I repeat that little mantra every time the urge comes up to tell this little piggy exactly why she isn't getting a dime back, and in fact she owes me money. Oh I really want to give her an earful. Especially when she sends me texts that say things like “I left the apartment in good condition.” Ha! Apparently her definition of “good condition” and mine are very different.
I suppose it's all relative. She didn't trash the place like some of our evictions. She simply left it dirty. Visible dirt and debris in every room – enough to fill 3 bags when we swept it up. Even Cheerios on the kitchen floor. No big stuff left in the apartment, just the impossibly heavy entertainment center left on the sidewalk in front of the building for the Garbage Fairy to haul away. The stuff left in the apartment was small – ratty curtains on all the windows, a few small, unwanted household objects and knicknacks. A child's folding chair. A dead mircrowave and X Box console. The mildew-y shower curtain they used for the past two years adorned the decidedly uncleaned bathroom. A pot of expired leftovers in the fridge. And the stove! Don't get me started on the stove! Did they order out pizza every night? Because I can't imagine anybody cooking and eating from that!
I got it all cleaned up, but it wasn't free. Had to pay someone to clean. Bag up the garbage. Haul it away. Patch the three holes in the wall and paint over the patches. Order a pane for the cracked living room window and pay to have someone install it. Some of these charges I have spelled out right in the lease this tenant signed – particularly the $300 charge for hauling away large items too big for one person to carry. We put that in the lease as a reaction to tenants leaving unwanted couches behind. I applied it in this case to the entertainment center.
I resisted the urge to share this information with the ex-tenant. She knew how she left the apartment. If she didn't realize this was completely unacceptable, she's got bigger problems than I can ever solve. Lecturing her about it would have the same effect as admonishing a fence post. It would only swirl up a cycle of negative energy. I have more important things to do, and I made a pact with myself around Thanksgiving last year to no longer get caught up in tenant drama: http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/hope-for-the-angry-entrepreneur
I've been building property management systems to avoid engaging in tenant drama as much as possible: http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/rent-collections-a-system
http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/lease-violationswithout-the-drama
http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/what-if-you-could-make-a-quick-500
http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/a-system-for-filling-vacant-units-rough-draft
And last week I wrote about learning to pause. Not every incident requires an immediate reaction: http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/a-landlord-hits-the-pause-button
A System for Returning Security Deposits
When a tenant moves out of a unit, the landlord has a legal obligation to return the security deposit, minus damages, within 30 days of the move-out. If any portion of the deposit was deducted for damages, the landlord must send a statement itemizing the damages and return the balance of the deposit, if any. That is the extent of the landlord's legal obligation. There is no obligation to engage the former tenant beyond this written communication. No obligation to argue with them, lecture them, or try to get them to see it from your side. No obligation to put up with their hostility, threats or verbal abuse. Frankly, I have neither the time nor the energy. So this is my system for dealing with security deposits:
When a tenant gives me notice they'll be moving, I tell them I need their notice in writing, along with their forwarding address to send back their security deposit. At the start of this process, I assume I will be giving it all back to them. It's up to them to prove me wrong.
I was sure I'd be giving the aforementioned tenant all of hers back. She was pretty anal about giving her notice in writing and having me sign a copy for her to keep. She always paid on time and was relatively clean and neat. I was actually shocked she left the place the way she did. She'll no doubt blame her young adult children for the mess, since they were the last in the family to finally move out. It doesn't matter to me who made the mess, though. My lease says all adults named on the lease are jointly and severally liable. And I was the one left to clean it up!
Back to my system: the 30 day clock for the return of security deposit starts ticking the day they give possession of the unit back. I got my unit back on August 1, so I had until August 31 to mail out the security.
Some landlords walk through the unit with the tenant on move-out day. I used to do that, and I will if the tenant requests a walk-through. But I no longer do it as a rule. The reason? Sometimes all the damage isn't discovered in a quick walk-through. It was my touch-up painter who discovered the holes in the wall. I might not have noticed the crack in the living room window that required a $40 replacement pane and $50 installation either. You can bet the tenant won't go out of her way to point that out! My advice to any landlord doing a walk-through with a tenant – make it clear this may not be final, and that any damage discovered AFTER the walk-through will be noted on the security deposit settlement statement to be mailed out within 30 days. Beware especially of smells – a tenant can clean up a place nice and it will smell like cleaning products on a final walk-through. But a day later any odor of cat pee will come right back! In many cases this is not done intentionally, but you're still stuck with the cost of having the place cleaned again. And under no circumstances are you to cut the tenant a check right then and there! You have thirty days. The law gives them to you for your own protection.
It is not my intention to “screw” a tenant out of their security deposit. I always try to be fair. For instance I had one tenant move out who made an effort to clean the apartment, but the cat pee smell came back. I charged her $100 for that, which is what it cost me to hire someone to clean the apartment using a special cleaning product designed for cats. Her dishwasher was clogged, so I called the appliance repairman, who could not fix the problem. I asked the repairman in his professional opinion – was the problem caused by the tenant or was this just the end of the line for the dishwasher? He told me it was likely just an old dishwasher gone bad. So no charge to the tenant.
When you are going to make deductions from someone's security deposit, make sure you document any damage with pictures. I love my Google Pixel phone because it will time stamp the pictures and upload them to Google Photos connected to my gmail account. If the tenant disagrees with your assessment and hauls you into court, it's nice to be able to print out 8x10 glossies to show the courtroom what pigs they are.
Speaking of court, make sure you get invoices and receipts for any work done and paid for. Some judges will discount a landlord's time so try not to do any of the work yourself. I don't do it myself, but if I did I would make sure to bill my rental company for the services of Kelly's Kleaners or something like that!
Once I figure out a final total for all damages (I like to wait until all the work is done and paid for if time allows) then I can prepare the Security Deposit Settlement Statement. I list the move-out date, the tenant's forwarding address, whether proper notice was given, and whether rent was paid up. Then I list the amount of the deposit. From that, I subtract actual damages. Any unpaid rent or late fees. Any lost rent due to improper notice. Then I itemize any damages to the unit. Expenses are subtracted from the deposit, and the end result is either Amount Due To Tenant or Amount Due To Landlord.
This month I had to write three statements. One was $300 Due To Tenant, so I sent the check along with the settlement statement indicating I had deducted $250 for unpaid rent and $100 for cleaning. I sent it certified, so I have a little green receipt from the Post Office with the date stamp proving I mailed it within the 30 days.
The other two statements had Due To Landlord amounts. In reality, I never expect to see this money. It would require me to sue them in small claims court and then there would be a hearing. Collecting would require paying another filing fee and there are many laws protecting debtors. I might be able to garnish wages if the tenant was working and the wages were high enough. It's on my list of things-to-do to start working with a collection agency to start collecting on these damages, but it's pretty far down the list.
That said, if one of these little piggies who left my apartments in disarray ever dares take me to court over the security deposit, I get to file a counter suit at a reduced filing fee - $30 as opposed to the $150 to initiate a suit. No tenant has ever filed against me, although a few have threatened to. This latest one just might – she's pretty aggressive and entitled. She even called the maintenance line with her “Where's my security deposit?” as the month drew to an end. I texted her an image of the certified mail date stamp – my only communication with her. She is going to blow a gasket when the statement finally arrives. There's a part of me that actually hopes she does haul me into court – what a cool blog topic that will be!
I'll let you know.
Meanwhile, I will continue about my business in a non-confrontational, drama-free way.
Namaste.