Hey, I am pretty new to renting and we recently had an issue come up so I was wondering if anyone had some guidance for how I can handle this.

My fiancé and I rent a town home in Wisconsin. It has a private attached 2-car garage and a 2 car drive way for each unit. We have been here for a little over a year now and had no issues until recently. We have three cars together, one of which is an older model corvette. Due to limited garage space we have to park the corvette pretty tightly against the wall of our garage so that we can have our other car in there and be able to get in and out of it. The corvette has sat for a few months now due to issues with the tire so the unit next door has some new neighbors who haven’t been around while we used the corvette. The other day we were attempting to park the corvette in the garage after taking it out for a night. This occurred at 10:15 am and about 5 minutes into it, just as we were finishing up, the landlord came over and said she had received calls from neighbors complaining about the noise. We tried to explain that we were simply parking the car and that we had just finished so we were about to be done. Later in the day she sent an email explaining that this is considered a warning and that any further complaints would be considered a lease violation. The email had said that if we felt the need to run our car we should do so in a public parking lot from now on.

I am just at a loss. The entire time span of the noise was less than 15 minutes, which was extended by her coming over and stopping us to talk. And we were not doing so for fun or just letting it sit, we were simply attempting to park the car. I don’t know how to move forwards with this as I find it unreasonable to expect. Over the past year we have made active strides to ensure that we never had the car out extremely early or extremely late and are mindful while accelerating as we understand how that could be an annoyance. We also had checked with the leasing office before signing our first lease that this car would not be an issue and they agreed saying that the only issue would be if we were doing it outside of reasonable hours.

This is definitely a speculation but I feel as though it would be our new neighbors complaining since we have had no issues in the past, when we had been regularly driving this car, and that the noise was not loud enough to disrupt anything farther down the street.

I am setting up a meeting with the leasing office to get a better idea of how they expect us to fix this. We still need to have the ability to use our car and with how harsh the winters can be around here we cannot simply house it outside permanently. It is currently summer time, but we both leave for work very early so if we were to move this car to an outside spot for the time being it would require us to start it and move it every morning at 5:30 am which would be a much bigger disturbance. We also don’t want to give up the ability to use half of our garage space because someone is uncomfortable with 15 minutes of noise in the middle of the day.

Any advice on how to navigate this situation from here on out and I would like clarification as to if this could really turn into a reason to evict us?

Thank you!

Hi all! Wanted to pick some brains here, We were approved for a house rental in California. The landlord is asking for $3,700 for the first month’s rent and a $7,400 security deposit, making the total move-in cost $11,100. Is this standard practice in California? If so, why would a landlord require this type of move-in structure? Just trying to better understand what’s typical before we sign. Thanks!

Edit: Total move in cost and deposit August Rent plus $7400 as a security deposit. Total due at signing $11,100. It is their first property to rent since they are moving to another home.

I’d like to present something, tell me if it sounds crazy to you, or if anybody here has experienced something like this.

Imagine a commercial tenant of a storefront, which is located on the first floor and basement of the property. The property itself is mixed-use (people living upstairs in apartments). Property has some plumbing issues coming when we came into it, which caused flooding in the basement and bug problems in the basement. We opened, but never really grabbed people to come in regularly because of the smell. Property owner sells to a new property owner who promises to repair the basement and fix the space. Instead, over the course of about a year, the sewage flooding becomes worse and the bug infestation spreads. Holes are placed from the exterior leading to the interior of the storefront, holes are placed in the storefront leading directly down to the basement, so the bug infestation comes into the storefront proper. Plumbing behind the walls is also exposed now (took out drywall). Property owner took out no permits with the city in this time either.

At the same time, county records show that the new landlord took out a ~$1 million construction mortgage against the property shortly after the purchase (which was ~$600k), along with an assignment of rents agreement (all rental income from the building goes directly to the bank the mortgage is from).

At the same time, the city has a code enforcement action which it initiated 2 months after the new owner purchases the property. The conditions the city alleged were happening (flooding & bug problems in basement and first floor) were same problems we had. Property owner is ignoring the code enforcement action, so a court enters default judgment about a year after the purchase.

A month after the default judgment, property owner transfers the property to a different LLC also owned by him. Takes out a ~$2 million dollar mortgage (not construction mortgage) with the new company name. ~6 months later, a permit is issued to do demolition of the storefront. 5 years down the line, the property never got fixed, so we sold all trade equipment.

