Am I liable for the A/C unit failing?

Question

A few hours after moving out, the landlord called to tell me the A/C unit wasn't working and to see if I knew what was wrong with it. I told him I turned the A/C off several weeks ago (when I gave him notice and was no longer residing there) and never had a problem with it when I did use it. The repairman told the owner the A/C could have failed because of frequently turning the unit on and off and the owner has now decided to charge me for this. I have already written the owner explaining the failure of a 12 yr old plus A/C unit is not my fault and while living in the residence for only six months, I only used the A/C for maybe a month and a half. I believe this failure falls under normal wear and tear.

When we did the walk thru, the owner never looked at the A/C unit or questioned why it wasn't on. I have a damages sheet from when I moved in, but upon the final walk thru, neither one of us wrote anything down and the owner verbally agreed that the residence was in good condition and he had no problems or noticed any new damages.

I am most likely going to have to file a civil suit against the owner to get all of my security deposit back, as I am now afraid he's going to find more damages. Knowing I rarely used the A/C unit and had it programmed, I know the failure was no fault of my own. I am concerned about filing a suit against him though because I have nothing to show there were no damages upon release of the unit back to him. Has anyone ever had a similar problem with a landlord? Was it difficult to prove your case against the owner in court?

This is in MD if it makes a difference.

Answer 1

The judge is going to ask the landlord how old the unit is and when the landlord tells them its 12 yrs old the judge will tell them tuff cookie its a old unit that quit working.

Answer 2

an AC unit is the responsibility of the owner. When I bought a 4 plex,

i failed to buy a maintenance policy and the AC unit

cost me 2500 instead of $350. I learned the hard way.

You will win plus you can get damages equal to 1 mo rent.

Answer 3

file the suit--small claims court--and ask for the maximum, even if this is more than your security deposit. An A/C is not something you are required to maintain, nor is it likely you "broke" it due to negligence. You probably did not take pics upon vacating the unit, and you relied on the landlord's verbal "everything's okay" remark, but file anyway, as the courts often have to rely on case presentation (he said, she said) in order to determine who is right or wrong. As a landlord, if a (former) tenant filed a suit and i couldn't back up my claims, i would write it (the A/C) off and  be done with litigation.

Answer 4

1.  Never do a verbal walk through...never, ever, ever.

I think you can sue to get your money back.  If a portible AC unit cannot be shut on and off, then it was ready to go to start with.

Answer 5

An A/C unit is the responsibility of the owner. Don't let him get you for that, just don't plan on getting anything else from your deposit back.