Last December my husband and I moved out of our apartment in Twin Falls and came to Wyoming. A month after we moved, we received a notice from the owner concerning our deposit refund stating we owed him an additional $100 for unpaid rent and cleaning charges, and if the amount wasn't paid in 10 days we would be sent to small claims.
Upon receiving the letter I was all but happy. Here I was expecting at least $300 from our $350 deposit and all I received was a vindictive letter requesting more money!! Not only had they stated we didn't pay our first month's rent, but that the deposit amount was $50 less than what we actually paid and signed upon in our contract.
Needless to say, I sent a letter back with a copy of checks showing what we had paid. A month went by and nothing; two months, nothing. Finally, I decided that if they weren't going to take me seriously I would sound pretty serious. I sent a second letter requesting our deposit money back and stated the Idaho Tenant Laws they had violated by not responding to my first letter and gave them 3 days to comply with my request as allowed by Idaho State Law. I sent the letter via certified mail to make sure they received it and to verify timely action.
Today I received their responce. I was half expecting another rebuttal, but to my amazement it was a check. When I looked at the amount, I noticed they pocketed $50 just because they thought they deserved it or something. They still had the original deposit amount $50 short. UGH!!
I am vowing from this day forward to never rent again. Trying to get your own money back from landlords is ridiculous. I would understand if we were horrible tenants, but that was far from the truth.
Our Happily Ever After
Wow! That is crazy! I'm glad you were able to get most of your money back though.
ReplyDeleteOh I know...I've never had that problem before and I hope I never have to deal with it in the future.
ReplyDeleteWe have lived in 9 different apartments and we have had every experience you can imagine. One was similar to yours, and another the landlord almost cried because the place was clean (I guess she wasn't used to that). But our main problem we run into, is our landlords always want to move in at the end of our lease! So here we are again.
ReplyDeleteAbout 2 months ago, we made an offer on a house. We haven't heard anything but we have to move September 1st (landlord moving back in). So we have to decided to wait it out, bumming off friends (aka Jon), or rent a tiny apartment till we hear. So I know what you are going through and it sucks! Miss you Nae!!