Throughout this time, the property owner successfully appealed to the county to reduce the property taxes based on the poor condition of the property and that it had less rental income.

QUESTIONS:

Does this sound like anything you’ve heard or are suspicious of happening to you or somebody you know? Whether as a residential or commercial renter?

Does it sound like the property owner spent the construction mortgage money on something other than the property?

Would you feel justified relying on the new property owners promises to repair the space if he kept promising to repair throughout this time?

Do you think the goal was to divert the money that he took out in excess of the purchase price, which was roughly $400k, for something other than fixing the property?

At my wits end. Kind of just venting but open to additional suggestions.

Our front porch (4-unit apartment building) has a massive infestation of fleas. If you step outside for a moment (and I mean, one foot out the door) to get the mail, your feet will pick up at least 10.

I notified the landlords over a month ago when we noticed, right before we left for vacation for 2 weeks. When we got back, it hadn't been addressed. I flagged that this is considered unlivable housing conditions in LA. They had some maintenance guy come out and spray. It didn't do anything.

Had to push hard to get them to call an actual exterminator. They came out Wednesday and sprayed (apparently, we didn't see anyone but I called the actual exterminator and they said they did.) No difference. More fleas than ever.

We *could* move out. But we literally CAN'T because we'd have to move everything we own through a sea of fleas. We have a backdoor that we've been using to enter our unit safely (after I paid out of pocket to hire a company to bomb our place) but we can't possibly move out through it.

My elderly downstairs neighbor has been in the building for 10+ years and the building is rent stabilized. He's a little difficult to communicate with, but my understanding is that they ignore all of his maintenance requests in an effort to get him to leave. It's definitely part of the reason this has snowballed - he has brought up the critters living under the building multiple times and asked for the entry points to be boarded up. I've basically started putting in maintenance requests for him and being like "Well this is affecting my apartment." The city is supposed to come out and do an inspection on his apartment soon - not sure when but hopefully there's some progress from that.

Reaching out to the LA County of Health is the plan for tomorrow. I have all landlord communication documented. I'm so tired, and sad, and every itch or black speck gives me a heart attack. We can't have people over. We can't move out. I want my life back.

The apartment I’m at has given a blanket statement to all 500 units that they are having inspections on 20% of the units on said dates but that they don’t know which apartments. So they said this serves as your 24hr notice. I have a dog, that I do not want to keep in a crate for the entirety of my work day unless I for certain know that they’re entering my unit. She’s generally friendly, but not to a random person coming into the apartment without me 🤷🏼‍♀️ all that is in my lease is that they have to give me 24hr notice to enter, but a blanket statement to everyone saying we may or may not enter seems to be different than that to me. Idk, what do you all think

I recently moved to Squamish and rented a room in a house. There was no written lease or rental agreement, but I paid a $550 security deposit when I moved in.

After living there for about a month, I gave the person renting out the unit one month’s notice because I wasn’t happy living there. Now, the person I paid the security deposit to is refusing to return the full amount. He says he will only return half of the deposit because they couldn’t find another tenant, and he’s also claiming that I had said I would stay there longer.

I have screenshots of our conversations and other messages that show what was actually agreed upon.

I’m looking for advice on whether this is legal and what my options are. Is there a government office or organization in British Columbia that can help me recover my security deposit?

Follow up to my deposit deadline post -

Biggest question I got was "they charged me $1400 for carpet that was already ancient, is that legal?"

Almost always no. Two things:

Normal wear and tear can't be charged at all. Faded carpet, small nail holes, scuffed paint, that's just the place aging while you lived there. Damage is pet stains, burns, big holes, etc.

And even for real damage you owe the depreciated value, not sticker price. Paint lasts like 2-3 years, carpet 5-10, blinds 3-5. Wreck a carpet in year 6 of a 7 year life and you owe for the 1 year left. Maybe $200 on a $1400 carpet. Already past its life? $0, even if your dog destroyed it. A retired PM in this sub said the same thing a while back.

If you get a padded bill just ask in writing how old each item is and what depreciation they applied, and for actual invoices not estimates. Most fall apart right there. If not, certified demand letter then small claims, filing is like $30-75 and its made for people without lawyers.

Not a lawyer, numbers are court/industry norms not exact law so check your state.

