Rental Deposits
Dear Internets,
I seek your advice regarding rental deposits. We left the property in decent condition and the managers want to not only withhold our deposit but charge us $200 to boot. What are our rights?
When we moved to Las Cruces we got lucky and found a great place managed by a great company, Doña Ana Properties. Somewhere along the line, the property was sold and the new owner switched management to the unscrupulous Mathers Realty. There was much mourning, but thankfully our stay remained uneventful until the end.
When we moved out everyone told us Mathers would weasel out of returning the deposit, so it came as no surprise when we received a bill in the mail explaining all the ways in which they deserved our money more than we did. What was surprising is that they didn’t stop at exhausting the deposit, but racked up an additional $200 in charges. They charged $100 for “repairs” such as “a towel [in the bathroom] needs to be removed,” “the blinds are broken,” (they had been replaced not two weeks earlier and were perfectly fine), “remove the pan from the oven,” (all our pans are accounted for—I’m not sure what they are talking about). Then they charged $95 to clean the carpet that we steam cleaned, and $95 for “janitorial services”—we left it clean.
There are a few things I would be (grudgingly) willing to give them: the blinds in the other bedroom that were broken but from normal wear and tear, a modest amount for painting (they charged $150, the lease said “minimum of $50″), a modest amount for “janitorial services”, etc. In fact, I’d be willing to let them take the whole deposit (we had written it off anyway, based on their reputation). But I really don’t want to send them a check.
Here is the only relevant text of the lease: “As a general rule, you will not be held financially responsible for repairs due to ‘normal wear and tear’ or routing maintenance. YOU WILL BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REPAIR OF DAMAGE DUE TO YOUR NEGLECT OR MIS-CONDUCT.” and “The deposit may be applied to recover losses, if any, suffered by reason of the Tenant’s non-compliance with this Rental Agreement including non-payment of rent. [...] Refund of your deposit is contingent upon the condition of the rental unit after vacated. The condition of the unit will be compared to its original condition as stated on the check-in list. (i.e. carpet shampooed, cleanliness, condition of walls, damages, etc.). A minimum of $50.00 will be charged for painting upon move-out.”
September 11th, 2009 at 16:52
If I had known beforehand that such a company was going to be inspecting the place, I would have photographed the entire place beforehand, for evidence. As it stands, I doubt this company has any photographic evidence of their own either. Even if you had left things behind, the terms of your lease don’t seem to hold you liable. Do you have receipts for the blinds or the carpet? I don’t think you should stop at proving you don’t owe them $200, you should report their fradulent claims to whoever you can.
September 14th, 2009 at 17:21
My personal take is much the same as Joseph’s. Always photograph and document heavily. My last move out we cleaned for literally days before the inspection, we even have it on good authority that the manager never walked the apartment after our move out. Still the company attempted to get money from us. We sent over an email to the manager with the picture we had taken of (just about) every detail of the apartment. After a day of two they sent back and email, and later a letter in the mail, letting us know they were in the wrong and were sending us our deposit back.
Good luck!
September 17th, 2009 at 18:12
Mathers is horrible, they tried pulling the same thing with me. Point out that New Mexico law says that normal wear and tear is not chargeable against a damage deposit. Normal wear and tear is the responsibility of the landlord.
They’ll probably back down. They are used to ripping off students who don’t always know better or are leaving town. Good luck!
Odd I happened across this blog, I searched Google for an unrelated term, I got my BS in CS at NMSU.
September 22nd, 2009 at 02:31
Keep writing them your own demand letters. Explain all you know and list witnesses. Threaten small claims court. Even if out of state they don’t know how much you may be bluffing. These kind of operators always try to get away with what they can and will often concede when they realize they are faced by a determined adversary (like my wife). This is the same way a lot of insurance companies operate. (oh, I shouldn’t have stepped into that one!)
March 11th, 2010 at 11:28
I think your best bet is to start the process for small claims against them for your deposit back. They will need to show that your damages were above and beyond normal wear and tear