Re: tenant demand letter - Landlord Forum thread 334145

Re: tenant demand letter by Garry (Iowa) on April 26, 2015 @11:24

Questions : How much was the deposit, did you give any of the deposit back , and when did you send the letter out in relation to the date they moved out ? A judge is only going to "hammer" you if you did NOTHING about their deposit. If you were just late on getting out the letter, and just stated 1 amount, without itemizing the deductions, then, (in my opinion) a judge will probably make you give back their full deposit, or "maybe" 2 times the amount, but not 3x. I think you should just send back the remainder of their actual deposit, and if they try to sue you, there is nothing you can do about it. If you do go to court, treat it as an educational experience that you had to pay for, just like buying books and tapes about Landlording.

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Re: tenant demand letter by Anonymous on April 26, 2015 @13:51	[ Reply ]

i did not return any of the $720 deposit because the inspection did not happen yet, so i can not possibly assess the damages. the tenant did not even request an inspection before moving out. they just sent me a certified letter with their new address and did not mention an inspection or the deposit

Re: tenant demand letter by Garry (Iowa) on April 26, 2015 @15:18	[ Reply ]

Boy, did you mess up. You need to take Landlording 101 all over again. Tenants all over the country are entitled to know what you did with their deposit, usually within 30 days of their move out. It does not matter if you did an inspection or not. You have LL obligations, just like they have Tenant obligations. With this new info you just gave, I would suggest you offer them $1500 to settle out of court. Plan on it costing you double that if a judge awards them 3x the rent amount, plus you may have to pay their attorney s fees, and maybe your own attorney, too. You definitely need to read your state's LL/T laws and follow them EXACTLY.