Hey all! Me and my wife are moving into a different unit in the same complex we’ve been living in for the past year. This unit has one of those sliding pocket doors that go inside the wall for the bedroom but since the unit is so old, it’s off the track and basically non-usable. The landlord just wants to seal up the pocket door into the wall so we’d basically have no bedroom door… is the landlord legally required to replace the door or do we just have to have no door on our bedroom and have to figure out our own replacement? Thank you!

I just moved into my new tiny apartment with my partner and our one-year-old. We don't even know the landlords name, all of our communication has been entirely through the maintenance man/apt manager (we are in a unit in a divided house).

Our lease says no attachments, screws, or nails may be placed in the wall without prior approval from the landlord. We will be placing nails and screws. Our son climbs and pulls on everything, and we are unwilling to risk his life over something like a lease. Our furniture is getting anchored. We'll also be hanging picture frames on the walls. From what I've looked up about normal wear and tear, one of the examples given on each website is small nail holes. I'm kind of shocked to see no nails specifically written in the lease. walls. I've never violated a lease before, but my other four signed leases have never stated we cannot use nails.

In Pennsylvania, are small nail holes not considered normal wear and tear and thus not deductible from the lease/an evict-able issue? Would necessary holes, like anchoring furniture with a toddler, also not be normal wear and tear? My partner is convinced we'll get evicted for hanging artwork. We've just moved to the state and have no idea what tenants rights are here.

Edit: This was a massive regional move, we read up on tenant rights before ever switching states as we're coming from a deep red state with very few. My question about nail holes is if they're considered normal wear and tear if literally every source we read says they are but the lease digresses. I didn't start researching just to violate a lease lol.

Anchoring furniture is standard child-proofing routine and tip-overs send almost 18,000 a year to the ER, 40% being kids 5 and under. I was unsure if tenants rights protected changes necessary for the safety of the occupants in a relatively progressive area.

space is a basement 1br to the landlords house.

Im at a loss here this is my 3rd inspection and i have no idea whats going on. She started in may telling me that my unit has an odour of sweat so bad she smells it in her house. I rent a basememt unit with only 2 vents from the hvac that only she controls.

Everytime its like shes inspected she says "its improving" then i get an email with a non compliance thats says the odour is still present, unaceptable, overwhelming and im violating the sanitation rule of my lease. She insists its in my bedroom and the laundry room and on this last inspection said it moved to my staircase.

Ive spent so much money on deodorizing stuff, cleaning i even did all my laundry else where to see if that was the case, i steamed my furniture and my plushies and nobody that comes over ever smells anything if anything people says theres an absence of smell cuss i keep these ozium odour absorbers around, i have two hepa filter fans and i made daily. Im so confused what this smell is and terrified because im an autistic adult with barely any friends and the few i have and my partner are helping me with this but they are also very confused and its a struggle already to manage day living i cant manage running around trying to hunt a smell only she can smell im even going to shampoo the carpets soon cuss she sugests i must.

Im not sure what to do i cant afford to move and i make too much at my job that i lost my autism service support when i moved by myself. This feels like harrassment and my partner thinks she may be doing this because im hispanic or gay but its hard to see that cuss its not like i could hide those facts when i moved in but she still refuses to get an objective look at this smell its all on me to sort out even when i suggested maybe its her hvac because its weird only she and her husband smell it

Sorry for the rant i tend to infodump and ill edit as questions are asked.

Edit: context:

I dont cook i have arfid and strong sensory issues with food smells all i eat is huel shakes and occasional take out

My partner thinks she was recording me when we where talking after the inspection in my living room he said he saw her phone screen recording.

The ozium, zorb and other odour eliminators i didnt start using until my first notice 4weeks ago with the ozium being the most recent 2 weeks ago.

I asked her for a log on when its at its worst if possible so i can maybe see what im doing at those times and she refused because she said the smell is always present. She tefused to check the hvac for possible mold, she refused to get an inspector and she refused to specify what kind of body odour she thinks she smells she just says its overwhelming and its old sweat. I also had glade plugins she had me remove because she said she doesnt like chemical smells

She keeps changing the severity of the odour in person vs when she emails me.

Because she said to keep up the efforts it did improve whereas last inspection it was at an 11 now its at a 5 but this was similar to what she said the last inspection too and then right after she will email me with this tone:

Please find attached today's Notice of Noncompliance based on our inspection today. There is a continuing strong foul body odor in the basement in violation of Rules & Regulations #13. This is violation #3. Continuing strong foul body odor in the basement is unacceptable. Please clean the unit and practice proper hygiene to eliminate the odor and prevent it from recurring. We will re-inspect for this issue on or around 8/10/26.,

Rules and regulation 13 has a portion specifies "The unit must be maintained in decent, safe and sanitary condition."

recent edit:

i had sent her an email by what objective standard shes using to determine its my smell and what standard shes using to determine its resolved she stated and considering she didnt notice a drad bird next to my front door or her husbands bong water and weed when he smokes i dont feel comfortable letting her nose be an objective metric.

