My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Georgia
I will make this as short as possible while giving all of the necessary information to go along with it:
I moved in to a house in July/September 2015. The home was rented through a property management company but the house belonged to the owner of the company - ALL payments were made through the property management website. We paid one months rent for security deposit ($1045) and a $500 pet deposit AND the first month's rent prior to moving in the home. The lease agreement specifically states that the pet deposit is refundable at the end of the lease - condition permitting obviously.
As a quick note: The home is located in Georgia and the landlord/property management company is addressed out of Connecticut.
The landlord was sent an email with all of the defects in the house when we moved in. That was to serve as our move-in inspection "sheet" - there is a long irrelevant story dealing with the formal inspection sheet that does not add to, nor take away from, this message. Any way, the landlord took care of two of the items on the list: (1) sump pump replacement (I performed the labor voluntarily) and (2) dishwasher replacement (again, I volunteered the labor)). Other items on the list were never addresses: back door rotten and water damaged at the bottom, paint on the walls simply wipes off with a wash rag, no gutter across the front porch, laminate wood floor defects and a dead tree in the front yard that looked as if would fall soon (not the emphasis on this last one). There were a few other small items that really could have been attributed to us being a little bit picky but those issues were never pushed from our end.
Nine months in to our one year lease tenure, we received a notice that our monthly rent payments would be increasing by $50 at the end of the first 12 months. This was also in the lease agreement and we knew about it, but we had determined that we were not going to pay the increase and would seek out a new home to rent. Since we had three month's to do so, we could take our time and find one that really suited us. We did not make the landlord aware of our intentions at that time, but we did NOT sign the notice acknowledging the extra amount either. In our defense, we are only allowed to give a month's notice for moving out.
A month later...remember that tree that I mentioned earlier...yep, it came crashing down across the front porch and struck the eve on the other side of the porch (split level home). The damage to the front porch wasn't really that great, but the eve on the other part was ripped off and left an opening in to the attic from the roof. The tree did not fall all the way to the ground - the eve was holding it up. The tree was being held up over BOTH of the front entry ways (the garage portion of the house was converted in to living space). The tree was not removed for almost two weeks. The landlord was made aware within an hour of the tree falling.
The impact of the tree hitting the house also caused a chunk of ceiling to fall out of the living room. Upon inspection of this piece that fell out, there appeared to be some sort of black residue, resembling black mold (we did not have it tested, so I am refraining from calling it that. The landlord was also made aware of this as well. We later found out that, before we moved in, a tree had fell from the back yard and took out the roof over the living room and it was spot "repaired" from that.
Admittedly, I was in a small financial bind at the time and saw an opportunity to allow me some time to make up for some lost wages by holding back on the rent at the time. I was informed that the tree falling was "an act of God" and that I could not hold back rent for that reason, but they understood my dilemma and were willing to work with me and not harass me about the rent payment in full. I did make a partial payment at the beginning of the month though. This was the 11th month of our residence at the home..by the first week of the 12th month, I had ALL rent paid up and was in good standings at that point. it was then that I also made the landlord of our intent to vacate the property.
Honestly, until that point - regardless of how it seemed - we had a very good landlord/tenant relationship. He never hassled us and we tried not to bother him unless it was an absolute necessity. This is why the next part of this story questions me...
There was a small spot on the master bedroom carpet that sustained some damage - whether by pet or a dragging door - I don't know. The master bedroom was the only room, upstairs, that had carpet in it. Instead of letting this go against the security deposits, I elected to replace the carpet on my own. I was able to get an exact match to the existing carpet and I did the labor for the installation (yes, I knew what I was doing and it looked professional as well). I did not replace the padding as I did not think it needed to be done. This was all completed BEFORE the end of our last month. We were officially moved out on the 31st of July.
September 3rd, I sent the landlord an email requesting that a move-out inspection be performed so that we would know what was going on with our security deposit. According to the Georgia Landlord Tenant Handbook (http://ift.tt/2dTASvP), and since the landlord was operating through a property management company, the landlord is REQUIRED to perform a move-out inspection of the premises within 3 days of the tenant moving out, or within 3 days of the landlord having knowledge that the tenants had vacated the property. The landlord must report his findings to the tenant with estimated costs of repair. The tenant then has 5 days to inspect the property, repair if available, agree to and/or dispute the findings. This MUST be done in order for the landlord to withhold any of the tenants deposits (security or pet - being that the lease said that was refundable). This is all covered in the linked handbook above - page 38 top section
The handbook also states that the landlord must return the tenants security deposits within 30 days of the tenants vacating of the property - conditions allowing (see above). This is covered on page 37 - top section.
