demand that (in my biased) compromise, if I have a good case to take the LL to court, or if I have no case and should wait for the late estimate and potential augmentation of the deduction to occur.
Thanks in advance for your time and help!
Security Deposits: Post 21 Day Security Deposit Return Regarding Cost of Damages Dispute
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