All Forum Posts by: Phil Blair

from:

http://www.ohiolegalservices.org/public/legal_problem/housing/landlord-tenant-issues/security-deposit/qandact_view

Can the landlord keep my security deposit?

Yes. If you owe the landlord any amounts of money for items that were your responsibility to pay as required by your agreement (written or oral) with the landlord. Some examples would include any unpaid rent, late fees, or utility bills and damages to the unit beyond normal wear and tear caused by you.

Ok so several months ago, I took in a deposit from a couple and they gave me a bogus story to as why they couldn't move in, I told them that it was customary for the deposit to be forfeited if you refuse to move in. Well now after them harassing me for several months, I decided to give them their money back. I told them I would pay them on a such date and they refused and said they are taking me to court now. These couple are the worst people I have ever dealt with, on one hand they are saying they want to work with me, then on the other hand, they don't want to work with me. I did tell them that if they took me to court I will fight them every step of the way now, because I feel like they are being totally dishonest with me from the very get go. I AM SO GLAD I DID NOT RENT TO THESE COUPLE. :)

After several texts the tenant agrees to give the deposit that same day and pay the first mos rent Friday, so I agreed to that and they agreed to that, well two days later they decide to back out and demanded to have their security deposit.Well I had to turn down several very potential tenants and many other callers literally like 10-20 people. After talking to a lawyer, he told me to keep all of their texts and the texts of where I had to turn down the other potential tenants. He said that I had a really strong case to keep the security deposit, which I am planning on doing, because the story they gave me is very fishy, they told me they needed to take out a loan to buy a house, I'm like you wouldn't be needing the money to do something like that. But anyhow they started to text me and call me and they think they are not liable because they didn't sign anything, I said there was a contract made, so I said talk to a lawyer or take me to court and I am willing to take this to court and then they demanded their money back and gave me guidelines to give me the money back, so to me they are being very forceful and trying to be aggressive with me, to me there has to be some repercussions for people trying to take advantage of you. I am very new to the landlord/tenant business, so I want to know what to expect when I go to court, what records should I have and what things should I record? Also what has been your experiences with these situations as well?

These are all very good points, I do plan on suing the tenant, and maybe go after her dad, if possible. I plan on suing for damages and lost of rent and anything else I can sue her for! Then I just plan on selling the house! This house was a house that I lived in for years and had to move bc I was driving waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy too much. Which is why I decided to move out, I couldn't sell it, the mortgage just flip flopped on me so thats why I decided to rent out my place, I did do the background checks and do all the necessary screening too! Her parents own their own business so I thought she would be a good person to let rent my house, but def not the case and why I am planning on suing them too, bc I found out that she never worked and gave me false information about her income. Her dad also gave me false information as well, I had no idea she wasn't working til my neighbors told me what was going on. The problem how can I prove this beyond a reasonable doubt, that I don't know yet. Any hints or suggestions would be nice here.

But I do plan on selling my house now and just taking a loss/ well the bank is taking a loss, because it is just too much of headache to me. I seriously thought about doing rentals for a full time profession bc me and my dad used to rebuild houses all the time when I was growing up, but the legality nightmares are a pain. I just don't get why people aren't more respectful, I live in a rental and I would never imagine doing those things that happened to me to my landlord, its just not right, nor respectful. People just aren't responsible any more it seems.

Also I do have all pictures of how my house was before I rented it, but the cops did not even want to take that into consideration either, they just automatically said this was a civil manner!

The cops didn't even take a look at my lease, they just automatically said it was a civil matter and it is in my lease. They just didn't want to do anything about it! Its horrible that cops don't want to get involved it is their job! My lawyer insists that it is criminal though, I do know that!

So yesterday day I took over my house that my tenants have literally destroyed. At least in my opinion. I was not making money on this property, literally, I tried renting because my house flipflopped in mortgage and I was driving an hour to school and half an hour to work as well. So thus this is the reason I decided to move, for economic reasons. With all that said, had to evict my tenants because they got busted for Drug Possession. When I overtook the house just yesterday, I had found that they stole my washer and dryer and in the process tore up the vinyl flooring, not real cheap stuff, but with the backing, because I used to live there and put it down myself. So I am estimating they did $2000 to 3000 worth of damage in just that alone.

I know I can sue her but thats not the problem here at all, when I called the cops they acted like they didn't want anything to do with me, I'm still pissed about this. The cops tell me that this is a civil matter, I'm like are you serious, so they didn't even take a report. So I called my attorney and he said call them back and make them file a report, so I called again per my attorney's request the dispatcher starts to give me crap again, finally I said put your supervisor on, then and finally then, they started to take my report. Why does it have to go to that extreme? Why can't they just do their job? Then I called again today because I realized that they are still thinking this is a civil matter, I said I want to press charges on the person who rented my property, they again told me this was a civil matter. I said who is telling you this is a civil matter? They wouldn't tell me? I'm like my lawyer thinks this is theft, so how is this still a civil matter. Idk but I think I will file a formal complaint hopefully with or without the help of my lawyer and I think I will write a note to the mayor because this shouldn't happen.

What do you guys think of this situation? Does this sound screwed up to you?

Now she states that she is going to pay me tom. But the thing is she had me waiting 3 hours, to find out that she had to wait til mourning to get the money, then I am suppose to come back tomorrow and pick the money. I think if I don't receive the money as stated I'll hand her and eviction notice instead. Plus what do you guys think, tomorrow she will be one day late, should I charge her a late fee, or should I wave it because she stated that her dad was out of town. But my question is what the heck was she doing all day today???? I am so pissed right now! The thing is if they are willing to pay me, I don't care, but if this becomes a habit then I want them out and I don't care how. So what should I do? And what can I do to make sure that I get my rent on time and quit having these hassles of her waiting til the last possible moment to pay me. I already have another tenant that wants to move in! I just don't know how much more of this crap I can take from her.

So my question is: Is it better to just try and evict the tenants or try to work something out with them?

The reason I ask is the more and more I review the eviction process, the more and more it seems like it may take a while to get them evicted. Another thing is that her dad owns her own business and I thought about giving him a call and telling him that I am about to evict her daughter. I have made several attempts to contact them on past due utilities and this months rent which is due tom.

But here is another scenario is that I already have another tenant lined up. She stated that if anything ever happened that she would take the house asap. Plus all her funds are guaranteed by the state. And I have already been in contact with her verbally and she said that she is still willing to take the property.

So should I go ahead and evict the tenant and try to get the other tenant in there asap? Or should I try to work something out with them?

If so how long does this process take? (Eviction process)