Land Lord stopped payment on my security deposit.

Land Lord stopped payment on my security deposit. by Anonymous on July 5, 2012 @22:38

I recently vacated a commercial property that I had been occupying for over 3 yrs. The land lord owns many local properties and had a reputation for being "tough" to get along with, "will kick you in the butt going out the door, etc". I never had a problem with her, and never made a late payment. Because of her reputation,however, I took the precaution of taking pictures of the property prior to signing the lease, as it was a mess. In one photo, there is standing water in the laundry area and black moldy stains on the wall. All was caused by a rusted out water heater, that was replacved and never used while I was there. Nor did I ever install a washing machine, since I didn't need either for my retail business. Over my 3 yrs. of tenanacy, the land lord elected to replace the HVAC system and whoever installed it clogged the drip pan resulting in 2 "floodings" that she promptly took care of, and the well's holding tank spring a leak and flooded a storage room. The 40 yr. old plumbing was all in need of updating it seems.
During my 3 yrs., at my own expense, I put in new carpeting, replaced all the light fixtures, maintained the lawn, sold the landlord things at cost and delivered them for free,installed a new gate, and security system (which I donated upon departure) and painted every room except the laundry area, since noone ever saw it. Imoved out on May 31st, 2012 and on June 10th called about getting my deposit back. The land lord's daughter, who is the property manager called and left a voicemail saying she had been waiting for her Mom to inspect the property and she had, and it was "beautiful" and so she had mailed my deposit back. I recieved the deposit June 15th and deposited it into my account June17th. On JUne 28th, I received a text from the daughter asking if I had had a washer on the property when I was there. I replied, "No, I neverneeded one, and never even filled the hot water heater". I also told her that I had received the security deposit and told her "thank you". She replied, "Don't cash that check1 There are serious mold issues". The land lord herself then sent me an email stating that she had hired a company to replace the stained sheet rock and found that it was wet and that there had been a leak "the entire time I was there." Her cost was $1200 for mold abatement andsheetrock repair and I "got to pay half of that". I responded that I had witnesses that the sheet rock and laundry area were dry during my tenancy and dry when I moved out and that she inspected and approved and sent my deposit back. It can only be assumed that a prospective tenant or someone else, left a faucet dripping or caused a drip opening the long closed spigots, but that I was not responsible for that. on July 2nd, she stopped payment on the check and it was deducted from my account. I had even sent her photos of the laundry area prior to my lease, but it didn't phase her. Can I file a complaint with small claims? I left her with thousands of dollars in upgrades, a freshly cleaned building and no leaks. Can she come back over 3 weeks later and blame this on me? Unfortunately, I did not take departure photos after I cleaned, I just have a few in various araeas when it was a retail store, just my movers' signed affidavits, and pre - lease photos.

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Wall Of Text by Bryan (Ia) on July 6, 2012 @00:52	[ Reply ]

NFM

Re: Land Lord stopped payment on my security deposit. by Katiekate (New York) on July 6, 2012 @07:35	[ Reply ]

I did not read the wall of text. Once I saw that you were talking about commercial property rent stopped reading (gratefully) You need to locate a website that deals with commercial rentals...this is residential rentals.

Re: Land Lord stopped payment on my security deposit. by Anonymous on July 6, 2012 @08:38	[ Reply ]

What State are you in????????

Re: Land Lord stopped payment on my security deposit.

Re: Land Lord stopped payment on my security deposit. by Anonymous on July 6, 2012 @08:38	[ Reply ]

What State are you in????????

Re: Land Lord stopped payment on my security deposit. by Jake on July 6, 2012 @09:42	[ Reply ]

File in small claims now and also call the DA's office about the check. pe8x

Re: Land Lord stopped payment on my security deposit. by Anonymous on July 6, 2012 @10:37	[ Reply ]

Who knew you could stop payment on a check that's already been deposited a couple weeks earlier? Never heard of that one. Regardless, this is commercial real estate, not residential. I can't imagine you'll find too many people in here with commercial experience. In residential, you'd be hard pressed to get back a security deposit after you've sent it back to the tenant already. I'm sure those laws are different in the commercial sector. Consult a lawyer or file a suit against your landlord.

Re: Land Lord stopped payment on my security deposit.

Re: Land Lord stopped payment on my security deposit. by MrDan (Georgia) on July 6, 2012 @12:15	[ Reply ]

When the landlord placed a �stop payment� on the refund check to the tenant, whether intentional or not, this constituted a further improper withholding of the tenant�s security deposit. In many States this is illegal to do so. The landlords course of action after issue of the security deposit would have been a court action, not a 'stop payment' action. Check with your local District Attorneys Office to see if this applies.

Re: Land Lord stopped payment on my security deposit. by Anonymous on July 8, 2012 @01:28	[ Reply ]

Ask small claims up to what amount of money you can file. If it is below that amount, you can go and file a small claim against her. Just keep in mind the court process can take time, and the spot in your schedule.