All Forum Posts by: Matt Hadley

The lease requires we go through mediation, but not arbitration. I would prefer arbitration because I feel the landlord has not contacted a lawyer, and then if he were to do so, this would already be resolved. I have no issue paying for the cleaning costs that he itemized when he first told me costs, but I do think the carpet has no replacement value and I feel he is attempting to add on additional costs since my demand letter.

 He changed the date stamp on those photos in a subsequent message to indicate that the photos were from the date of move out. The date of the photos is probably relevant if he were to counter Sue, because I would stay accurately that they weren't actually from the move out date and that he manipulated them.

 The landlord has no receipts to show how old the carpet was. I believe it was a very old carpet. I have access to at least one photo that shows the carpet in the rental property 8 years ago. Based on my interpretation of how California treats a carpet of that age, I think he's going to have a challenge demonstrating it had any useful life left because he can't document the date he installed it, or even the type of carpet it was. I believe him that he doesn't know these things and I would be very surprised if he brought receipts showing its age at trial, since he's now set an email twice that he doesn't have any documentation.

He has photos from 8 days after the end of tenancy that he sent me in his response to my demand letter. He subsequently modified the date on those photos and said they were from the move-out date. I would mention that inconsistency at trial.

In my demand letter, I accepted about $1000 in cleaning expenses, but did not accept the $5000 for the carpet replacement. In the pre-move in checklist, we both noted & signed that the carpet was worn/stained in three separate locations. Visually, the carpet looked very old. The landlord has no receipts from its installation date, but there's a photo from 8 years ago that shows the carpet, so it's at least 8 years old. 

I've offered to settle by accepting all cleaning costs even though his documentation is either inconsistent or missing. Even if the carpet were destroyed beyond repair (which I contest), it does not appear to have any remaining useful life, which makes its replacement value $0, I think. 

Let's assume the entire carpet needed to be replaced. What is its replacement value?

I was recently a tenant in California. I have sued my former landlord in Small Claims court for the entirety of my security deposit, plus interest. I am looking for an assessment of who's likely to win at trial and by how much.

The facts: I rented the landlord's home. The landlord texted me to arrange a walk-through on the day of vacancy. We did not clean the house before we vacated. There was a lot of trash, and we left some stickers that our kid placed on one of the walls. Our child also drew on the carpet with a dry-erase marker. In the pre-move in walk-through, the carpet was listed as worn or stained in three locations, and we both signed that pre-move in checklist. The landlord has no receipts for the carpet's purchase date or installation, but I have a photo that shows the carpet is a minimum of 8 years old.

The deductions: My security deposit was $6,000. I expected a deduction for cleaning and trash removal. On day 17 after my vacancy, the landlord emailed me a list of claimed deductions that totaled to slightly more than $6,000. The landlord did not provide receipts and did not claim the emailed list of deductions was preliminary. Of the over $6,000 in claimed deductions, about $5,000 was for a replacement of the carpet.

The demand letter & lawsuit: On day 22 after vacancy, I sent my landlord a demand letter via mail & email for about $5,000 of the security deposit back. I specified three reasons why: (i) for the pre-vacancy walk-through, he didn't notify me of my right to a pre-vacancy walk-through via hand delivery or mail; (ii) for the list of deductions, he didn't send it via mail or hand delivery and he didn't provide receipts or any other documentation; (iii) for the carpet, he had not established that the carpet had any remaining useful life and therefore failed to show it had any replacement value. 

     My landlord responded via email and declined to return any of the security deposit. He sent a packet of estimates for work, but no receipts. He said that he could have billed me for more, but was being nice. He also included photos of what he claimed were the pre- and post-vacancy photos, but the dates didn't line up with our move-in and move-out dates. The photos of the post-vacancy were date stamped 8 days after the end of tenancy. I filed in small claims court two days after his response.

Since then: I have been in an ongoing dialogue with my landlord about the value of the carpet, since that's the bulk of the case. He has said he doesn't have documentation on its age and acknowledged that it's likely over 10 years old, but has said the carpet's age doesn't matter. He did provide an assessment of the carpet's condition from a carpet cleaning expert, but I called this expert and she said she (a) talked with the landlord 28 days after the end of tenancy, after the landlord had already claimed a full replacement deduction; and (b) didn't inspect the carpet in person.

Summary: I think I'm going to win at trial because my landlord didn't follow California law on anything at the end of my tenancy. He didn't send notices via mail or hand delivery. His list of expenses didn't include receipts or any other documentation. He still hasn't provided receipts for most of the claimed deductions - only his personal write-up. Even if a judge didn't rule based on his failure to follow California law, I think I will win on a refund of the carpet replacement cost. The carpet was at least 10 years old, the landlord has no receipts, and therefore, it seems the carpet has zero useful life remaining. If he had attempted to clean it, I could understand a deduction, but he basically decided not to try to clean it on his own - the only expert he consulted didn't see the carpet in person, and he contacted that person only after my demand letter.

