- Jurisdiction
- Virginia
Hi,
I live in VA, recently moved out of my rented home after staying for 2 years.
The town home was rented using a rental agency and took the deposit of one month rent ($2,000) when I moved in 2021. I moved out of the home on 7/31/2023 and the rental agency has sent a moveout charges of $3,200 which includes many charges which were not related to us example: the cook top had scratches all over and it got few more since we lived there for 2 years, now she replaced the cook top completely and sent the bill of $1,200 as part of move out expenses. Similarly, she has completely repainted all the doors and send the bill of another $1,200. The minor damages to the wall due to moving of furniture she charged me $750 and carpet cleaning another $300. Most of which were present when we moved in but she is pushing all these charges on to us and including in the move out charges. Now she is threatening to go legal if I do not pay the balance $1,200 (no refund of deposit $2,000) for the move out expenses. I had argument with her that these charges are NOT valid and I do not agree with her. Also responded that I would also consult legal counsel on these charges as the cook top was not NEW when we moved it and it was in working condition when we moved out but she charges complete $1,200 replacement charges only on. She responded saying she will check with owner and see if the charges can be reduced but she has NOT got back to be since one week. In the meantime, I called up one of the law firm with whom our organization has a tie up to check on the case and they advised me to sue to owner for NOT refunding the deposit in the first instance and making up these charges which can be contested in the court at the same time the legal charges the law firm will collect from me will be $1,500 to fight the case on my behalf.
Below are my questions and concerns:
1) The rental agency lady has completely gone silent (usually not the case), without any response which is worrying me if she is planning to report to collectors or file a lawsuit on me
2) Is it worth fighting the case? what is the probability of winning the case? since if we loose, I will have to pay the law firm $1,500, move out charges $1,200 and law agency charges for rental agency another $2,000 which makes it around $5,000
3) I am planning to buy a home in near future, will it impact my credit score or history ?
At the same time, I feel they have taken complete advantage of my calm nature and pushing to get their home renovated at my expense.
Any suggestions in this regard will be greatly appreciated !!!
Thanks,
Virginia User
I live in VA, recently moved out of my rented home after staying for 2 years.
The town home was rented using a rental agency and took the deposit of one month rent ($2,000) when I moved in 2021. I moved out of the home on 7/31/2023 and the rental agency has sent a moveout charges of $3,200 which includes many charges which were not related to us example: the cook top had scratches all over and it got few more since we lived there for 2 years, now she replaced the cook top completely and sent the bill of $1,200 as part of move out expenses. Similarly, she has completely repainted all the doors and send the bill of another $1,200. The minor damages to the wall due to moving of furniture she charged me $750 and carpet cleaning another $300. Most of which were present when we moved in but she is pushing all these charges on to us and including in the move out charges. Now she is threatening to go legal if I do not pay the balance $1,200 (no refund of deposit $2,000) for the move out expenses. I had argument with her that these charges are NOT valid and I do not agree with her. Also responded that I would also consult legal counsel on these charges as the cook top was not NEW when we moved it and it was in working condition when we moved out but she charges complete $1,200 replacement charges only on. She responded saying she will check with owner and see if the charges can be reduced but she has NOT got back to be since one week. In the meantime, I called up one of the law firm with whom our organization has a tie up to check on the case and they advised me to sue to owner for NOT refunding the deposit in the first instance and making up these charges which can be contested in the court at the same time the legal charges the law firm will collect from me will be $1,500 to fight the case on my behalf.
Below are my questions and concerns:
1) The rental agency lady has completely gone silent (usually not the case), without any response which is worrying me if she is planning to report to collectors or file a lawsuit on me
2) Is it worth fighting the case? what is the probability of winning the case? since if we loose, I will have to pay the law firm $1,500, move out charges $1,200 and law agency charges for rental agency another $2,000 which makes it around $5,000
3) I am planning to buy a home in near future, will it impact my credit score or history ?
At the same time, I feel they have taken complete advantage of my calm nature and pushing to get their home renovated at my expense.
Any suggestions in this regard will be greatly appreciated !!!
Thanks,
Virginia User
