security deposit

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jnpalomino

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My landlord and I signed a 1 year lease that included the home and usage of 2 garages,she promised to remove her things about a month later and also remove her R.V from the property and never did.Aside from that they always claimed that they were refinancing and had the home up for sale ( short sale ) and had inspectors and appraisers always coming in taken photos,the last time we told her if they can come some other time because it was an inconvenience to us and they opened the door with a key and walked on in.So we decided to leave a bit earlier than a 30 day notice due to the fact of them always bargin in on us and now she doesn't want to return deposit claiming all these repairs.My question is can we sue for invaision of privacy?charging her a storage fee etc..we have a e-mail paper trail of all our conversations
 
You can sue her for whatever you wish. Whether you win such a lawsuit is another issue.

A security deposit is used to address repairs issues that are not normal wear and tear. It can also be used to cover owed rent. If you left before the end of your lease (or before the 30 day notice expired) and thus owed rent for this time period, your security deposit can be used to cover this.

If you sue based on invasion of privacy, it is likely the landlord will countersue for the cost of repairs and you leaving early.

Gail
 
Thanks..in your opinion would we have a case?She failed to fulfill her end of the lease agreement by using her garage as a storage facility when she was suppose to empty it out.Plus we have photos before we left and it was cleaner than we moved in thanks
 
Unless your lease specifically states something about her cleaning out the garage as part of the lease agreement, I'd drop that and go for questioning regarding her claims for damages above normal wear and tear.

It is good that you took pictures at move out.

Gail
 
sorry maybe i said something wrong on my part...we rented a whole house with two garages she promised to empty out the other one and never did per our lease we weren't given the whole house like promised we are getting quotes from storage facilities so we can take her to court to recover our deposit and charge her those fees along with damages for invading our privacy by letting people in to take photos of the house without our permission.They entered with their key.I was told she can't do that even though she is the owner. thanks
 
Please remember that lawsuits are for money. In that regard, if you suffered no financial loss from having just one garage (i.e., having to rent a storage facility yourself), then you have nothing to sue her for. You cannot expect a financial judgement for money you haven't spent.

What "damages" (i.e., financial losses) have you suffered by having someone take pictures of the house? That will be the question the judge will ask you at the hearing.

A better argument for you would be that these people walking in unannounced unnerved you so much that you felt you were forced to break your lease early and thus should not be held accountable financially because of this.

And since your landlord is withholding your security deposit based on repairs, a better focus for you would be to argue that these things were normal wear and tear as opposed to repairs.

Gail
 
thanks for the reply...but what I am saying is if our lease agreement stated that I rented the whole house including the 2 garages and I am paying 3 thousand dollars a month for that whole house.Then I believe that I should be entitled to that other garage.So what I am going to do is get quotes from local storage facility and charge her for that.Also invasion of my privacy because they entered the home with their own key when we told them it wasn't a good time to please reschedule.I know they own the home but they just can't come when they please..there are laws that protect the renter thanks again
 
I've already given you my feedback.

I think it would be incredibly hard to justify you are owed money that you never spent. It would be one thing if you had been forced to rent space at a local storage facility because one of the garages were full. Quite another to argue that you are somehow owed money you never spent.

You would have much greater success arguing that the damages the landlord claims you owe for don't exist.

Gail
 
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