[blue]

So my gf and I recently moved out of an apartment we had put a (completely refundable) $250 deposit on. Anyway, long story short, we moved in, apparently they had been engaging in construction and decided not to clean it up. We move out, clean it as best we can (believe me, it was disgusting living there), and we get the dep check in the mail for...$48. Two hundred dollars in "deep cleaning" bull****.

From other peoples experiences, I know I can fight the landlord all I want but he's not going to cough it up, so I think I might have a loophole. We were supposed to get our deposit back if we abided by the terms on the rental agreement/application that we signed. However, we both signed it when we were 17, thereby making it a void contract. Can I legally get the money back?

 

[Tenchiro]

$250 might not be worth it, but if you think you got screwed take him to small claims court.

 

[blue]

$250 might not be worth it, but if you think you got screwed take him to small claims court.

Thats what I was thinking. First present the facts of the matter to him (not holding up his end of the deal with cleaning it before we moved in), and if that fails, tell him we signed when we were 17, if that fails, pay 15 bucks to file in small claims against him.

 

[luken8r]

Isnt that how Liar Liar ended?

 

[blue]

Isnt that how Liar Liar ended?

BWAHA! YES! I totally forgot about that movie.

 

[luken8r]

BWAHA! YES! I watched it last night and thats how I came up with this cockamamie idea!

fixed it for ya

 

[Zark]

Did you take photos of the move in condition? If you did, file in small claims and get your cash back.

 

[blue]

fixed it for ya

No no...I was actually thinking it would be a good safety net incase someone tried to screw us.

And sadly, no pictures. It was trashed...crap all over the floor, walls, shelves, etc. When we'd take showers the steam would condense on the walls and orange grime would run down.

Thank god for finding a better place with an owner that cares about his tenants...

 

[Zark]

In that case, forget about the money and exact revenge by crapping on the slumlord's car....Its about your only option now. Otherwise its just hersay in court.

 

[blue]

In that case, forget about the money and exact revenge by crapping on the slumlord's car....Its about your only option now. Otherwise its just hersay in court.

Ha, I actually drove to the address of "Viva Corporation" today to have a chat with the landlord, turns out it's a 2 million dollar gated estate in the hills. I think he has many cars.

I was thinking, however, the old managers (we got new ones 3 months after moving in) did see it and would attest to it being trashed. That and the whole 17 years old thing.

 

[Konabumm]

the whole 18 year old thing isn't true.

You can buy a car at 17
You can have a credit card at 17
both of those or binding contracts (that you will pay the money back)
A rental agreement is also a binding contract. Your age has nothing to do with it.
Suck it up and move on!

 

[blue]

the whole 18 year old thing isn't true.

You can buy a car at 17
You can have a credit card at 17
both of those or binding contracts (that you will pay the money back)
A rental agreement is also a binding contract. Your age has nothing to do with it.
Suck it up and move on!

You can do so with a cosigner. Otherwise, you can't sign anything binding. We told them it was our first apartment, we had no credit, etc etc, and we asked if we'd need a cosigner. They made it sound like it, but they called us 3 days later and said we didn't.

I'm 18. And in college. And poor. 200 bucks is a plane ticket to Sea Otter.

 

[OGRipper]

Everyone puts a different value on a dollar but for me this is not a battle worth fighting, it will end up costing you more in time and grief than it's worth. You are probably not going to teach this landlord any meaningful lessons. Chalk it up as a learning experience and move on.

If you don't agree, you might try to find out if there is a local tenants' rights organization, they can be very helpful with this kind of thing, especially if your ex-landlord has a history of complaints. If your landlord knows you are serious he might cave in, who knows.

But, ah, you did take pics of your new place didn't you?

 

[PsychO!1]

I think this is pretty common with slumlords. They keep as much of your money as reasonable, not all, but most of it. They figure most people will let it go, They've got your money, it's up to you to make the effort to get it back.....most people don't.
At my last place I was charged $6 for each burned out light bulb replaced, and $200 labor to fix a 1" hole in the wall. Crazy!!
If you want your money back on principle, fight it. Otherwise let it go and move on!!

 

[blue]

But, ah, you did take pics of your new place didn't you?

A couple. It'd just been remodled so it's more or less spotless...Anything wrong is our fault

http://law.freeadvice.com/general_practice/contract_law/contract_valid.htm

 

[Konabumm]

You can do so with a cosigner. Otherwise, you can't sign anything binding. We told them it was our first apartment, we had no credit, etc etc, and we asked if we'd need a cosigner. They made it sound like it, but they called us 3 days later and said we didn't.

I'm 18. And in college. And poor. 200 bucks is a plane ticket to Sea Otter.

Wrong again, there is no law saying you must have a cosigner.

Liar Liar was a MOVIE

 

[blue]

(Free Law Advice)My 15-year old son, who looks older, just signed a contract to purchase a computer. Is the contract valid?

No, the contract is not valid. As your son is a minor (under age of 18), he is not old enough to enter into a legally binding contract without parental consent except for "necessities" . The computer is not a necessity. The store will have to refund the payment he made, regardless of their return policy, when he returns the computer.

