Security Deposit Question. WWYD Updated "drama".

[DawnCt1]

Opinions please. DS#4 was invited to move into an off campus apartment in a complex that is inhabited by college students. He took one of the places of graduating students moving out. Out of four that were on the lease, one remained. Now he is one of three. When he moved in, the apartment was filthy. The other student left furniture, dirty clothes, etc behind for way too long. He has now removed his belongings but the apartment complex will not shampoo the carpet or repair items that had been damaged nor a couple of dents in the wall until the unit is empty..
Of course the students who have left would like their security deposit back but the apartment complex does not refund any security deposits until the unit is completely empty and it "passes inspection". Based on how we found it when DS moved in, it would not pass inspection. In the meantime one of the parents of the moved tenants is asking that we give her the $1274 security deposit because DS is now a tenant. If we give her the security deposit, there is no guarantee that it will be refunded to us because of the pre existing condition. How would you resolve this. My feeling is, when DS moves out we would return the security deposit to her at that time or whatever portion would be forth coming if there was any at all. Although it would make more sense for the building management to return the funds directly to those who paid it.

 

[ziggystardust]

what would it cost to do the minor repairs yourself? can you take that out of the security you would be returning to the former tenant?

The way its always been for me is that you get your security back if you left the place in the same condition you took it in (minus basic wear and tear). If this is not the case, then have the former tenant come in and paint/spackle/clean.

I took over a lease a few years back for one out of a 3 bedroom. Luckily it was pretty clean/kept when I took it over but I still got charged when I left for mailbox keys that I never had in the first place ($95 for a key!) but I cut my losses and left. These were also people i didn't know beforehand, so like I said, I was very lucky.

good luck!

 

[Mimi1965]

I've had apartment complexes "nickel and dime" you with excuses why they cant refund all the deposit.

No way I'd return the deposit out of my pocket.

What SHOULD have been done is after the original group ended-a new lease should have been done and former deposits dealt with at that time-I didnt thinka reputable Apartment complex would allow this switching of roomates?

 

[Kathi OD]

I've had apartment complexes "nickel and dime" you with excuses why they cant refund all the deposit.

No way I'd return the deposit out of my pocket.

What SHOULD have been done is after the original group ended-a new lease should have been done and former deposits dealt with at that time-I didnt thinka reputable Apartment complex would allow this switching of roomates?

I agree with this, for both your own DS's protection and the protection of the former renter.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

I would not return the security deposit to the former tenants. They should sign a new lease, have the place inspected and the landlord return whatever the leftover amount after repairs to the former tenant. Why are they asking your son for the money? If anyone, they should be asking the one remaining tenant from the original group.

 

[DawnCt1]

I've had apartment complexes "nickel and dime" you with excuses why they cant refund all the deposit.

No way I'd return the deposit out of my pocket.

What SHOULD have been done is after the original group ended-a new lease should have been done and former deposits dealt with at that time-I didnt thinka reputable Apartment complex would allow this switching of roomates?

I agree. It would seem that an apartment complex that benefits from the housing shortage on campus would have an equitable way to deal with this type of situation. I think I will call the housing authority in that town and ask about this. In the meantime this mom is telling me, "the lease I signed". DS signed a lease, no security deposit was asked of him at the time. DH co signed guaranteeing that the rent would be paid on time. Each individual is responsible for the entire months' rent so if one doesn't pay, the other leasee must. One of the boys didn't pay in August as he hadn't signed the lease yet but he moved his stuff in, so it had to be split two ways. We paid.

This is a reply I sent to her.

I didn't sign the lease agreement, "DS" did. My husband signed an agreement that he would guarantee that the rent was paid on time. I sympathize with you as well. but we could end up being out the entire security deposit when he vacates the unit because of its pre existing condition. I will have to contact XXX House on Monday and discuss it with them. A roll over tenant should not be responsible for the condition of the apartment before he takes occupancy. They even refused to shampoo the carpet and there was only one remaining tenant in the unit. Dawn

This is her reply.

~Good luck wirh XXX house, like I said i have spent hours with them . I will tell you as PaLs parents they will tell you the same thing they told me, you are still responsible, or he is, they don't care they signed "as is". I Think we should propose to carriage house that X and Y send notorized letters to them stating that the security deposit refunds be sent to me, made out to me next July. That way I feel comfortable w e will get anything back we might have coming. We will be trusting that your boys don't do even more damage. I think this as a small thing to ask as you now have nothing to lose

And my response to her.

