Out of the dozens of places I've lived I've only gotten my full deposit back twice. Once because a sewer pipe burst and forced all the residents out. The second time was because I was going broke paying the rent because my job didn't pay enough so I got a friend of mine to forge a letter that made it look like I was joining the military. The landlord told me she was proud of me and gave me the full deposit back.
Other than that, I've always had hundreds of dollars deducted from my deposit because I left toilet paper on the roll or forgot some stray ketchup packets in the junk drawer.
I'm moving in a few months and I'm wondering if I should bother cleaning up to try and get my deposit back or just saying fuck it and cut my losses.
Once. Last apartment before this one was a weird basement that smelled like curry. It was half terrible and half cozy.
We didn't even really clean all that well, but the landlord did a walk-through and handed us a check for the security deposit plus the interest it accrued over the 18 months we were there.
But yeah....every other time they fight to the death to keep the money. When I moved out of state before that the landlord kept the whole thing, which is against VT law, but I had no way to actually fight it.
This is my go to guide
Whenever you move in video EVERYTHING. If the have an itinerary for scratches and marks, go through it when you first move in. Clean the shit out of everything (dust literally everything) before you leave or hire an end of tenancy cleaner (they're expensive, but find the cheapest and get a receipt/invoice and contact number). And when you move out video EVERYTHING again, make sure it's detailed ie touch skirting boards to show no dust etc. I don't think I've had a deposit taken in the last 5 places... Very satisfying to see landlords waste time and money on estate agents and legal (fees to rob you) only to find out a video or tenancy cleaner's receipt burnt them in 5 mins. Moving in and out are the two most important days, if you have the time try.
We can appeal deposits at local councils where I'm from idk about your area.
My mate got charged for 'a finger mark on a brass door handle' $40. And another mate who went grocery shopping before moving out, left a brown of bag rice which cost him $80 for special removal fees. Fucking. Scum.
I luckily manipulated it so I used my deposit as my last month's of rent. He wasn't happy about it but it was easier for him than to get me evicted.
Take pictures and take them to small claims.
Most landlords will bulk at going to court.
shockingly yeah, but only because i was so worried they'd blame me for shit that they never fixed so i did a bunch of repairs myself
Yes, after I threatened to have my dad come and beat the living shit out him if he didn't. I got it the entire thing back. 🙂
Last time I had to move I informed my landlord that I wouldn't be paying the last month's rent and informed him to use my security deposit to pay for my last month's rent. He bitched and moaned about it but I just didn't pay him for the last month and told him where he could find the money. I also requested (prior to move-out) that I would require a line-item bill for any items incurred. This puts the burden on them to collect after the fact and requires them to provide receipts for costs incurred. I also took a ton of photos of every wall, corner, floor, and appliance and emailed a compiled PDF to him on a chain email that included his response (which loosely acts as proof of receipt) and requested a walk-through with them prior to move-out
yes, but it was only because they were going to replace the carpet after I left so I didn't have to pay for cleaning it
Only from people who lived in the same house. Never anywhere that involved property managers.
one time we hired a lawyer and got them on a technicality. shit was rad
