Apartment drop box laws?

Question

I moved out of my apt when my lease was up...which happened to be on the weekend. I was told by the rent office to just drop my keys in the drop box, and I did. I left all my keys in an envelope which had my name, apt number, fwd address, phone number and a big "KEYS" on the front of the envelope. Now three days later they are saying they didn't get any keys and I am going to be charged as if I am still occupying the apt. If I put my keys in the box, am I responsible for their mishaps? What do I do?

Answer 1

Hind sight is 20/20. Nothing you can do right now about it. There's no proof you put them in there. Pretty slick way of keeping some money from your security deposit. Which also means they will probably find some "problems" with the apartment and give you even less back or none at all.

If that happens, I would keep an eye of the place. Once someone else moves in, get in touch with them. Tell them what happened. It may be possible that the lock has NOT been changed and nothing was improved in the apartment. Get pictures, a statement from the current resident, file a claim in small claims court.

In the future, have a final walk through with the landlord and give the keys back then.

Answer 2

There are no specific laws regarding apartment drop boxes. Anytime you drop off something (rent payment, keys) without getting a receipt, you are taking a risk.

There is no real way for you to prove that you dropped off the keys.