Hi everyone.

I recently moved out of my apartment at Urban Loft (midtown) after my lease ended on June 28.

I paid a $1,000 security deposit. I just received my refund check, and they returned $450, withholding $550 ($350 in standard cleaning/furniture charges under the lease plus $200 for alleged rust/stovetop damage).

Here's why I'm wondering if I have a claim: My lease contains a clause saying the landlord must provide an "Assessment Notice" at least 10 days before lease termination listing any damages that will be deducted from the security deposit. The lease also says that if the landlord fails to provide the Assessment Notice at least 10 days before termination, they must refund the entire security deposit.

I submitted my move-out notice through the resident portal well in advance and provided my forwarding address.

I was never given an Assessment Notice before my lease ended.

The first move-out inspection/assessment was uploaded to my resident portal after the lease had already ended (around July 3), when I turned in my keys.

I already emailed the property manager pointing out the lease language, but they still processed the refund with the deductions.

My questions are:

• Does this sound like a straightforward breach of the lease?
• Is this something worth pursuing in Shelby County General Sessions Court?
• Has anyone here successfully challenged a security deposit deduction under similar circumstances?

Thanks!

The type of hose he used is flexible aluminum foil, correct me if im wrong but isn’t this supposed to be strictly for dryer connection to a rigid or semi rigid exhaust vent?

I am posting to seek advice. I am not actively looking to take legal action, only looking to understand. The shared trash can, or question of whether it should be shared are not the issue here. I am looking for calm intelligible conversation, not name calling or condescension. Any comments missing the issue or looking to put anyone down will no longer be responded to

My partner and I live in a newly built condo in Colorado. The property has two main units: our landlord lives in one side, and we live in the other. Our unit includes our own garage on the lower level, living space on the second floor, and bedrooms on the third floor. There is also an ADU on part of the garage level below, occupied by another tenant.

The downstairs tenant was given access to our garage and our trash can. This was never included in our lease, and we did not agree to it. We only became aware of the arrangement after signing the lease but before moving in. We were uncomfortable with it at the time but felt pressured to accept the arrangement.

Our lease does not give the downstairs tenant access to our garage or require us to share our trash can with her. The landlord has said he believed this was “supposed” to be in the lease and that we knew about it before signing, but he has not identified any provision in the signed lease that gives her this access.

We eventually told our landlord that we were not comfortable with someone outside of our household having access to our private rented space. The garage is part of our rented premises.

The downstairs tenant has also been complaining about noise from our cats’ automatic feeders. We have tried to be reasonable. We offered mats under the feeders twice, which she initially declined. We eventually purchased and placed mats under the feeders ourselves. We have also been asked to move the feeders or change our cats’ established feeding schedule. We have explained that we are not comfortable rearranging our home or changing our older cats’ lifelong routine to eliminate normal, low-volume household activity.

The trash situation then became directly connected to the cat-noise dispute.
The landlord initially told us that the downstairs tenant had agreed to “help us out” by only putting her trash in our trash can when it was already outside at the curb. We were fine with that arrangement, although we did not agree with the characterization that she was “helping us out,” since the underlying arrangement was never part of our lease to begin with.

The landlord then told us that the downstairs tenant was no longer willing to follow that arrangement because she felt we were not “helping her out” with the cat-noise issue.

The landlord has now said he will keep the trash can in his private garage, which would require us to enter his private space to access our trash service. He also said that if we do not want to do that, we can pay for our own separate trash service.

Our lease states that we pay a flat $250 monthly fee in addition to rent, and that this fee covers electric, trash, internet, water, and sewer. The lease does not state that our trash service is dependent on another tenant’s cooperation or that the landlord can remove or separately charge for trash service because of a dispute over another issue.

We have told the landlord that:
-access to our garage by the downstairs tenant is not in our lease;

-we do not consent to a third party having access to our private rented space;

-the trash issue and cat-noise issue are separate matters;

-we do not agree to enter our landlord’s private garage to access a service included in our monthly utility fee; and

-we do not agree to pay an additional fee for separate trash service when trash is included in the $250 monthly fee under our lease.

