Apartment Security Deposit Question?

Question

Brother moved into an apt June 1. 1 yr lease. Gave June rent & 1 month security. About mid-June the landlord stated he'd lost the sec. deposit check in his laundry. Check was not yet cashed so it was cancelled and replaced. Clearly labeled "Replacement for lost Sec. Deposit check #_".

Early this month (July) my brother was late with his rent. Landlord is mad. He paid but was then told that sec. check bounced. Landlord gets madder. Turns out two bank transfers occured in June draining the account. Don't think the landlord did it but I'm pretty sure he lost the check on the street not in the laundry. Anyway, the account was closed and the bank is looking into it.

But...landlord keeps harassing my brother. Claims he needs that money to pay bills. Brother told him that NYC Rent Guidelines say a dep. can't be used for that; has to go into it's own account and just sit. Should he make him wait until the bank investigates and refunds or does the landlord have cause to try and evict.

Answer 1

Trouble is right

Answer 2

Your brother issued a bad check.

The landlord can evict for breach of lease.

In New York, the landlord can recover the face value of check plus two times check amount up to a maximum of $400 on NSF or $750 on "no account" .