I know, you are not a lawyer and you are REALLY not my lawyer, etc. Not asking for specific advice but general tenant law.
On the last day of my lease, the property manager (not the landlord) did not show up so I could give her the keys or do a walkthrough to the house I was rentling. I left them on the counter and took off. She is now claiming that we never returned the keys and therefore are still renting the house and she is charging us rent. The landlord is hurting for $ and I think this is their way to justify not giving me my deposit back (there have been other mysterious charges). So general legal questions are, by leaving the keys in the house, are they now in the landlord’s possession? Even if I kept them am I still in legal rental possession of the house after the lease? Am I legally responsible for more than the landlord paying for new locks to the house out of my security deposit?
Also, looking through Colorado Revised Statutes, I noticed that
I’m confused about the “surrender and acceptance” part. I left at the end of the lease, but can they refuse to accept it back? Is there refusal to go to the property now that we left a lack of “acceptance” or does that term have a different legal meaning? Does that “surrender and acceptance” part even apply since I said the lease is over and we are moving out?
Err… so the landlord/property manager’s response is NUH UH YOU DIDN’T GIVE ME THE KEYS WITH THE SECRET HANDSHAKE?!
Your lease ended, you moved out, you left the keys and (presumably) told them about everything. I think the most they could try to ding you for is replacement keys or locks, since you probably don’t have solid proof that you left them. They’re obviously not interested in dealing you in any decent (or even legal…) manner. If I were in your case I’d switch to communication by registered letter, keep records of all their communication, and start researching what kind of penalties you can get from them in small claims court.
This. Your landlord appears to be doing the rental version of sticking their fingers in their ears and pretending they can’t hear you.
Did you communicate with your landlord that your lease was ending and you’d be moving out on the last day of it? Did you take dated pictures of the condition the property was in when you left it? I haven’t really heard of this situation before, where a landlord sort of refuses to believe their tenant is leaving - my landlords have always been very good about showing up on move-out day and doing the walk-through and finishing things up.
It seems to me that, should it go to court, they’d have a difficult story to tell. They’d have to either claim that they did show up for the inspection (in which case, why didn’t they take possession of the keys then?), or that they didn’t (in which case, what were you expected to do?). The only avenue I can see for them is to claim you never told them you were leaving: Do you have any documentation to that effect?
You probably want to send them a strongly-worded letter (via registered mail, with photocopies, probably notarized) demanding your deposit back and making it clear that you’re not paying any more rent, and telling them that if they don’t comply immediately, that you’re hiring a lawyer and taking them to court. Then, if they don’t comply immediately, follow through.
read your lease and the laws for your location. ianal
i know some annual leases read that if the annual lease is not renewed it reverts to a monthly lease (in which you are liable for rent each month in advance; both you and landlord must give one month written notice when wishing to discontinue the monthly lease).
so you could be on the hook for a month or two rent.
Check your statutes for penalties if the landlord fails to return the deposit within the required period. In my state (New Hampshire), the tenant can sue for twice the deposit.
I am already preparing my case for small claims. I took pictures with a disposible camera so not dated but our housekeeper saw me taking them. If they fail to provide documentation for not returning the deposit in 30 days they lose all claim to ANY $ from the deposit (triple if willful which it clearly has been).
All communication has been by email so I have when I gave notice six months ago and all of the other things such as her notifying me by email the day before she wanted to show the house and when I wasn’t there (because I was moving) the email where she charged me $65 for not being there. Tonight it reached a head via email where I laid out my points and from here on out it will be certified mail with return receipt because as lazy put it, it’s fingers in the ears and la la la I can’t hear you.
This was the first thing that came to mind for me as well. I’ve had several leases like this. It’s typically in there for the convenience of both parties, but I suppose it can be used against you. Check you lease for anything about “month to month,” any sort of automatic renewal or anything stating that you need a written notice to terminate it.
ETA, I see now that she clearly knew you were moving. So, but I’d still look at the lease to see if it requires written notice.
It was in writing and accepted by email back 180 days prior. Under Colorado law, that is enough for changing the terms of the lease i.e. a six month extension. No further notice was needed via certified mail.
Assuming everything you did was kosher, that is, you gave the landlord written notice that you were leaving, you left the house on or before the date you stated you were leaving (helpful if it was the date originally on your lease) and everything else was done correctly. Personally, I’d probably just ignore her or send her one last email that simply says “Please send all further correspondence via certified mail” and leave it at that. After the 30 days is up, then file you case with the small claims clerk. IMO, and it’s totally my opinion, if you just keep your mouth shut, anything she says will probably just help her bury herself. Anything you say, can really only hurt you…and she knows this.
Again, assuming everything you did is to the letter of the law and assuming she is fully in the wrong, she owes you for the full deposit less any damages. ISTM, anything she says at this point will only prove that she is willfully keeping the deposit. For example, I don’t think the deposit can be used towards rent, so if she says you still owe her rent and she’s putting your deposit towards that, but the judge says you don’t owe her that rent, and she should know better, you’d have a case for tripling your deposit…I think, I could be wrong.
She gave you an email proving that she knew you were moving out, and she’s still trying to pull this? Damn.
And unless that $65 charge for entry on 24 hr notice was spelled out in the lease, that’s bogus, too. I don’t know why she’d want you there if she was showing the house. Does she not have a set of keys to her own house?
Where I am, the tenant is responsible for returning the keys, and the landlord does not have official possession until they or their agent have the keys.
If they don’t show up for a walk-through, you take pictures and mail the keys back certified mail or drop them off with the management company and get a receipt.
And a quick e-mail saying “I scheduled a walk-through with your office on June 30 for 10:00 am. I waited until 11:30 and no one showed up. Calls made to your office while I was waiting were not returned, and no message was left for me by your office to cancel or reschedule. Therefore I have mailed the keys to your office certified mail.” would have been a good idea.