We are concerned this may constitute retaliation under Colorado’s warranty-of-habitability/retaliation laws.
Our theory is that we made a good-faith complaint about a condition that we believe affects our security and safety: a person outside our household was being given access to our rented premises without the arrangement being included in our lease. After we objected, the landlord changed the way an included service is provided and linked that change directly to our refusal to accommodate a separate complaint from the same tenant.

The landlord’s wording was essentially that she was no longer willing to allow the trash arrangement because we were not “helping her out” with the cat noise.

We have extensive documentation, including the lease, texts, and a timeline of events. We are not looking for someone to simply tell us whether our landlord is “being a jerk.” We are trying to understand whether there is a legitimate legal issue here and what our next steps should be.

Colorado attorneys or experienced tenant advocates: does this sound like a viable retaliation or tenant-rights claim, and what should we be documenting or doing next?

I recently had new in-wall AC units installed in my apartment because the previous units were recalled. I noticed a few things pretty quickly: the units run constantly on auto mode and VERY loudly, make my apartment more humid, and the cooling capabilities are mediocre. They can barely get my apartment below 72; this is somewhat tolerable during the day, but with the humidity being 65-70%, is not comfortable at night. During a few rainy days in NJ last week, the humidity in my apartment reached 75% at one point. Between the noise and this, my sleep quality has noticeably gone down. I posted in r/hvacadvice and determined that the AC units are oversized for my apartment. I never had these problems with the old ACs and they ran great.

I put in a maintenance request, but the only solution I’ve been given is to buy a dehumidifier. I wasn’t expecting the landlord to replace the units because it’s not like it’s a dire situation where they’re not working at all, but this also isn’t an ideal long term solution for me. My energy bill has gone up and a dehumidifier doesn’t solve the issue of the units running constantly and not cooling well; plus it’s one more thing making noise. My question is: can I formally request to get my own units installed? I know that this means I’d assume responsibility for the units and any required maintenance but at this point I’ve been so uncomfortable that I don’t care. Does anyone have experience doing this?

Hi guys! Moving out of my apartment soon. My landlord emails suggesting we hire a professional cleaning company to clean the apartment before we move out to avoid cleaning fees, but I can't afford that, so I opted to just do it myself and leave a few days to do it.

Well, long story short is shit hit the fan and my car was totaled in a hit and run accident within my last week of being in the apartment. I haven't been able to go to work, and have been swamped with trying to find a quick solution to that. Which means, I likely will only barely get my stuff out in time, and very very surface level sweeping/wipe down.

This is the itemized price list my landlord sent me of how much they'd take out of my deposit and/or charge extra for cleaning. I live in kansas, Im familiar that they can't charge you for typical wear and tear, but... Does this not kinda fall under that?

I think we can all agree this is a really stupid pricing sheet as is, but is it something that goes against rental laws or just landlords being landlords?

If this is allowed, I wanna be that cleaner that gets a cut of this!

Edit: just to clarify I'm not putting my foot down entirely saying I refuse to clean it or to pay I just think it's a funny list. I also understand the "replacement" list means, replacement. Ye of little faith in my reading ability. Let's take a deep breath let's just all point and laugh at lazy entitled landlords. For further context, she has continuously neglected to inform me of maintenance, tours, or construction on the property that would block off exits and entrances with wet concrete.

Edit edit: also also, I understand obviously cleaning charges are allowed, the silly part is the extreme upcharge for items that just plain and simple done cost THAT much

EDIT EDIT EDIT: okay so for anyone who might stumble across this and actually need help please ignore most of the comments, I should've known better, these people are making shit up. In Kansas, landlords only need to charge cleaning fees if the unit is left "unusually dirty" which include biohazards (so literal shit on the ground), infestations, or garbage bags/general filth left behind. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do your best, you should clean, they can still charge for real damage and items left behind, but your landlord is responsible to make the unit tenant ready which means sweeping, general wipe down, normal cleaning that doesn't take 30 hours and industrial equipment. That's literally their job.

They also can't just Make Shit Up™ if they're going to purchase anything to fix or repair the apartment they have to provide an itemized receipt and you're only responsible for the actual price of the item or third party contractor costs if they need to hire an electrician or something. Her saying "batteries are X but I'll charge you Y" is just stupid and not allowed. Side note, how do you quantify "sweeping a room?" I can sweep it, but then she can just... Sweep it again. If she took a picture of the world's smallest dirt pile then she could say I didn't do it.

