Landlady wants to keep deposit

EI have been the ideal tenant for 1 year and 8 months---told to me by my landlady, Kathleen. Naively, it seemed to me we had formed a mutual friendship, talking monthly about life, relationships, children, dreams & money. She has constantly complained that the rent she charges for this very nice property wasn’t paying the mortgage pmt.

I gave notice on June 23, 2007 due to my mom being very ill and I need to move quickly to Arizona. We had a verrrry long conversation about what a hardship this is for her----the landlady. It ended with her asking me why I didn’t move my mom here, do I know anyone who would want to rent the property, should she list it on Craigslist AND the newspaper, would I ask all my friends if they knew anyone and if I change my mind she wants me to stay. We scheduled a walkthrough for the next day and she said everything was great, just a little touch-up paint here and there.

She listed the rental notice on Craigslist a few hours later, and in the newspaper the next week. She showed the property 3x’s before the 1st of July and 2x before the 10th. I showed the property for her once. She started saying that I might not get my deposit back due to the whole place needing to be painted-it doesn’t. . . the story really started to change when she didn't get a renter right away. It's a quirky property.
She mentioned on 4 different occasions that she isn’t sure I am getting my deposit back but for no particular reason.

On July 12th I was packing my desk and found the written notice verifying our phone conversation notification on the 23rd. I thought it had been mailed. So I gave it to her that day. She told me later that she was not considering the earlier conversation as notification but that this was my 30 day notice----which means she gets to keep $1000.00 of the $2,300 security deposit. I couldn’t believe it. I had just spent 2 weeks making sure the property was pristine for each showing and spent the time to show it for her once.

I have been advised that the implied law would rule in my favor since she immediately ran ads & started showing the property within days. Do I have a case?

Thanks so much,
Mel

She would probably lose in court since she and you began showing the apt. But if you are breaking the lease early and she does not find a new tenant, she can hold you liable for the rent until it is rented--legally anyway.