Landlord fucking around with security deposit - court?

[Type_S1]

You may have gotten screwed and sounds like it but did you cause any damage to the house? Be honest with yourself because I had tenants who fought tooth and nail for me not to withhold the damage deposit after damage and threatened all types or things with wanabe lawyer language. In the end they came to their senses and we settled. IMO if there is any damage whatsoever over normal wear and tear you should be paying 100% of the cost to have a professional fix it.

Not saying you aren't in the right, just feel like there is so much hatred towards landlords when usually it's the tenants that are the dead beats.

[nobb]

I feel like maybe we are only getting one side of the story here. It's easy for people to get sympathy by presenting certain one-sided truths.

It sounds like the landlord is not familiar with some of the rules, which will work in your favor. But for your whole security deposit to be withheld...there has to be a reason. If you are saying the landlord is willing to pony up for a lawyer, then that would suggest to me they have grounds to be withholding the security deposit (even if the landlord didn't follow the correct procedures).

The real question here is...what are the damages that the landlord is seeking?

[b_t]

Originally posted by nobb
I feel like maybe we are only getting one side of the story here. It's easy for people to get sympathy by presenting certain one-sided truths.

It sounds like the landlord is not familiar with some of the rules, which will work in your favor. But for your whole security deposit to be withheld...there has to be a reason. If you are saying the landlord is willing to pony up for a lawyer, then that would suggest to me they have grounds to be withholding the security deposit (even if the landlord didn't follow the correct procedures).

The real question here is...what are the damages that the landlord is seeking?

I only say she'll get a lawyer because she has had good luck with lawyers in the past. ie. her divorce. And what other side is there to the story, when I say she put the fuckin place up for sale and we had a ton of showings every week? We paid so much money to live in that place only to not be able to go home after work, or relax for a whole day on the weekend, because there were strangers coming through all the time. It is a fixed term lease and she never gave us a chance to leave. It was perfectly legal, but still so ignorant. The tenant board already reviewed our complaint about that and found it totally reasonable so she has one strike on her record (if that's how it works, I don't care about that anymore). There is a prior record of disrespect of us here that we can back up with evidence of every fuckin showing they came through for, times they showed up without appointments, I busted her INSIDE the house without notice once.... all documented and so on.

Like I said, some of these damages weren't even caused by us. When I say that, it is the truth. I am not going to pretend like there aren't a few small things wrong that we could have easily fixed ourselves but didn't due to ill will because of the aforementioned, and we had a number in mind of what was acceptable for damages. She has come back with insane estimates for small problems, stuck us with things previous tenant did, things that according to a friend of mine were fucked waaaaay before she even started renting the house...

I might be a huge fag but don't ever think I'm the kind of douchebag who would fuck somebody over

[Type_S1]

^ it's business and you are taking this way too personal. They lady wanted to sell her house while renting....there is nothing illegal about that. You are renting, you can't expect that you can run the landlords life but she should have still limited appointments to certain days/times for you.

Also, you just admitted there were damages caused by you. She might be providing you a legitimate estimate of the damages as hiring a contractor to come fix things IS EXPENSIVE. If there is a hole in the wall you can expect the landlord to go out and buy the materials and patch it themselves. a professional contractor doing this with paint matching could be $400+ for example.

This is a business for the landlord, I understand it's a crappy situation and she is likely in the wrong but seems like you need to be a bit more reasonable and try to work towards a settlement. If it's worth the stress, annoyance and time off work to go to court then go for it!

[HiTempguy1]

Originally posted by Type_S1
you can't expect that you can run the landlords life but she should have still limited appointments to certain days/times for you.

Well actually, yes he can. The landlord must give a minimum of 24 hours notice.

At the end of the day, unless we are talking massive holes in the wall, stains in the carpet, or outright damage, he should be getting his damage deposit back.

The damage deposit is not meant to make a rental owner whole due to wear and tear, and wear and tear on a house that has been rented for a couple of years IS EXTENSIVE.

[Type_S1]

Originally posted by HiTempguy1


Well actually, yes he can. The landlord must give a minimum of 24 hours notice.

At the end of the day, unless we are talking massive holes in the wall, stains in the carpet, or outright damage, he should be getting his damage deposit back.

The damage deposit is not meant to make a rental owner whole due to wear and tear, and wear and tear on a house that has been rented for a couple of years IS EXTENSIVE.

Yes, but the landlord is in his right to say "we will be having a realtor come monday to friday 5-7pm for the next two weeks"....and I feel the tenant should understand this. The landlord's 500k investment is much more important then the tenant wanting to relax at home.

Wear and tear is properly defined yet often misunderstood. Ex. any hole in a wall is not wear in tear.

I really have no sympathy for tenants so I am biased. Tenant's never seem to understand the investment required to rent out a house, they just treat the landlord like crap...ex. heavyfuel's comments on every thread.