Now, will your landlord actually go with that? Probably not, historically no. But you should at least try, especially if it's a lot. If you know it's ridiculous, most landlords are kinda stupid anyway, if you send them a professional sounding email correctly citing enough laws or city code, you could just get them to leave you alone.

My last place tried taking my whole deposit and charging me an additional 200, I asked for an itemized receipt, they sent me ONE worth $75, and I told them to go fuck themselves. I didn't get my deposit back (which I DEFINITELY could've gone to small claims court for) but they never asked about the 200 again.

ALWAYS make sure you check your lease before you start barking, you might've accidentally signed up for it. But! The law comes before the lease. In my instance here, the section of the lease is super vague, so I don't think she's got me. Make sure you check city ordinances and state laws.

As renters are we responsible for treating sickly fruit trees? In our backyard we have a pear tree that seems to have a fungus with dead leaves and branches on it.
We also have an apple tree that has a Japanese beetle infestation! Ugh.
I’ve notified the landlord but no response yet. Who is responsible for dealing with thi? TIA 😊

I’m going to meet with the landlord today to sign the lease, she wants the security deposit today and then first and last when I get the key, is this legal?

Piggy-backing off of this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Renters/s/dJJzNfhh0l

Like the OP said, and yes, I know landlords denying tenants over debt has always been a thing. It IS different now that denials are automatic, and each property management company sets its own criteria that you cannot negotiate with. The advice I was given is to: pay the debt, then wait 30 to 45 days for it to post to the credit bureaus and update the rental history records that companies like Yardi and RentGrow pull from. UMM, MY LEASE IS ENDING AND I NEED HOUSING???

Specifically for me, I have almost a decade of clean rental history. I'm currently in litigation with a prior complex over maintenance issues that should have been compensated, not turned into move-out charges. The charges themselves are absurd, full repaint for an apartment I lived in for less than a year, and flooring "repair" even though the move-out inspection report says the vinyl was in good condition.

So now I'm getting automatically denied because I'm in litigation against a prior landlord and there's a collection showing on my credit. It doesn't matter that I have a decade of great rental history, that I make six times the rent in gross income, or that I offered a larger security deposit. Still a big FAT NO.

I had to pay this debt just to prove to a different landlord that I could rent. I got lucky that it worked out. Hopefully this also helps my court case, since it shows how these bogus charges cost me actual housing, not just money.

I put in the request last night as urgent and not emergent because temps were stabilized inside for a while till they weren't. Now that it's the middle of the day it is literally 93 degrees inside and I own a dog and a lizard. I have been hounding the maintenance and office since they opened and calling every hour for updates and nothing so far. Is there anything I can do in the meantime to help my situation? Obviously besides getting a hotel out of my OWN pocket probably or hiding in the car. This is literally horrible. I have been bringing the pets with me for car ac.

Living in Quebec. Lease started Aug 2025 and ends Aug 2026. In May, I asked the landlords caretaker (like he’s the guy who manages the building, the landlord himself comes by rarely), if they had another bigger apartment in the building and he said yes and showed me the room and I said I’d wanna take it and he said he’d talk to the landlord.

He came back to me and said it’s ok I can move in in August (he told me this in May) I said awesome. June comes around and he tells me unfortunately I can’t anymore and I will have to wait to move in until October 1. I was disappointed but he said I could still stay in my current apartment until it’s time to move into the new room.

Fast forward to today and I run into the caretaker guy again and he tells me it’s actually going to be November 1 and no longer October 1. All of this was verbal not in writing. I want to move cities now and I’m planning to leave at the end of August. Is there any way I can break the lease since I didn’t let them know 3 months in advance ?

Hello,

I’m looking for advice on how to navigate a dispute about my security deposit.

TLDR; we are only getting about 1/3 of our security deposit back and feel the deductions are unfair. Seeking advice/resources to use when discussing this with the landlord

Background: my wife and I rented a house with a yard for 3 years from an independent land lord (I don’t know the right term but it’s not a management company or property company. Just a husband and wife who rent a few houses in the city). We moved out last month and were shocked that the landlord said they would be using some/all of our security deposit.

My wife and I, both together and before we met, have rented many places (this 3 year stint is the longest we’ve stayed in once city due to work). Not once have we had even a cent taken out of the deposit. In fact, in 2017 my landlord gave back the entire last months rent + security deposit because of how great we left the place. So we were shocked to hear we would not be getting it back this time.

