It’s my word against his. Guess whose word will surely be stronger in court?
Of my $400 security deposit, he returned to me less than $100. This scumbag and his wife are professional realtors who probably have their share of lawyers and other resources for dealing with unknowledgeable naive college students.
I don’t have the itemized list of deductions handy (it’s at a lawyer friend’s of mine) but when I get it I’ll update this thread if necessary.
But I am clearly in the right about many of the things on the list. So my question is, if I were to take him to small claims court, could I offer to take a polygraph to prove I’m telling the truth?
Polygraphs are inadmissible in court. Besides, in what issues relevant to a deposit being returned are your answers to a polygraph worth more than bringing in the proper documentation?
Well, a major example is the condition of the fridge. He is charging me for it but when I moved in the fridge was soooo nasty and smelly with puddles of water all over the place. I scrubbed the shit out of it and maintained it as much as it was possible.
He is charging me for not removing furniture that was already there when I moved in. How is that my responsibility? As I understand it, I have to leave the place in the condition it was when I found it.
But how can I prove this?
(OK, so I admit the notion of using a polygraph for a case on this level is a bit ridiculous. So can I change the question of my OP to a more general “what can I do?” type-thing?)
Never offer to take a polygraph. They can turn on anyone.
To read real-life examples of people who took them, search on “polygraph” or “detector” on this column. It’s been discussed several times.
Go to small claims. Tell the truth. Don’t get emotional. Go down the list and explain each item. If this guy is the scum bag you say he is, he’s been to court many times and the judges probably know he’s a piece of shit. What do you have to lose?
What do you have to lose? Depends on what your time is worth. Where I live filing costs for small claims are currently 35.00, Serving costs vary from 25.00 to 50.00, which if you do file, you can ask to have paid by the defendent if you are successful. You can probably expect to spend a full day in the courthouse before you are done. There are further costs involved in attempting to collect any judgement.
IMHO, your best bet may be to chalk the loss up to experience and make certain that in the future you protect yourself with documentation. When you move in, go through each room with an eye to conditions, make extensive notes of any problems you find. A good landlord will supply you with a "walk-through report at the begining and end of your tenancy, if they don’t you should create one yourself. Photos or video are valuable as well.
Without these kinds of documentation, you will likely lose your small claims case as well as any other expenses you incured bringing the action.
Word of mouth might be your best revenge, tell everyone you know your side of the story, it is amazing how far information can travel.
aw hell hes probably gambling on you not taking him to small
claims , which is possible somebody tried this on me once and was very shocked to recieve a summons when she refused to give me back my deposit due to damaged furniture , course
i brought the cam corder in a few days before i moved in
and recorded it as evidence of the condition and took this
and a video after i left as evidence the tape was seen and she was ordered to pay back my deposit and pay all costs
still you could always cress the appartment (get some mustard cress seeds put them on the carpet , let him see the flat , then say oh i forgot something run back in water the carpet and skip town)
Unless you can convincingly (to a judge) document the conditions you mention you had best eat the $ 300. and take pictures next time.
Assuming your LL is possibly a cheat but no fool he knows that even getting a lawyer to open his mouth on your behalf is likely to cost at least the amount in dispute. Consider it to be a relatively cheap lesson. Your education in the need for documentation could have been a lot more expensive in other circumstances.
The one satisfaction you may get out of taking him to court is his aggravation at wasting his time. If this is worth it to you go for it. If you can get an affidavit from the previous renters to document that they left the furniture before you came in the judge may knock some off the amount he is trying to retain.
I videotaped my entire apartment when I moved in and made sure to get a shot of a CNN broadcast on TV that gave the current time and date. I did the same thing just before I moved out. Getting my deposit back wasn’t a problem.
Well, for sure find out how the laws work in your state. In WI, if the landlord didn’t provide you with a walkthrough list prior to moving in, then he couldn’t charge you for things like broken this or that, only things that weren’t cleaned when you moved out and things like that.
In any case, the one time I did fight a scumbag landlord, I won tripple my depost, but it took 3 years before I saw the money, and that only because my roommate was very vigilant about it, got a lean placed on the house, AND the landlord wanted to sell the house (so we really got paid from the escrow account).
We found out how to do all of this from the Student Union at UW-Madison, perhaps you can find a similar resource in your area?
If they were, you could contact the local Realtor board & they might do something about it. Chances are you might have got them confused with real estate agents.
Thanks everyone. I will pursue small claims, if for no other reason than to make him have to kill a day. Unfortunately I believe it is unlikely I will ever see any of that money. So spite is my only weapon.
I will also look into legal resources that the school might offer.
Also look into being more careful in the future (Not that I’m saying you’re not).
That is, do what I do from what I saw others doing who rent a lot. ::Somehow I just know that sentence is wrong::
What I’m getting at is that you should document everything and anything when you move in. Myself, I have the caretaker come up and do a walk through with them detailing what’s wrong with the place. I also have them sign off on the problems in a handy dandy form thing I copied from a previous landlord.
With that alone, I’ve had few problems since when moving. Many years of never seeing a deposit come back to me (Both my fault and the fault of greedy scum sucking landlords) taught me to document everything and get witnesses the minute you move in.
Let this teach you to be more prudent in the future. Besides, at this point, it sounds like a lesson is all you’re going to get out of it.
I manage property and would be happy to e-mail any one the walk-thru report I have used over the years. They really are helpful in recovering your deposit. Just put walk-thru request in the subject line.
