Need help on Bills not in my name...

Ok, so our landlord is trying to charge us for a bill that is $1000. We had to knowledge of the bill and was never ever aware of it, nor is it in any of our names. Now that we are moved out she is trying to make us pay that while holding our security deposit. We have spoke to other tenants and it was brought to our attention that for the last 3 years tenants in that house were never billed for that certain bill. Are we liable for taking care of it? Also for holding our security deposit, can she do that legally? As new tenants signed the lease and took over she has not gone through the house to expect anything in 3 years, leaving us 4 tenants to be there last responsible for EVERYTHING in the house..... Super confused, annoyed, upset and all of the above! I worked super super hard all by myself cleaning the house! Never leaving mom and dads again haha. I know I am young and just had a bad experience and will probably end up getting kinda screwed in the end but I need some legal advice please!!! thank you!!!

The landlord is required to return your security deposit within a certain time frame, usually a few weeks. There are only certain things that can be deducted from the deposit, and they must be itemized. If the security deposit is not returned on time, then you can make a civil claim for it and you might get something extra on top of it for your trouble. Best to contact the landlord first and demand the deposit be returned before making any civil claim.

As for the mysterious bill.... if the landlord wants you to pay it then the landlord has to establish that you are the one that actually incurred the bill, and must prove in court that you are responsible for it. The landlord can not legally keep your deposit to cover this bill.

Until a judge orders you to pay it... don't pay it.

What, exactly, is this mysterious bill?

Attached are the requirements for security deposit returns (and what can be kept) for the state of Minnesota:

http://www.mncourts.gov/default.aspx?siteID=2&page=1114

gail

It is an RPU bill that was never brought to our attention, never in our names, and was not a tenants responsibility for the prior three years before we had lived there as well....

What is an RPU bill?

Some type of utility bill?

Gail

I dunno what RPU is... but as I said... don't pay it. If your landlord does not return your deposit or seems to take unreasonable deductions out of it, settle it in court.