Returning a Security deposit (Tenet perspective)

[150class]

I get it but as long as it's "reasonable" as far as the cost of the service for same type of service, you'll probably lose that argument in court, he gets to pick who services his house.
I would encourage you to fight for your money and it sounds like your getting some $ back which is good.
Document your communication and the terms of your lease agreement, at the end of the day that agreement is what is going to hold water in court.

10-4 and thanks!

Even if I just walk away with the 150$ for the no proof it’s worth it out out of principal.

[Burnadell]

Would an estimate (not an invoice) from a carpet cleaning company not be sufficient for the landlord to "set the value of the service" and keep that much of the deposit?

In addition, shouldn't the landlord's time be worth something?
If he spent half a day setting up services, waiting on the carpets to be cleaned, couldn't he charge a reasonable fee for his time and effort, similar to a management company?

No. Not if he didn't actually have it cleaned. It may not have needed to be cleaned, but they will still give an estimate to clean a house/apartment whether or not they actually do the cleaning.

[150class]

I get it but as long as it's "reasonable" as far as the cost of the service for same type of service, you'll probably lose that argument in court, he gets to pick who services his house.
I would encourage you to fight for your money and it sounds like your getting some $ back which is good.
Document your communication and the terms of your lease agreement, at the end of the day that agreement is what is going to hold water in court.

Just for laughs, call the same carpet cleaning people back and tell them you need carpet cleaned for a house that a dog has "drooled" all over and see if their estimate goes up?

Ha! You might be on to something there! I haven’t seen to many golden’s drool substantial amounts either

Also it’s bothers me be claimed in his first email “there was the drool stains and damage to window seals and baseboards” and he sends the cleaning charges totaling 500$ to me with no further mentioning of that stuff.

[Dugie]

yeah it sounds like he padded the invoice and wanted to keep the extra, no telling...

[Clark]

Sounds like you made a strong effort to get your $500 worth of hard earned money back.

That landlord has a couple hundred thousand dollars worth of hard earned money in his house.

We're just discussing deposits and their return upon completion of a contract.
I'm a landlord but not a lawyer, I am not exactly sure what my rights are in these situations either.

If a tenant of mine has a dog, I'm cleaning the carpets and having an exterminator treat the house and yard when they leave.
I owe that to the next tenant and for my peace of mind.

But, I would treat that as normal wear and tear and cover that cost.

I hope you get your deposit back.

[150class]

Sounds like you made a strong effort to get your $500 worth of hard earned money back.

That landlord has a couple hundred thousand dollars worth of hard earned money in his house.

We're just discussing deposits and their return upon completion of a contract.
I'm a landlord but not a lawyer, I am not exactly sure what my rights are in these situations either.

If a tenant of mine has a dog, I'm cleaning the carpets and having an exterminator treat the house and yard when they leave.
I owe that to the next tenant and for my peace of mind.

But, I would treat that as normal wear and tear and cover that cost.

I hope you get your deposit back.

I understand that and agree with carrying over to the next tenant. Which I would have no problem covering the excess charges for the parts concerning the dog. like the normal carpet cleaning being 169.99 and the deep clean because of dogs being 239.99 (all these numbers are starting to mix up so may be off 10$ one way or the other). Anyways, I’d 100% be fine with being charged the extra 70$ to cover the part that isn’t normal and honestly expect to pay that portion with the security deposit. However saying it’s 350$ is a no go for me.

I fully expect and want to cover damages I cause but expect to not be charged for just anything to put a extra dollar in his pocket.

[150class]

I get it but as long as it's "reasonable" as far as the cost of the service for same type of service, you'll probably lose that argument in court, he gets to pick who services his house.
I would encourage you to fight for your money and it sounds like your getting some $ back which is good.
Document your communication and the terms of your lease agreement, at the end of the day that agreement is what is going to hold water in court.

Just for laughs, call the same carpet cleaning people back and tell them you need carpet cleaned for a house that a dog has "drooled" all over and see if their estimate goes up?

So holy crap.....

I figured I might as well call back to get a recording of the price she gave me earlier since there is a 100$+ difference and it was gold. So I initially asked to be emailed their invoice to make sure it matches and she called the homeowner and he said she cannot do that. So.... He will answer their calls but not mine...
Then I say that’s fine and requested her to repeat the prices she gave me again (169.99 normal cleaning and 239.99 deep pet clean if they detect a odor from there method or whatever). Anyways.... She starts listing off all these way more expensive numbers and when she’s done it somehow matches up to the 350$ invoice he sent me! They do not know I already have a invoice.

So I quickly called her out on it and holy cow I’ve never heard so much squirming, “oh no’s”, and what not from someone through a phone. Then I stated how our earlier conversation showed completely different prices that are almost 75% off each other. She then somehow comes back up with 79.99x3 again totaling 239.99 and then said “maybe other fees were applied I don’t know” and that was it.

Holy crap he 100% is padding his pockets with these cleaning companies to take from my deposit! I wonder if/who else he is doing this to!

[150class]

With proof of no receipt or invoice for the 150$ maid cleaning service. Proof of the Carpet Cleaning service refusing to provide me their version of the invoice, once they spoke with the landlord after my first call with them. Proof of their service costing 239.99 and no reasoning for the extra 110$ along with the Carpet Cleaning company changing their pricing from phone call to phone. Then lastly proof the landlord had 3+ options within 5-10 mins of the home instead of a location 20 mins away providing the same quality of service for almost half the cost I filed a new petition and with local Precinct.

I may not get the entire amount back but with the evidence I have it’ll be worth trying! Hopefully, if anything, he’ll quit assuming he can pad his pockets with other people’s money for no reason.

[150class]

Update:

Filed the paper work and he was served last week.
He quickly emailed me with his lawyer attached to bluff me into accepting much less than I wanted.

A few emails later, where I had to restrain myself from some of the accusations and asinine comments he made, I’m getting 90% of my deposit back. That doesn’t include the filing fees but now I’m only out of pocket 150$ instead of 500$ which I’m okay with.

Should have the check Saturday or Monday and once it’s deposited I’ll be dropping the case.

Appreciate all the help and info provided in this thread.

[Pstraw]

Good for you. Nothing like beating a scum-bag at their own game.

[COACH_EM_UP]

Just curious, but what is "Tenet perspective"?

[BitBackShot]

Some of you guys spend a whole lot of effort on a tiny bit of money.

I applaud you, but have nowhere near the energy.

[88 Bound]

Some of you guys spend a whole lot of effort on a tiny bit of money.

I applaud you, but have nowhere near the energy.

I’m sure this had much more to do with the principle...

Good job for doing the right thing OP. I probably would have done the same over $100 just to prove a point.

[150class]

Just curious, but what is "Tenet perspective"?

A very crappy spelling of tenant lol

[QUOTE=BitBackShot;14256312]Some of you guys spend a whole lot of effort on a tiny bit of money.

I applaud you, but have nowhere near the time.


I hope to be able to write off a few hundred dollars like it’s nothing in the future.
Only had to invest about 2 hours of my time to net 325$ so 162.50 a hr is pretty solid in my book.

[150class]

I’m sure this had much more to do with the principle...

Good job for doing the right thing OP. I probably would have done the same over $100 just to prove a point.

Proving a point had a lot to do with this also.
Not a fan of scammers.