tenant demand pet deposit to be refund

[Kathy Nguyen]

I have a unit that has three tenants lived in there.  2 tenants vacanted and the third one decided to stayed.  One of the girl, who vacated made a pet deposit of $300.  On the pet deposit agreement stated that pet deposit is non-refundable.  She moved out and now she demand refund on the pet deposit.  I told her pet deposit are not refundable but she said in the pet agreement stated it is.  But one of pet agreement section stated:

NON-REFUNDABLE PET DEPOSIT: Tenant will pay a one-time refundable pet deposit of $300.00 if there is no damage in order to have the pet in the unit. ( This section is confusing.  But I think where "Tenant will pay a one-time refundable pet deposit of $300.00" used to be non-fundable but somehow the "non" word got taken out or there's a typo)

3. NO LIMIT ON LIABILITY: The additional security deposit, non-refundable pet deposit in the amount of $300.00 under this Agreement is not a limit on Tenant’s liability for property damages, cleaning, deodorization, ridding unit of fleas, replacements, and/or personal injuries set forth below.

Both contract and the tenant are inherited from previous owner.  The seller didn't pass on the non-refundable pet deposit.  Also I can't do a throughly inspection bc one of the tenant is still there.   How should I approach this dilemma?

[Richard F.]

Aloha,

Several issues here...It sounds like the Tenants are all on one Agreement. If it is contradictory on the pet deposit, first stating Non-Refundable, then stating one time refundable deposit, you have a serious problem. A typical Judge will look at that and rule in favor of the Tenant. The typo should have been corrected at signing, and/or you should have caught it when you reviewed copies of the Agreement shortly after having your offer accepted. Verbal conversations about terms are generally impossible to prove...which is why everything should be in writing and clearly legible. Also, you should have required a signed estoppel letter detailing the major terms and status of deposits referenced early in your due diligence.

Another problem you have is that since you did not have the pet deposit transferred to you at closing, YOU need to pony up. This is something that should have been negotiated in your purchase offer. Since it was supposedly NON refundable, there is no reason the Seller could not keep it, but it still should have been split with you in some fashion if the unit was not turned over vacant. Too late now.

Whether or not you can inspect the unit is irrelevant at the moment, since you are talking about pet deposit, not the Security Deposit, which hopefully you DID get transferred to you. Assuming all three Tenants are on one Agreement, there are a couple of issues with the SD. Unless the Agreement specifically states some kind of three way split for the SD, it would not be addressed until ALL Tenants vacate and keys have been returned. Also, just because two of the Tenants moved out, this should not release them from responsibility for the terms of the Agreement. YOU decide if someone can be released, and you have all parties sign an addendum to spell that out. Can the remaining person even afford to pay the rent? Did you ever have a new application completed so you could determine if this person meets your screening criteria? What happens when the last remaining Tenant doesn't pay the full rent next due date?

You do not state how long ago you closed this sale, but you should have expected, and been planning for these issues.