Out of State Landlord having Sec Dep Dispute

Out of State Landlord having Sec Dep Dispute by Anonymous on July 28, 2012 @22:53

My husband and I moved to Key West, FL from Laguna Beach, CA when it became apparent that we would not get close to our asking price for our property we chose to lease the property out. We hired property managers who found us tenants. The property managers did not do an initial walk through with the tenants documenting any damages but instead gave the tenants the sheet to fill out themselves. The tenants were extensive and brutal in their complaints and we demanded a second walk through with photo documentation as we strongly felt the tenants overexagerated their position which the property manager did but only provided us the bare minimum. We ended up discovering the tenants lied on their application and had 3 dogs instead of 1 and were told by our property manager to demand a non-refundable pet cleaning fee which we did. Ultimately, the problems with the property manager dropping the ball came to a head and we parted ways and we ended up hiring a friend to act as property manager - you can guess that was a disaster. Fast forward to the end of the tenants lease and our preparation for their leaving we hired another property manager to assist in getting the tenants out and getting the property ready to lease. Our property manager did a pre move out inspection but unfortunately did not look at any of our photos or documentation as to what the property looked like prior to their tenancy and represented to us that the property appeared well maintained and walls clean. Upon move out inspection she made the statement to us that she didn't believe the tenants did any damage based on their claim that the house wasn't freshly painted upon their arrival (it was) and that there were pre-existing scratches on our floors - we did not see any photos until several days later and we were absolutely mortified when we did - there was actual filth on the walls to the point that she said that the walls would need to be painted. While we did acknowledge some scratches on the floors, the photos we got back it appears they literally dragged furniture across the rooms. We anticipated a problem with the tenants security deposit and expected our new property manager to assist us - she told us 3 days after the tenants moved out that she was going on vacation for 10 days and we basically could not get a hold of her until the 20th - prior to her leaving she was just too overloaded preparing for her vacation to help with taking photos, coordinating estimates for repairs to the floors or walls, lining up gardeners etc - and she completely distanced herself from helping us at all with the tenants. I had to hire my neighbor to coordinate gardeners and help with the inspection of the property - we were lucky in that our neighbor had been our groundskeeper prior to their tenancy and immediately after and is also a professional property manager - it was on his word and photos that showed the extensive damage to the floors and walls that were definitely not pre-existing and he is willing to verify the same to anyone who asks. So, we were on our own for the most part trying to figure out deduction from their security deposit - some were no brainers - 1. a signed amendment stating they will pay for repairs to the pool caused by not keeping the water level up and a bill from the pool people stating the damage was done as a direct result of the water level being down. 2. photos of 3 large surfboards leaning against a thin glass plane which they stated broke because of the wind. 3. photos of a filthy oven when the oven was brand new and installed after they moved in. 4. Photos of a door with the back completely scratched up. 5. A lease that states they are responsible for yard maintenance and at least our property manager did acknowledge they needed to do that. Estimates and invoices for all work were provided. The walls and floors we knew were going to be more difficult so we went to the California Tenants Security Deposit section and based on the fact that the walls were freshly painted we charged them 70% of the total. For the floors, since we acknowledged some pre-exiting conditions we charged them 65% of the total.

Well, within a week our tenant has come back and demanded his full refund stating that he did absolutely no damage anywhere to the home and should not be responsible for anything. Then proceeded to threaten us with a lawsuit and double damages because he is also a landlord, has a law firm on retainer and is versed in all things landlord/tenant and we made the deductions in bad faith.

We have proceeded to respond to his threats, further documenting how the property and home were upon his arrival (even going so far as to find a video that was done about 6 months before they moved in showing the home vacant and in pristine condition) and outlining our explanations in great detail also including side by side photos of before and after. We also left it open that we would be open to reasonable compromise but his stance that he has done no damage is not reasonable.

We also let him know we are open to mediation as it stated in the lease but given that we are in Key West and the property is in California we are concerned as to whether we will have to fly back and incur that cost as well - flights across the country are not cheap. Can we request or somehow make the mediation contingent on it being a conference call?

Any other recommendations for our predicament?

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Re: Out of State Landlord having Sec Dep Dispute by Anonymous on July 28, 2012 @23:02	[ Reply ]

Add up how much it will code you to fly out there and appear in court and the repairs/damages. Also consider if this is more than the security deposit.......how likely are you to get any money out of this former tenant. When you add this all up.........will it be cheaper to just give this guy back his deposit to make him go away? It stinks to have people do damage but sometimes it's just cheaper in the long run to do what it takes to get rid of them.

Re: Out of State Landlord having Sec Dep Dispute

Re: Out of State Landlord having Sec Dep Dispute by Johanna (TN) on July 28, 2012 @23:47	[ Reply ]

#1; property manager #2; friend acting as property manager #3; another property manager see a patern ??

Re: Out of State Landlord having Sec Dep Dispute

Re: Out of State Landlord having Sec Dep Dispute by Anonymous on July 29, 2012 @07:30	[ Reply ]

Easy. Keep what you think is fair and can be documented and if additional damages beyond the sec dep, sent a bill due on arrival. If He doesn't agree, let him come after you in court. He wont if everything you say is true.

Re: Out of State Landlord having Sec Dep Dispute by jannie (IL) on July 29, 2012 @10:05	[ Reply ]

If you have pictures and receipts of the pain job that should help your case. The T just wants to leave the place a mess. Ask other LL who have PM who they use, why and get recommendations. I think you will continually have problems unless you get a really good property manager. Another problem in this case is the fact there has been 3 PM during the T stay, which is to the T's advantage, playing them against you. I am wondering why you didn't hire your neighbor as the PM? Good luck. If it were me I'd take vacation time return to the property, survey for my self, hire a PM I could trust and try to get a tenant that would be acceptable. At the very least see what's happening with my property. You need to get a handle on the situation

Re: Out of State Landlord having Sec Dep Dispute by A.T.SF (CA) on July 29, 2012 @12:13	[ Reply ]

Oh whew, I'm totally too A.D.D. this morning for this story however, I muddled through and if I were in your position, I'd be on a plane and at mediation personally. If you choose to do a conference call you can be assured that you will be perceived as indifferent towards the issue and the tenant in Pro Tenant California will win up to 3 times the Security Deposit Amount.

Re: Out of State Landlord having Sec Dep Dispute by Douglas (KS) on July 29, 2012 @12:48	[ Reply ]

"Any other recommendations for our predicament?" Yes. Don't have properties where you personally cannot manage or oversee them. Property managers are hit and miss. no one takes care of your money/properties like yourself.

Re: Out of State Landlord having Sec Dep Dispute by Jake on July 29, 2012 @19:52	[ Reply ]

Has the word shame passed completely out of our vocabulary? Do people like these tenants know no shame? Has the concept of shame become another part of a person that they simply do not know what it is anymore? I am not even going to ask if a lawyer knows any shame. Clearly they never have. It is a profession dominated by psychopaths who do not even care about the difference between right and wrong.

Re: Out of State Landlord having Sec Dep Dispute