[project240]

If it does go to court, it is up to her to provide the pre move in inspection. If she can't show this, then it is impossible to show a difference in home condition from when you moved in to when you moved out.

If you know she doesn't have this then I would definitely take it to court as you will win based on this alone.

Also of note, your DD is supposed to be held in an interest bearing account, therefore if she had your DD for a year, you should be returned the full amount plus interest for the entire time she held onto it.

With all this being said, it is likely easier to come to a mutually agreeable solution rather than court, but if it comes to that, you're sitting pretty good assuming no move in inspection can be produced by her.

[Hallowed_point]

I've yet to have a Calgary landlord pay out interest on my DD as required by law..I've lived in 6 different places in the past 8 years. I've never bothered fighting it. A lot of owners seem to think tenants don't educate themselves on tenancy law.

[lint]

interest obligations http://www.servicealberta.ca/1033.cfm

[Feruk]

Originally posted by Hallowed_point
I've yet to have a Calgary landlord pay out interest on my DD as required by law..I've lived in 6 different places in the past 8 years. I've never bothered fighting it. A lot of owners seem to think tenants don't educate themselves on tenancy law.

Bigger companies will. I rented with Boardwalk, which is the only time I got paid interest.

[nobb]

Originally posted by lint
interest obligations http://www.servicealberta.ca/1033.cfm

I see the minimum interest as being 0% for recent years. Also, you can put a clause in the agreement that there is to be no interest. The amount is so negligible that it's more of a hassle to fight.

[b_t]

Originally posted by Type_S1


Yes, but the landlord is in his right to say "we will be having a realtor come monday to friday 5-7pm for the next two weeks"....and I feel the tenant should understand this. The landlord's 500k investment is much more important then the tenant wanting to relax at home.

Wear and tear is properly defined yet often misunderstood. Ex. any hole in a wall is not wear in tear.

I really have no sympathy for tenants so I am biased. Tenant's never seem to understand the investment required to rent out a house, they just treat the landlord like crap...ex. heavyfuel's comments on every thread.

From the landlord's point of view, their investment is more important. From the tenant's point of view, my right to relax at home is more important. For her, it is business. For me, it is personal.

There's also no holes in the walls, we didn't even mark up the hardwood, the only damage to the carpet was pre-existing. I actually destroyed my vacuum trying to clean the shitty renos they did in the basement. I also listed the ways she has broken the law already. If you weren't going to read the thread, why did you even post?

[Hallowed_point]

Originally posted by b_t
There's also no holes in the walls, we didn't even mark up the hardwood, the only damage to the carpet was pre-existing. I actually destroyed my vacuum trying to clean the shitty renos they did in the basement. I also listed the ways she has broken the law already. If you weren't going to read the thread, why did you even post?

It would appear that Type_S1 has a hate on for all renters..we are all low life scum who don't pay rent and destroy the property right?



Reality is a harsh pill. Lot's of scummy fob types with "income properties" who try and fix everything themselves (and fail) or just ignore everything that doesn't involve money in their hand.

Originally posted by b_t
From the landlord's point of view, their investment is more important. From the tenant's point of view, my right to relax at home is more important. For her, it is business. For me, it is personal.

Totally agree. You want to rent out your place and get rich? Don't forget that people will consider it "their" home. At least while they are under lease and paying your mortgage.

[Isaiah]

There are a few posts about holes in the walls. I've never put a hole in a wall of a place I've lived and can't imagine how that would happen. Is this common with rental proporties? How or why would you put a hole in a wall other than by accidentally bumping it while moving furniture?

[Hallowed_point]

Originally posted by Isaiah
There are a few posts about holes in the walls. I've never put a hole in a wall of a place I've lived and can't imagine how that would happen. Is this common with rental proporties? How or why would you put a hole in a wall other than by accidentally bumping it while moving furniture?

Fist/head/foot usually will put a nice hole in the wall

[Feruk]

Originally posted by Isaiah
There are a few posts about holes in the walls. I've never put a hole in a wall of a place I've lived and can't imagine how that would happen. Is this common with rental proporties? How or why would you put a hole in a wall other than by accidentally bumping it while moving furniture?

In my experience, either fist, leg, human body (alive), or beer bottle throwing. Good thing they're super easy to fix.

[CanmoreOrLess]

Not to disrespect all landlords, nothing is ever 100%. I've had sixteen landlords across three provinces and two countries. Out of the lot, two were outright douches, the rest were rather nice as I paid the rent on time, caused no discomfort to others in the building and left the unit in better condition. One landlord was a seasoned real estate lawyer right here in Calgary. I'd hire him in a heartbeat as my real estate lawyer BUT he is just not right in the head.

If I ever was to rent again, it would never be from a lawyer.

[three.eighteen.]

If this matter hasn't been settled, PM me. I was going to post a basic answer about your situation, but even that approaches legal advice and I would like to avoid doling it out on a public forum.