Landlord refused to return deposit. Sue or not sue?

Question

I live in CA, and my landlord has withheld my deposit for two months when he's supposed to return it within 21 days. I have cleaned my apartment, gave him 30 day notice and forwarding address and everything. I didn't receive any contact from him for 30 days, so I called to remind him and for another two weeks he still didn't return my deposit. I repeatedly called and emailed him and he just made excuse for not having my forwarding address and what not. Now it's in Day 60, he said he is only gonna return $300 of my $400 deposit because I "messed up" the apartment. By law, since he didn't give me an itemized list of damage within 21 days, I believe I'm entitled to have my full deposit. admittedly he's a clever c u nt and know i'm probably not gonna bother to sue for mere $100. But since he's so dishonest, can I sue him for twice the deposit minus whatever to return to me?

I didn't take pictures when I moved out, and he didn't give me a walkthrough when I requested it on the phone.

Answer 1

You can take it to small claims court and you should be able to get the full amount. You have a legitimate case. I work for a lawfirm as a paralegal so we get asked questions like this alot. The lawyers just say take it to small claims for a small amount like that.

Answer 2

Sue him for the entire amount. Let him explain it to the judge why he is taking so long. Find you phone records and e-mails on how many times you have contacted him. Let him prove the place was "messed up".

Answer 3

I was watching one of those "judge" shows on tv, and it was almost your same exact situation.  And, yes, the girl was awarded double her deposit because he withheld it without sending her his reason for not giving it to her (even though she had actually destroyed the property) but since he didn't bother to send her a letter, then she was awarded her deposit(doubled) back.

Answer 4

i own apartment and he can keep 100.00 if the carpet needs to be cleaned.. if there was no damage to the apartment when you left, and he saw that, he needs to pay you.  if there is any other damage done while you were in it, he is entitled to recover the cost of the repairs and the time the apartments sits empty.  the empty apt thing is a hard one to get . he would have to prove that you caused an extreme amount of damage to recover lost rent.  serving him with small claims court papers will get him to pay you unless he has good reason that he can prove that you're at fault for damages.  good luck with it.

Answer 5

Take hime to court and sue him for the whole amount... You're right in this case... You should had assisted on the walk through and took pictures though. He didn't give you the list of damages in time.

Answer 6

You need to check local tenant laws to be sure. From my experience you would be entitled to twice the amount of the deposit. (I'm in IL)

Answer 7

Sue him for the $400 and try to double it.

Answer 8

You are correct.

He has 21 days to either return it or provide an itemized list.  

Sue him.

It doesn't even matter now whether you took pictures or not.  He's late.

You can sue him for THREE TIMES the deposit.

Answer 9

Let him know that you are going to talk to your lawyer... if he doesn't respond then do that... and if it is in your rights by the law and everything(I'm not from CA so I'm not sure) than have your lawyer contact him and so on

Answer 10

It all depends upon your lease.  Some leases specifically state they will keep a portion of the deposit for "professional cleaning" . . . even though you clean it.  If you feel that you are being taken advantage of, you can go to small claims court, but after paying the fee to have the case heard, you won't get back your hundred dollars anyway.  Cut your losses and get on with your life . . . and next time, be sure to read the lease carefully; and if there isn't anything specific in the lease, request that it be put in.

Answer 11

I think there needs to be a lot more regulation of rental properties.  Too many landlords scamming people out there.  I think that landlords should be licensed and report to a licensing committee.  If the landlord screws up bad enough take away the license and then the landlord cannot collect rent on any of his/her properties until he/she gets the license back.  Even then, the landlord can only charge rent for times when he/she had a license.

Hairdressers have to be licensed.  Why not landlords?