What is your opinion on how this case will go at trial?

I was recently a tenant in California. I have sued my former landlord in Small Claims court for the entirety of my security deposit, plus interest. I am looking for an assessment of who's likely to win at trial and by how much.

The facts: I rented the landlord's home. The landlord texted me to arrange a walk-through on the day of vacancy. We did not clean the house before we vacated. There was a lot of trash, and we left some stickers that our kid placed on one of the walls. Our child also drew on the carpet with a dry-erase marker. In the pre-move in walk-through, the carpet was listed as worn or stained in three locations, and we both signed that pre-move in checklist. The landlord has no receipts for the carpet's purchase date or installation, but I have a photo that shows the carpet is a minimum of 8 years old.

The deductions: My security deposit was $6,000. I expected a deduction for cleaning and trash removal. On day 17 after my vacancy, the landlord emailed me a list of claimed deductions that totaled to slightly more than $6,000. The landlord did not provide receipts and did not claim the emailed list of deductions was preliminary. Of the over $6,000 in claimed deductions, about $5,000 was for a replacement of the carpet.

The demand letter & lawsuit: On day 22 after vacancy, I sent my landlord a demand letter via mail & email for about $5,000 of the security deposit back. I specified three reasons why: (i) for the pre-vacancy walk-through, he didn't notify me of my right to a pre-vacancy walk-through via hand delivery or mail; (ii) for the list of deductions, he didn't send it via mail or hand delivery and he didn't provide receipts or any other documentation; (iii) for the carpet, he had not established that the carpet had any remaining useful life and therefore failed to show it had any replacement value.

     My landlord responded via email and declined to return any of the security deposit. He sent a packet of estimates for work, but no receipts. He said that he could have billed me for more, but was being nice. He also included photos of what he claimed were the pre- and post-vacancy photos, but the dates didn't line up with our move-in and move-out dates. The photos of the post-vacancy were date stamped 8 days after the end of tenancy. I filed in small claims court two days after his response.

Since then: I have been in an ongoing dialogue with my landlord about the value of the carpet, since that's the bulk of the case. He has said he doesn't have documentation on its age and acknowledged that it's likely over 10 years old, but has said the carpet's age doesn't matter. He did provide an assessment of the carpet's condition from a carpet cleaning expert, but I called this expert and she said she (a) talked with the landlord 28 days after the end of tenancy, after the landlord had already claimed a full replacement deduction; and (b) didn't inspect the carpet in person.

Summary: I think I'm going to win at trial because my landlord didn't follow California law on anything at the end of my tenancy. He didn't send notices via mail or hand delivery. His list of expenses didn't include receipts or any other documentation. He still hasn't provided receipts for most of the claimed deductions - only his personal write-up. Even if a judge didn't rule based on his failure to follow California law, I think I will win on a refund of the carpet replacement cost. The carpet was at least 10 years old, the landlord has no receipts, and therefore, it seems the carpet has zero useful life remaining. If he had attempted to clean it, I could understand a deduction, but he basically decided not to try to clean it on his own - the only expert he consulted didn't see the carpet in person, and he contacted that person only after my demand letter.

What is your opinion on how this case will go at trial?

California landlord. Tenant is suing in small claims court for full security deposit plus damages. He rented my house. I agreed to end his lease early because I wanted to move back in early. Everything was by email or text. I have withheld his entire deposit.

First, he is stating we didn't tell him of his right to an initial inspection and that's bad faith. I said by email we would do a walk-through on the day he vacated, and we did a walk-through that day before he turned over the keys. The place when I went on the last day was filthy and I told him so. He said to take it out of his deposit.

Second, he is stating we didn't give him an itemized list with receipts within 21 days of vacancy. I did email an itemized list to him on the 16th day but did not send receipts. I hadn't lined everything up so I estimated some costs including repainting and replacing the carpet. He sent a demand letter after 21 days and I set an email back a week later (28 days after vacancy) with estimates for the carpet replacement, which are way more than what I billed him for in my first email. I don't have receipts for the services to clean the house he left so filthy, but I sent my writeups of those services in my second email.

Third, he is stating I didn't prove my carpet or paint had any remaining useful life. I don't have receipts for the carpet, but he ruined it. I had taken good care of it and I wasn't planning to replace it for another six years. And he put stickers on the wall for his kid, so I had to repaint the chips and that's like $400. I don't have receipts but the carpet was fine and it needed to be replaced in full.

Fourth, he is stating I acted in bad faith by doing these three things, plus how i responded to him in my second email. I did state all of the deductions I could have taken in my first email and told him I could have deducted a lot more. And I also said that I might sue for those additional deductions if he sued me, which is my right. He said that's intimidation and that I manufactured the expenses in my second email, just because i didn't mention them in my first itemized list.

So we are going to small-claims court and he wants the entire deposit plus damages. How much should I countersue him for?