Believe me, it was a pain in the ass moving out at 17 cause nobody will give you anything without a cosigner. We were shocked they gave us the apt without one. I wasn't going off Liar Liar with this idea...

 

[sanjuro]

I have been a renter for 15 years now, I have never lived in an apartment building with a manager and/or rental agent.

I knew a rental agent once, and he told me he is available only one day of the month (rent day), and he hides out the other 29. He was kidding, but that is the mentality of apartment building management.

The crappy apartment buildings, you know the owners do not care about you at all. They figure, pay me now, leave in 3 months, find someone else desperate to move in then.

Good luck in getting your money back, although I do not know what you can do to get it. I would try to find a building where the owner lives in. My friends rent an apartment above their garage, and I wished I lived there.

 

[SkaredShtles]

<snip>
And sadly, no pictures. It was trashed...crap all over the floor, walls, shelves, etc.

It was trashed and you neglected to take pictures? You might have some trouble with getting the cash back. Especially if the landlord has pics of what it looked like before he cleaned it.

When we'd take showers the steam would condense on the walls and orange grime would run down.

This is actually normal with cheap paint purchased from Walmart.

 

[Tenchiro]

Liar Liar was a MOVIE

Wait a second! Are you saying that movies may not be an accurate reflection of reality?!?

 

[blue]

This is actually normal with cheap paint purchased from Walmart.

It was horrible. There were orange zits on the ceiling from the water. Apparently they'd "repainted" before we had moved in as well. When I say repainted, I mean they took a few buckets of paint, threw them at the wall, and managed to paint all the drawers/doors/anything else moving shut.


I'm sorry, twas my first apartment...ever (never rented with my family). Didn't think about such things as taking pictures

 

[Konabumm]

Believe me, it was a pain in the ass moving out at 17 cause nobody will give you anything without a cosigner. We were shocked they gave us the apt without one. I wasn't going off Liar Liar with this idea...

necessities=roof over you head

 

[Konabumm]

Wait a second! Are you saying that movies may not be an accurate reflection of reality?!?

I know it sounds crazy

 

[blue]

necessities=roof over you head

I'm thinking thats a grey area, easily negotiable. It's times like these that I wish my major was pre-law again...

 

[splat]

Well I hate to say this , but take it as a $200 lesson, Because yes you can take him to small claims court, You may or may not win. but lets say you do . he then has 30 -90 days to pay , if he is a Slime ball like you describe. he won't pay. then you haveto hire a lawyer to take that back to court, ( and you will need a lawyer cause you are no longer in Small claims court ) they will send him a Writ giving him 180 days more to pay , he still doesn't pay and what will eventually happen , is there will be a warrent for his arrest. but you will never see dollar one . and then the only real way he will even get arrested would be by something like a traffic stop , mean while you are still out the $200 , and now the lawyer costs. Buddy of mine went through this . and he was out almost $1000 and never saw a dime of it .

 

[SkaredShtles]

<snip>

I'm sorry, twas my first apartment...ever (never rented with my family). Didn't think about such things as taking pictures

This type of retardation is expected at your age.

 

[Tenchiro]

Well I hate to say this , but take it as a $200 lesson, Because yes you can take him to small claims court, You may or may not win. but lets say you do . he then has 30 -90 days to pay , if he is a Slime ball like you describe. he won't pay. then you haveto hire a lawyer to take that back to court, ( and you will need a lawyer cause you are no longer in Small claims court ) they will send him a Writ giving him 180 days more to pay , he still doesn't pay and what will eventually happen , is there will be a warrent for his arrest. but you will never see dollar one . and then the only real way he will even get arrested would be by something like a traffic stop , mean while you are still out the $200 , and now the lawyer costs. Buddy of mine went through this . and he was out almost $1000 and never saw a dime of it .

Sounds like arson may be your only resource. :devil:


EDIT -- Erm, I mean recourse.

 

[blue]

Sounds like arson may be your only resource. :devil:

Mmm...buuuurrrning.

I was tempted to egg his villa, too bad it's about 200 feet away from the gate.

 

[Zark]

I was tempted to egg his villa, too bad it's about 200 feet away from the gate.

You know those three man water balloon launchers could be used for eggs

 

[Tenchiro]

You could build a trebuchet for pennies, then sell it on e-bay after you launch a molotov cocktail or three.

You might even come out ahead on the whole thing.

 

[riverside73]

Trying to get the $200 back would probably be a waste of your time.

But for the future...everytime you put down a deposit, you should do a walk through with the Landlord/Manager with a sheet of paper and list all the things wrong with the property upon signing anything. And then when you are done with the apartment or whatever, another walk through should be done with the Landlord/Manager so you both know exactly where you stand. It seems a little anal, but it's all about protecting yourself.....and your plane ticket to Sea Otter!!

The apartment you moved out of sounds pretty darn nasty. I would not be surprised if there are some mold issues that can cause some pretty serious health hazards. In that case, a report to the Health Dept/Code Enforcement could be part of your revenge plan!!