That sounds reasonable. In fact, state law requires that security deposits can only be refunded to the individual that pays them so by law, it can only be returned to you. I will also call the housing authority and see what they have to say. XXX House clearly is one of the biggest slum lords I have ever seen.

 

[DawnCt1]

I read one of her more detailed replies. Apparently her son didn't graduate yet. He moved in across the way to another XXX House apartment to be with his friends and she paid another security deposit. How dumb is that??!! I would have said if I have to come up with more $$$, you are staying where you are and you can VISIT your friends.

 

[DawnCt1]

Here is the last reply. I will follow through on being sure that the security deposits are refunded appropriately.

i agree....they have not been helpful and really don't care. i will follow up with you in a couple days so we can get this resolved and make sue those monies get reimbursed to me. I will also let the others who were involved last year know what we agreed on..thry have been distraught about this too

 

[Hannathy]

When was the lease that her son signed up? That is when the security deposit should be taken care of and new lease drawn up with your son and whoever he wants. There has to be date on her son's lease and whoever he signed with. Who did your son sign with the apartment complex or a sublease with the other guys?
sounds like a mess and I would want it straightened out.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Opinions please. DS#4 was invited to move into an off campus apartment in a complex that is inhabited by college students. He took one of the places of graduating students moving out. Out of four that were on the lease, one remained. Now he is one of three. When he moved in, the apartment was filthy. The other student left furniture, dirty clothes, etc behind for way too long. He has now removed his belongings but the apartment complex will not shampoo the carpet or repair items that had been damaged nor a couple of dents in the wall until the unit is empty..
Of course the students who have left would like their security deposit back but the apartment complex does not refund any security deposits until the unit is completely empty and it "passes inspection". Based on how we found it when DS moved in, it would not pass inspection. In the meantime one of the parents of the moved tenants is asking that we give her the $1274 security deposit because DS is now a tenant. If we give her the security deposit, there is no guarantee that it will be refunded to us because of the pre existing condition. How would you resolve this. My feeling is, when DS moves out we would return the security deposit to her at that time or whatever portion would be forth coming if there was any at all. Although it would make more sense for the building management to return the funds directly to those who paid it.

I would tell her to go pound sand.

The issue of the deposit is between the landlord & her and that is it. I would not give her money out of my checkbook period.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Uggh, not a good way for you to be spending your Tuesday.

It sounds to me like there is a distinct possibility that if you pay her the money you will be indirectly accepting financial responsibility for the way the apartment is found at the end of the rental period even though your son is a newbie. Since your son moved into the place 'in good faith' that everyone would keep up their end on responsibility then I think it is fair for your son to expect them to extend to your son the same courtesy. This parents fight is with the landlord, not you or your son and i would bomarang that baby right back at her.

Simply put, I'd tell her that if she can work out a situation with the landlord where he will be willing to return her money directly to her then your son would be happy to accommodate whatever the landlord requests he do to help facilitate the resolution including paying the landlord a replacement deposit. However, none of this behind the scenes stuff is going to happen because it puts both yourself and your son in a dangerous position of financial responsibility with none of the protections afforded a tenant. Then I would step back and wait for her to do all the work.

 

[DawnCt1]

When was the lease that her son signed up? That is when the security deposit should be taken care of and new lease drawn up with your son and whoever he wants. There has to be date on her son's lease and whoever he signed with. Who did your son sign with the apartment complex or a sublease with the other guys?
sounds like a mess and I would want it straightened out.