I never received a response to the request for move-out inspection...I also NEVER received any of my security deposits back. I sent two or three emails requesting information be relayed to me about the status. No response. Finally, I sent a certified letter allowing them 10 days to respond to me or I would be going to the county court house. I then received an email, from the owner, requesting that I contact one of the other property managers the following Monday - one who was physically on the property after we moved out.
So, I called this guy and I was informed that the new tenants had complained about a per urine small in the house and that they had to replace the carpet I had just replaced and the padding beneath as well as some general clean-up of some things that I had left behind when we moved out (an old grill, and old above ground vinyl swimming pool (never put up), etc...) and this was why I wasn't getting any of my security deposit.
I agreed that we did have pets in the home and that I did not replace the padding when I replaced the carpet. I also agreed that I did leave some items on the property that I should have removed before fully vacating. HOWEVER, I argued that these things would have come up in the move-out inspection and I could have taken care of all of this within the 5 days I was lawfully allotted after the inspection report was submitted to me.
I could have pulled the new carpet up and replaced all the padding for about $60. I explained that I did not come back to retrieve the items that were left there because it would have been after the 1st and I would then be trespassing as I no longer had any legal rights to the property - we were literally midnight moving out on the 31st.
I was finally offered $250 of my $1545 deposit as a return. Mind you, this is 2+ months after moving out....and I was provided
So, after all of that, here is my question:
Does my landlord have any legal right to hold my full deposit from me given the information from above. I am at the point where I will be going to the court house to start the small claims process - but, if I do not have a chance in hell...is it worth it.
I will say this...$1545 is a LOT of money to me and wold be worth it if I was able to get it all returned to me. I am sure you may have questions and i am sure that i have left something out somewhere or another...so, feel free to ask.
Thank you for reading and any thoughts???
OH..he sent me a picture of the "junk" I left behind as well. It took up the floor (one layer thick) of a 4x8 utility trailer and a very small portion of the roll-off dumpster he had delivered. They also revamped the whole home after we moved out - unrelated to anything we did to it but because of the complaints we had made.
I will make this as short as possible while giving all of the necessary information to go along with it:
I moved in to a house in July/September 2015. The home was rented through a property management company but the house belonged to the owner of the company - ALL payments were made through the property management website. We paid one months rent for security deposit ($1045) and a $500 pet deposit AND the first month's rent prior to moving in the home. The lease agreement specifically states that the pet deposit is refundable at the end of the lease - condition permitting obviously.
As a quick note: The home is located in Georgia and the landlord/property management company is addressed out of Connecticut.
The landlord was sent an email with all of the defects in the house when we moved in. That was to serve as our move-in inspection "sheet" - there is a long irrelevant story dealing with the formal inspection sheet that does not add to, nor take away from, this message. Any way, the landlord took care of two of the items on the list: (1) sump pump replacement (I performed the labor voluntarily) and (2) dishwasher replacement (again, I volunteered the labor)). Other items on the list were never addresses: back door rotten and water damaged at the bottom, paint on the walls simply wipes off with a wash rag, no gutter across the front porch, laminate wood floor defects and a dead tree in the front yard that looked as if would fall soon (not the emphasis on this last one). There were a few other small items that really could have been attributed to us being a little bit picky but those issues were never pushed from our end.
Nine months in to our one year lease tenure, we received a notice that our monthly rent payments would be increasing by $50 at the end of the first 12 months. This was also in the lease agreement and we knew about it, but we had determined that we were not going to pay the increase and would seek out a new home to rent. Since we had three month's to do so, we could take our time and find one that really suited us. We did not make the landlord aware of our intentions at that time, but we did NOT sign the notice acknowledging the extra amount either. In our defense, we are only allowed to give a month's notice for moving out.
A month later...remember that tree that I mentioned earlier...yep, it came crashing down across the front porch and struck the eve on the other side of the porch (split level home). The damage to the front porch wasn't really that great, but the eve on the other part was ripped off and left an opening in to the attic from the roof. The tree did not fall all the way to the ground - the eve was holding it up. The tree was being held up over BOTH of the front entry ways (the garage portion of the house was converted in to living space). The tree was not removed for almost two weeks. The landlord was made aware within an hour of the tree falling.