 

[BMXman]

Trying to get the $200 back would probably be a waste of your time.

But for the future...everytime you put down a deposit, you should do a walk through with the Landlord/Manager with a sheet of paper and list all the things wrong with the property upon signing anything. And then when you are done with the apartment or whatever, another walk through should be done with the Landlord/Manager so you both know exactly where you stand. It seems a little anal, but it's all about protecting yourself.....and your plane ticket to Sea Otter!!

yeah I thought this was standard procedure. I did this exact thing the last 2 times we moved...D

 

[blue]

Trying to get the $200 back would probably be a waste of your time.

But for the future...everytime you put down a deposit, you should do a walk through with the Landlord/Manager with a sheet of paper and list all the things wrong with the property upon signing anything. And then when you are done with the apartment or whatever, another walk through should be done with the Landlord/Manager so you both know exactly where you stand. It seems a little anal, but it's all about protecting yourself.....and your plane ticket to Sea Otter!!

We did. However, when we went through it, they (the managers) said it would be cleaned before we moved in. We moved in...no clean. Finally, three weeks later, we got a carpet cleaning (they were NASTY), but all of our furniture and everything was moved in already. Now they're charging us 50 bucks (out of the deposit) for another carpet cleaning.

I think I may just try reasoning with the asshole, if that fails, perhaps a call to the health dept is in order. Along those lines, there was a bastard below us who smoked like a smelting plant (no smoking allowed in building), and it would seep up into our apartment. It was disgusting. We complained numerous times, but nothing ever happened. Our current landlord was calling them to see how they were and I guess the managers mentioned someone smoking on our end of the building. Something about how a few people had moved out because of him. So the landlord asks "Why don't you just evict him?". Twas classic.

Needless to say, I'm exquisitively happy about our new apt and landlord. He's a great guy (even gave us an x-mas present...and a new toilet!).

 

[Wumpus]

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128894&highlight=deposit

 

[SK6]

So my gf and I recently moved out of an apartment we had put a (completely refundable) $250 deposit on. Anyway, long story short, we moved in, apparently they had been engaging in construction and decided not to clean it up. We move out, clean it as best we can (believe me, it was disgusting living there), and we get the dep check in the mail for...$48. Two hundred dollars in "deep cleaning" bull****.

From other peoples experiences, I know I can fight the landlord all I want but he's not going to cough it up, so I think I might have a loophole. We were supposed to get our deposit back if we abided by the terms on the rental agreement/application that we signed. However, we both signed it when we were 17, thereby making it a void contract. Can I legally get the money back?

Unless your 18, the contract is unenforceable, basic contract law. In other words, at 17, you did not have the legal capacity to enter into a contract. And if in fact one does, the contract becomes voidable.

Capacity is one of the requisite elements of a contract.

Covered by Uniform Commercial Code

&#167; 8-306. EFFECT OF GUARANTEEING SIGNATURE, INDORSEMENT, OR INSTRUCTION.

(a) A person who guarantees a signature of an indorser of a security certificate warrants that at the time of signing:

(3) the signer had legal capacity to sign.

It could further be argued that if in fact you were timely with rent payments, then in essence all of the deposit is owed you in full, since legally the contract is un-enforceable. However, if there was someone who was the age of majority who may have cosigned, that individual is in fact liable for the damages and such in the instance of a security deposit.

This in no way constitutes legal advice, nor does this represent or implies the practice of law by myself, and is merely a discussion of general legal principles. As with any and all legal situations, it is strongly urged that one seek the advice of legal council.

 

[SK6]

the whole 18 year old thing isn't true.

You can buy a car at 17
You can have a credit card at 17
both of those or binding contracts (that you will pay the money back)
A rental agreement is also a binding contract. Your age has nothing to do with it.
Suck it up and move on!

Refer to my earlier post. In essence, a minor can enter a contract, however, has the means to void the contract.

This however, does not relive the minor of any financial obligations assessed by a minor.

Just because one can, does not make it enforceable. And in the case of a minor racking up huge bills, the responsible adult/legal guardian can, and usually is held responsible for such acts.

 

[beestiboy]

Mmm...buuuurrrning.

I was tempted to egg his villa, too bad it's about 200 feet away from the gate.

PAINTBALL gun, You could get at least a good 30 shots off before he realized what is going on. I just started renting again after owning and i went through with my camcorder and recored every little problem. Literally i have smudge marks recorded.

I have to agree though $200 is not worth the anguish, check on campus though sometimes they have a free legal counsel service that might help you out and then maybe you could recoup some losses.

 

[buildyourown]

I took my landlady to court over an $800 deposit.
Basically, neither party had proof of the condition of the apartment so the judge split it.
Unless you have a very strong case, I would go to court for $100.

Lesson learned. Now I pay attention to what kind of people I rent from.
I ask for references from previous tenants.

 

[blue]

Tried calling him this morning...The line goes straight to a voicemail. Great. Paintballs are in order.

 

[Wumpus]

The line goes straight to a voicemail. Great. Paintballs are in order.

Use certified/registered mail that requires a signature.