Small claims court questions over a security deposit dispute

[Jose Diaz]

Hello, 

Months ago, I received and approved a broken kitchen faucet work order for one of my rental properties from my PM. I asked my PM to check with their technician to determine if the damage was tenant inflicted or normal wear/tear since this was a newly acquired rehabbed property. The stated the damage did not look like normal wear and tear and the tenant definitely did something either trying to fix it or damaged it altogether. The faucet could not be repaired and had to be replaced. The PM and I agreed the tenant should bear the cost and it was added to the ledger. The tenant disputed but we held our ground. Their lease recently terminated and I refunded their security deposit minus the replacement cost for the kitchen faucet. They disputed with the PM and I believed the matter to be resolved. 

This week I received a letter from the tenant threatening to go to small claims court for the remainder of their security deposit. The claim they did not damage the faucet and that the head just came off and wasn't in as bad a shape as the technician made it out to be. 

I have never been to small claims court or been in this situation before. This is looking like it would be a he says, she says type of case and I don't know how a judge would rule. On principle, I believe if you break it you own up to it and pay it. I also understand many folks aren't honest and I'm putting a lot of trust in my PM and their team. If I go to small claims court, I am pretty sure it'll be tenant friendly and I don't know what the outcome could be. 

Does anyone have any insight or experience on how a judge may rule on this? Is it worth going to small claims over this or just eating the cost and paying the tenant their remaining security deposit to go away?

[Randall Alan]

Quote from @Jose Diaz:

Hello, 

Months ago, I received and approved a broken kitchen faucet work order for one of my rental properties from my PM. I asked my PM to check with their technician to determine if the damage was tenant inflicted or normal wear/tear since this was a newly acquired rehabbed property. The stated the damage did not look like normal wear and tear and the tenant definitely did something either trying to fix it or damaged it altogether. The faucet could not be repaired and had to be replaced. The PM and I agreed the tenant should bear the cost and it was added to the ledger. The tenant disputed but we held our ground. Their lease recently terminated and I refunded their security deposit minus the replacement cost for the kitchen faucet. They disputed with the PM and I believed the matter to be resolved. 

This week I received a letter from the tenant threatening to go to small claims court for the remainder of their security deposit. The claim they did not damage the faucet and that the head just came off and wasn't in as bad a shape as the technician made it out to be. 

I have never been to small claims court or been in this situation before. This is looking like it would be a he says, she says type of case and I don't know how a judge would rule. On principle, I believe if you break it you own up to it and pay it. I also understand many folks aren't honest and I'm putting a lot of trust in my PM and their team. If I go to small claims court, I am pretty sure it'll be tenant friendly and I don't know what the outcome could be. 

Does anyone have any insight or experience on how a judge may rule on this? Is it worth going to small claims over this or just eating the cost and paying the tenant their remaining security deposit to go away?

@Jose Diaz

I’ve been to small claims court a number of times… usually suing the tenant for back rent they owe.

the first thing I would tell you is that if usually starts off with mediation, where you meet face to face with your tenant and a mediator to try and hash something out.  If you can’t, then there is a trial.

I would  suggest that what happens at trial will probably be governed first by the terms of your lease, but also by the landlord-tenant statutes of your state. So I would probably look to your lease for part of your  answer.   Typically damages are what the security deposit is there for.  But on the other hand I could see someone arguing “normal wear and tear”.  It probably  just depends of the nature of the damage and how realistic it seems that could randomly happen.  The question of “how old was the previous faucet may come up, and if you don’t have a knowledgeable / provable “it was pretty new” kind of answer I could see a judge siding with the tenant on wear and tear logic.  Again… don’t know the specifics or what it looked like or how it broke.  

Being that a faucet probably costs $100 at most for a faucet for a rental, and maybe. $100-$150 if you hired someone to put it in, I would weigh the value of your time to deal with court.  Also, whoever loses may also owe the filing fees for the small claims process.  So that may be as much as what the cost of the faucet repair was.  Filing for small claims in my state is literally one piece of paper… it’s pretty easy  for the tenant to go there  (ie. it doesn’t take a lawyer and fronting a lot of money to do it)

I might suggest to offer to split cost with her as a way to avoid the hassle and possible expense of small claims.l and create a win-win situation.  If you approach her with the attitude of, “I can see your point, but hopefully you can see mine as well” … “how about we split the cost and avoid the hassle and call it a day” might be the best solution.  

Best of luck 

Randy