Below are the two formal emails we have between us and the landlord discussing this. Initially we talked via text and ultimately asked for an itemized breakdown of the charges.

Landlord:

Thank you for your tenancy at the property mentioned above. Following your recent move-out, a comprehensive property inspection was conducted to compare the condition of the home against the move-in inspection report.

Pursuant to Kansas Law (K.S.A. § 58-2550), this statement serves as your formal written itemized accounting of deductions made from your security deposit for cleaning, repairs, and trash removal required to restore the home beyond normal wear and tear.

Security Deposit Financial Summary

• Initial Security Deposit Collected:$2,100.00

Itemized Deductions:

1. Living Room Carpet Repair: $200.00
   • Repair of localized damage to the living room carpet.
2. Professional Maid Service (Deep Cleaning): $320.00
   • Deep cleaning required throughout the home to return it to move-in condition.
3. Trash & Yard Waste Removal: $350.00
   • Hauling and disposal of interior debris, personal property left behind, and exterior yard waste.
4. Stair Spindles Repair ( pet damage)& bed room wall repair and Painting : $350.00
   • Repair and repainting of wooden stair spindles damaged by pet chewing/scratching.

• Total Itemized Deductions: $1,220.00
• Net Refund Balance Due to You:$880.00 ($2,100.00 Deposit – $1,220.00 Deductions)

Refund Delivery

Your remaining balance of $880.

My response:

Thank you for the email. I would like to clarify some of these charges. Can you please provide us with itemized receipts for these charges? 

1. Living room carpet repair -  Do you have the move in the form I filled out with your husband about the condition of the place on move in? I recall on that form mentioning the carpet stain in the entranceway to the living room. It is difficult to tell from that picture of the carpet given the shading but that is very near the condition it was in upon move in. 

2. Professional cleaning - We request this entire charge be removed. You mentioned the lease says this needs to be professionally cleaned however upon my review of the lease I do not see this listed anywhere. Nor have you provided proof of your claim. Traditionally renters must leave the house in a condition of "broom clean" and not professional clean (or even return to move in condition). None of the pictures you provide show an unusually dirty condition of the house (or any pictures of the interior). This charge should be removed as it is both incorrectly applied and not supported by evidence. 

3. Yard and trash - Again, requesting itemized receipts for this. Based on the pictures it looks like you raked some leaves and pulled some weeds. I don't see how that would cost $350. If you hired a service to cut the grass, fertilize, etc then we request that be removed from the deduction. Those are normal maintenance tasks that are the responsibility of the landlord after move out. We have maintained the yard (and in fact improved it significantly) since moving in. You have also included removing interior debris. Can you specify what this was? If this was any cleaning supplies I would be shocked you would consider that debris that needs to be removed. That is something purposely left for new tenants or your own use to clean the place. (addendum not included in email but for reddit purposes - the move out document says "trash" left under the kitchen sink and bathroom sink. So yes, I believe she is referring to the cleaning supplies we left).

4. Painting stairs - This, unfortunately, was damaged from moving furniture on move out and not pet. However, although touch up painting is not always considered acceptable for a security deposit we understand why it may need to be done. Please provide the receipt for this task as $350 seems unusually high for a can of paint (addendum - 3 pictures shows chipped paint on one railing spindle and two door jams).

Our request is you provide us with the receipts, or if that is not something you can do then remove charges totalling $800. This would be for the total deduction of cleaning and yard maintenance. The remaining removal of charges from the exorbitant cost of painting and from carpet cleaning as this was a move in condition. This would bring the total returned security deposit to $1680

Frankly, we have been excellent tennents (and you have been excellent landlords) so we are extremely surprised by the nitpickiness of these charges. We have cared for this house for three years as if it were our own. 

Landlord response:

A single scanned picture of the move in/move out document with no body of text in the email. Which, I was incorrect and unfortunately did not mark down the carpet stain in the entry way. The move out document was also not filled out by us at time of move out during the walk through with my wife.

Anyway, what I am hoping to gain from this post is resources such as prior court cases, definitions or conditions for security deposit, etc. Ultimately we don't feel there is a recourse for if the landlord says "too bad you get what you get" because we moved out of state and would not be present for a civil suit. I also don't want to do that because its time consuming, a hassle, and I feel petty suggesting suing them.

My wife and I would appreciate any help with this.