I have drafted this letter in hopes that someone could tell me if there is anything that I should add or leave out of this letter. I am not going to screw with this guy any longer and I am prepared to sue him. Thanks for you help!!!! It has now been almost three months since the termination of our lease. I am requesting in writing that you return immediately the 2300.00 you owe us. This amount includes our security deposit of 750.00, the 900.00 in advance rent remaining from the 1100 originally given to you (both included in a Bank One cashiers check) and the 650.00 paid to you for the month of May (******* Bank Check). It is my understanding that the new tenants of this home moved in immediately after we left. I have both a letter from Duke Energy and Time Warner cable stating that my service was shut off on May 2, 2002 and the new tenants service was started on the 3rd. North Carolinas law clearly states that because you had no lost income on this rental property, you are not entitled to keep any advanced or extra rent. The ad placed in the ****** News from April 19-26 was placed by us as good faith so that you did not have a loss of income. We screened all possible tenants and ultimately found one that you agreed upon signing a lease with. I have been advised that the North Carolina General Statutes 42-52 requires that security deposits be refunded to tenants, together with an itemized accounting of any claim of damages beyond normal wear and tear, no later than 30 days after termination of tenancy. As you know, pursuant to our agreement, I terminated my tenancy and vacated your property (*********** Road) leaving the premises clean and without damages on the 2nd day of May, 2002. You acknowledge this in the signed paper you gave us upon moving out and photographs that were taken on that day. Because well over 30 days have expired without the return any of this money we will be forced to institute a civil action for the recovery of my wrongfully held moneys, damages arising from your noncompliance, and for recovery of attorneys fees, travel fees and court costs. We have had all the necessary papers sent to us and are filled out awaiting your response to this letter. It is our full intention of filing suit only causing you more fees if this payment is not received within 10 days from the date this certified letter was sent. Address: Sincerely:
Hi Onostuck, I think the letter sounds great *as is*, but I would change the words "civil suit" in the last paragraph to read "lawsuit" instead, because the word "lawsuit" sends shivers up some people's spines...make this guy sweat...what a jerk. Good luck, Calmest_LA
Thanks I will change that! Anyone else see anything other then where I left out the "of" near the end?
Damm..landlord..I would add a line to start charging them for interest. Our landlord hold 1000 deposit for over 25 days, and send us a bogus receipt for a carpet damage/replacement, phone jack, binds etc..( later on we find out they NEVER replace the carpet) We never called them for the deposit..just went straight to the court, pick up the form & file a small claim suit.....on the court date,,,,the landlord try to settle with us, and returned $ 870.00 back to us
Why give them 10 days? Why not 48 hrs? Haven't they had enough time with your money. Also, do you know if they own any other real estate? You can go to the court house to determine this. If I were you I would enclose a copy of all deeds where thier names appear. This way they know in advance that you know what they own. Further you can cloud the title to all of thier properties.
TJones- Yes I am well aware of what he owns. He owns a landscaping business, this home and the one next door, a 2002 Harley and a Harley Truck to match! This idiot doesnt even have a copy of our lease...he called the day after we moved out and asked me to send him our copy...yeah right
What do you want to bet that this LL spent your deposit on the Harley and other toys and doesn't have it to return? You may end up having to garnish his income and accounts.
I totally agree don't waist your time if they have not responded within the 30 days after you vacated the property. Just file a small claims court suit, and make sure you ask for court cost and filing fees in the original paperwork, because you may not be that lucky if you wait till a court hearing. I took my landlord last year also in NC, and had no problem whatsoever, just make sure you know the law on Security Deposit that applies to NC, I also think that the Landlord has to prove that the money that you gave them is NOT suppised to be "USED", by them, and they are to put it in a Saving Acct. and show the court they provided you the "TENANT" with the ACCT#, several days after you signed the rental agreement. By law they MUST have your $$ available at all times, without using any part of it for their personal expenses. P.S I was also a Resident Manager in GA for over 5 years, which helped when I stated in court that I needed all Original Reciepts from certain repairs that had to be deducted from my deposit. ( All were made up. plus they wanted to charge me after I had claened the house, painted, and did all repairs), for thing like dusting the ceiling fans, cutting the grass 5 weeks after I moved, etc. ( Go figure!! ) REMEMBER: The normal wear and tear, nor the cleaning of the property can be deducted from your deposit. Only permanent damages apply. Good Luck. LOL
ohno- The letter is drafted well. As stated above he does owe you interest on your money. I am not familiar with NC landlord-tenant laws but usually the security deposit has to be held in an account, you have to be noticed where that account is located and how much interest is being paid on the account. It is usual for the landlord to keep just 1% of that interest as an administrative fee. While this is probably no big deal...it should be added along with other damages i.e. attorneys fees, travel costs, court fees, interest owing, actual damages, punitive damages and any and all other costs associated with persuing this claim. This should cover it all! Hope it helps, clc
Thanks all. And no, the landlord did not inform me where my deposit was held. Unfortantly, this letter was already sent. In this county small slaims is 45.00. I will wait a few days (not the 7) and just go ahead and file. Thanks for you help. Is anyone sure that I can claim my travel/lodging costs? I am now back in Michigan and I will have expenses.
Well, you can't cloud the title to all of their properties but, if you win and they don't pay you can place a lein against the rental property or, the landlords home.
Check out the laws in this. In ohio if they pull that crap the judge will award double damanges. that would make for a nice vacation.
LB I know that you previously rented property but to be frank I don't give a shit about his rights. I will do whatever it takes to get my money back from him. I am out over 2 grand. To some of you this may be chump change but to me this a bigger down payment on my new house, money that HE IS NOT ENTITLED to.
It's not chump change, it's your money and you've been more than patient. It's obscene the way some landlords get around giving deposits back, deducting for trumped up damages and crap. I say go for it!
Just as you a debtor expects a CA not to violate your rights just because you may owe them some money so to the landlord has the right to expect the same from you. You do not have the rite to expect this of a creditor when you are the debtor and expect it not to apply when you become the creditor when another party becomes a debtor to you. I'm not saying the land lord don't owe you. I am saying you can't run roughshod over the landlord and do what ever turns you on to collect!
I never said that I was going to do anything I wanted to collect on this amount that was your assumption. Also, I never assumed that this wouldn't apply to me as a debtor. I am disputing items on my report that I am not responsible or I feel are incorrect or not complete. That is my right under the law. It is not his right to scam people out of money. That is what he is doing.
lb, you are personalizing. I'm sure you are a very conscientous and fair landlord, but some are not. ohno has waited three months and still no refund. That is an inexcusable and serious delinquency on the part of the landlord and they should be held accountable for this.
Sure they should,but you have to follow certain guide lines in doing so. You just can't handle it any old way you see fit. ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` If anybody ever tried to encumber every thing I own for a measly sum like this -let me tell there would really be H*** to pay! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now just to be sure everyone has their oars in the same river. I am talking about the merits of tying up everything the land lord owns. What I'm not addressing is who is right or who owes who what. Now are we all on the same page? What about the book?
