security deposit

[karenfromcali]

I'm in CA and rented an apt. for four years. I gave a written 30 day notice to move and turned in my keys on time. I cleaned the apt, filled in all nail holes so the only thing the LL would have to do is paint and clean or replace carpet, (unit was not painted prior to me moving in & carpet wasn't in good condition). The property manager I rented from retired the beginning of 2008, I never signed a new rental agreement with the new property manager and no walk through was down. On the day I turned in my keys, I took pictures of all the rooms, the cabinets, stove, oven(inside & out) fridge and the storage room.The pics show just how clean I left the apt.
I waited to receive my deposit and when I didn't get it I phoned the PM after 21 days and was told they had five more days to get back to me. After leaving several messages with no return call back to me, I finally spoke with someone in their collections dept. She said " after deducting my $400 deposit, I actually owe them $814.52". The charges are for the following...
$75 - cleaning
$864 - labor
$188.54 - paint
$1 - reg.bulbs
$1 - cover
$34.26 privacy lock
$3.75 door stops
$6.99 toilet seat (picture shows a clean toilet seat on the toilet)
$42.98 25watt bulbs, 40w bulbs, hood filter,pull chain, pole socket
$17 - kilz
I sent a certified letter askin for the return of my deposit and also hand delivered one. No response from them and it's been over 2 weeks. This apt was ready to rent except for needing paint and carpet cleaning. Pictures are worth a 1000 words!! I did not receive the undated list of expenses until after I sent the certified letter.
How much can I sue for in small claims court? Can I ask for interest on my deposit? any advice much appreciated.

After looking at this list of charges, some of them appear to be legitimate.
-The charges for lights bulbs can be made if you left burnt out ones on the sockets. You should leave these working when you vacate. The charge for the cover, I assume, is a broken cover plate. And the door stops can be deducted if they were broken. But these are minor charges.
-You should not be charged to paint unless you left the walls in such condition that they had to be painted because of something left on them. The Kilz paint is usually used to cover marks that won't wash off or cover with regular paint. Were there marks on the walls? Grease on the kitchen walls? Someething that required a special primer such as this to cover it?
-The charge for the privacy lock - Did you return all keys, including the one for the deadbolt? Or are they saying a bedroom or bathroom door lock was inoperative? Was one broken and didn't lock correctly? A privacy lock is usually and inside door lock.
-The $42.98 charge is a mismatch of stuff thrown together. Was the underside of the range hood clean and grease free? Did you remember to clean this and the filter? The pull chain and socket sounds like a closet or laundry light socket was broken. Was it?
-A blanket charge for "cleaning" or "labor" is never permissable. Especially in CA. State law there says you must itemize these (how many hours, for what tasks, how much per hour). And it says they must send you copies of the reciepts if the deductions are over $125. Did you get copies of the receipts or an itemization as above? If not, these charges won't fly in CA courts.

Read CA Civil Code 1950.5 and 1940.5(g) which address rules on security deposits. Then file in small claims court and ask for all of your security back (since they didn't follow the rules) and any penalties that the code says you may be entitled to. Good luck.

[karenfromcali]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

After looking at this list of charges, some of them appear to be legitimate.
-The charges for lights bulbs can be made if you left burnt out ones on the sockets. You should leave these working when you vacate. The charge for the cover, I assume, is a broken cover plate. And the door stops can be deducted if they were broken. But these are minor charges.
-You should not be charged to paint unless you left the walls in such condition that they had to be painted because of something left on them. The Kilz paint is usually used to cover marks that won't wash off or cover with regular paint. Were there marks on the walls? Grease on the kitchen walls? Someething that required a special primer such as this to cover it?
-The charge for the privacy lock - Did you return all keys, including the one for the deadbolt? Or are they saying a bedroom or bathroom door lock was inoperative? Was one broken and didn't lock correctly? A privacy lock is usually and inside door lock.
-The $42.98 charge is a mismatch of stuff thrown together. Was the underside of the range hood clean and grease free? Did you remember to clean this and the filter? The pull chain and socket sounds like a closet or laundry light socket was broken. Was it?
-A blanket charge for "cleaning" or "labor" is never permissable. Especially in CA. State law there says you must itemize these (how many hours, for what tasks, how much per hour). And it says they must send you copies of the reciepts if the deductions are over $125. Did you get copies of the receipts or an itemization as above? If not, these charges won't fly in CA courts.

Read CA Civil Code 1950.5 and 1940.5(g) which address rules on security deposits. Then file in small claims court and ask for all of your security back (since they didn't follow the rules) and any penalties that the code says you may be entitled to. Good luck.

Thanks for the response. I lived in the apt. for four years, according to the law you cannot be charged for painting after two years. Nothing was itemized on paper, no receipts were given to me for anything. This property management company is known for not returning deposits. As for the light bulbs, may be legit but everythig else is bogus. There was no type of pull socket anywhere, hoodvent was clean and filter too. The kilz was probably for the pink bathroom but it was pink when I moved in.
The main thing is that they didn't respond within the 21 days, I received the letter from them after I sent a certified letter asking for the return of my deposit. When I said I have pictures of the apt. she asked me to send her copies of them,(I said no). Sueing them is my only option.
Thanks again.