The impact of the tree hitting the house also caused a chunk of ceiling to fall out of the living room. Upon inspection of this piece that fell out, there appeared to be some sort of black residue, resembling black mold (we did not have it tested, so I am refraining from calling it that. The landlord was also made aware of this as well. We later found out that, before we moved in, a tree had fell from the back yard and took out the roof over the living room and it was spot "repaired" from that.
Admittedly, I was in a small financial bind at the time and saw an opportunity to allow me some time to make up for some lost wages by holding back on the rent at the time. I was informed that the tree falling was "an act of God" and that I could not hold back rent for that reason, but they understood my dilemma and were willing to work with me and not harass me about the rent payment in full. I did make a partial payment at the beginning of the month though. This was the 11th month of our residence at the home..by the first week of the 12th month, I had ALL rent paid up and was in good standings at that point. it was then that I also made the landlord of our intent to vacate the property.
Honestly, until that point - regardless of how it seemed - we had a very good landlord/tenant relationship. He never hassled us and we tried not to bother him unless it was an absolute necessity. This is why the next part of this story questions me...
There was a small spot on the master bedroom carpet that sustained some damage - whether by pet or a dragging door - I don't know. The master bedroom was the only room, upstairs, that had carpet in it. Instead of letting this go against the security deposits, I elected to replace the carpet on my own. I was able to get an exact match to the existing carpet and I did the labor for the installation (yes, I knew what I was doing and it looked professional as well). I did not replace the padding as I did not think it needed to be done. This was all completed BEFORE the end of our last month. We were officially moved out on the 31st of July.
September 3rd, I sent the landlord an email requesting that a move-out inspection be performed so that we would know what was going on with our security deposit. According to the Georgia Landlord Tenant Handbook (http://ift.tt/2dTASvP), and since the landlord was operating through a property management company, the landlord is REQUIRED to perform a move-out inspection of the premises within 3 days of the tenant moving out, or within 3 days of the landlord having knowledge that the tenants had vacated the property. The landlord must report his findings to the tenant with estimated costs of repair. The tenant then has 5 days to inspect the property, repair if available, agree to and/or dispute the findings. This MUST be done in order for the landlord to withhold any of the tenants deposits (security or pet - being that the lease said that was refundable). This is all covered in the linked handbook above - page 38 top section
The handbook also states that the landlord must return the tenants security deposits within 30 days of the tenants vacating of the property - conditions allowing (see above). This is covered on page 37 - top section.
I never received a response to the request for move-out inspection...I also NEVER received any of my security deposits back. I sent two or three emails requesting information be relayed to me about the status. No response. Finally, I sent a certified letter allowing them 10 days to respond to me or I would be going to the county court house. I then received an email, from the owner, requesting that I contact one of the other property managers the following Monday - one who was physically on the property after we moved out.
So, I called this guy and I was informed that the new tenants had complained about a per urine small in the house and that they had to replace the carpet I had just replaced and the padding beneath as well as some general clean-up of some things that I had left behind when we moved out (an old grill, and old above ground vinyl swimming pool (never put up), etc...) and this was why I wasn't getting any of my security deposit.
I agreed that we did have pets in the home and that I did not replace the padding when I replaced the carpet. I also agreed that I did leave some items on the property that I should have removed before fully vacating. HOWEVER, I argued that these things would have come up in the move-out inspection and I could have taken care of all of this within the 5 days I was lawfully allotted after the inspection report was submitted to me.
I could have pulled the new carpet up and replaced all the padding for about $60. I explained that I did not come back to retrieve the items that were left there because it would have been after the 1st and I would then be trespassing as I no longer had any legal rights to the property - we were literally midnight moving out on the 31st.
I was finally offered $250 of my $1545 deposit as a return. Mind you, this is 2+ months after moving out....and I was provided
So, after all of that, here is my question:
Does my landlord have any legal right to hold my full deposit from me given the information from above. I am at the point where I will be going to the court house to start the small claims process - but, if I do not have a chance in hell...is it worth it.
I will say this...$1545 is a LOT of money to me and wold be worth it if I was able to get it all returned to me. I am sure you may have questions and i am sure that i have left something out somewhere or another...so, feel free to ask.
Thank you for reading and any thoughts???
OH..he sent me a picture of the "junk" I left behind as well. It took up the floor (one layer thick) of a 4x8 utility trailer and a very small portion of the roll-off dumpster he had delivered. They also revamped the whole home after we moved out - unrelated to anything we did to it but because of the complaints we had made.
Security Deposits: Defenses to Deductions from a Security Deposit
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