Tenant without lease suing for security deposit

Tenant without lease suing for security deposit by jennifer on July 13, 2017 @11:59

HI there, can anyone please advise? I have a tenant for whom i cannot find our signed lease agreement. He left the oil tank empty for 3 days in winter and caused me a lot of money in broken pipe repairs, and I had to replace all the carpeting. Also upon move out there was a ton of furniture and trash, left a day after move out. Major problem tenant. He cost me $1500 over the amount of the security deposit if you include the new carpeting. He wants to take me to court to get his deposit back, without a signed lease, do I have a chance?? What should I do to ensure this person who cost me so much will not cost me even more?

[ Reply ] [ Return to forum ]

Re: Tenant without lease suing for security deposit by Couger on July 13, 2017 @16:00	[ Reply ]

If you are being sued then get all receipts together showing what you had to spend to get the place back into the same shape as before the T. Depending on age of carpet you may not get full value for that cost. If you have picture before and after then you have a much stronger case. If you can find a copy of what your lease stated you might be able to use that as reference. Not sure that the judge will question the lease on destroyed property issues. Perhaps on the oil issue there could be a argument on cost. If the T is willing to negotiate a settlement amount to settle case instead of court. You might want to look into that as an option.

Re: Tenant without lease suing for security deposit by Anonymous on July 13, 2017 @18:10	[ Reply ]

Depends on several things. Did you send out the security deposit settlement statement within your states time frame? If not, then you might have to refund the entire security deposit and then file suit in court for damages. What state are you located in? Some states bar the landlord from seeking any damage claims if they fail to follow security deposit laws. You need to find, read and learn your state security deposit laws as the tenant can receive two or three times the security deposit if you did not follow the correct procedure for security deposits.

Re: Tenant without lease suing for security deposit by Anonymous on July 13, 2017 @21:56	[ Reply ]

Why do you think an unsigned lease helps? You have the tenants security deposit money, either follow your state law on security deposits or face the possibility of having to pay the tenant even more money.

Tenant without lease suing for security deposit - Landlord Forum thread 353217