Her son's lease was up July 1 and he moved to another XYZ House apartment across the street. Why would she submit another security deposit and not transfer the one she had on the previous apartment? DS signed the lease with the apartment complex. I had questions at the time regarding the "jointly and severally issues", I paid the application fee and the first month's rent. No mention was ever made of a security deposit. She is implying that the lease says I have to give her the security deposit. That makes no sense. I have no contract with her or anyone else in the apartment. The current, original resident has to give permission for anyone new to be added to the lease, and he did. My plan is to keep paying the rent on time and leave things where we left them. I was going to call the complex and the housing authority but the law is pretty clear; security deposits are returned to those who paid them and no one else. I will reiterate that with her if she contacts me again. I also emailed all the boys that are living in the apartment currently and forwarded our entire conversation so they know where I stand. I feel that the original tenant who is still there, and paid one quarter of the security deposit has paid enough and owes her nothing as well. She wants another $312 from him.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Opinions please. DS#4 was invited to move into an off campus apartment in a complex that is inhabited by college students. He took one of the places of graduating students moving out. Out of four that were on the lease, one remained. Now he is one of three. When he moved in, the apartment was filthy. The other student left furniture, dirty clothes, etc behind for way too long. He has now removed his belongings but the apartment complex will not shampoo the carpet or repair items that had been damaged nor a couple of dents in the wall until the unit is empty..
Of course the students who have left would like their security deposit back but the apartment complex does not refund any security deposits until the unit is completely empty and it "passes inspection". Based on how we found it when DS moved in, it would not pass inspection. In the meantime one of the parents of the moved tenants is asking that we give her the $1274 security deposit because DS is now a tenant. If we give her the security deposit, there is no guarantee that it will be refunded to us because of the pre existing condition. How would you resolve this. My feeling is, when DS moves out we would return the security deposit to her at that time or whatever portion would be forth coming if there was any at all. Although it would make more sense for the building management to return the funds directly to those who paid it.

Can you get the apartment manager to do a visual check with notation prior to your son giving the security deposit. If they take off say $800.00 off, give the person the adjusted figures and go in and fix the problems and clean. Usually the apartments figures are highly inflated (Mom's are cheap labor) and your son will make out at least even. I would not give a the deposit prior to the management walking through though. Good Luck.

 

[DawnCt1]

Uggh, not a good way for you to be spending your Tuesday.

It sounds to me like there is a distinct possibility that if you pay her the money you will be indirectly accepting financial responsibility for the way the apartment is found at the end of the rental period even though your son is a newbie. Since your son moved into the place 'in good faith' that everyone would keep up their end on responsibility then I think it is fair for your son to expect them to extend to your son the same courtesy. This parents fight is with the landlord, not you or your son and i would bomarang that baby right back at her.

Simply put, I'd tell her that if she can work out a situation with the landlord where he will be willing to return her money directly to her then your son would be happy to accommodate whatever the landlord requests he do to help facilitate the resolution including paying the landlord a replacement deposit. However, none of this behind the scenes stuff is going to happen because it puts both yourself and your son in a dangerous position of financial responsibility with none of the protections afforded a tenant. Then I would step back and wait for her to do all the work.

At this point I am not going to reopen the lease to provide any deposit because I want it to either end in June so he can move elsewhere or be sure that there will be three or four guys in the unit for the following year. She should contact the housing authority to see what her rights are. As far as I am concerned, DS moved into a dump and until the rug is at least shampooed and the wall painted, I don't want to give them one more dime beyond the rent. The rent is $1890 per month for a "townhouse" style 2 bedroom apartment. It includes heat, water, internet and cable. I am guessing with the security deposits that this company has kept, it could knock down all of their units and rebuild from the ground up and still have money left over.
We were actually at a company party two weeks ago, met a physician from Ct. who ALSO lived at XYZ house when he was in college. He was DH's age! It doesn't look like much maintenance has been done since then.
I also would feel a whole lot different if DS actually had a closet that wasn't 3/4s full FROM THE FLOOR UP when he moved in and he didn't have to squeeze his bed in among the junk. It took weeks for that to be moved. The bathroom and the kitchen were deplorable.

 

[Praying Colonel]

I would tell her to go pound sand.

The issue of the deposit is between the landlord & her and that is it. I would not give her money out of my checkbook period.

^This.

I'd only add that if there's a law school nearby, they may run a Legal Clinic where students can come by & get advice. If there's one near your son, I'd have him visit the clinic & bring a copy of the original lease the first group signed (if available), as well as any documents he has signed.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I don't blame you one bit for keeping your checkbook closed. The whole mess sounds awful and I'm not looking forward to any of that when my kids hit college age.

The Dad of one of my son's friends came up with a brilliant way to deal with housing for his older daughter. What the guy did was but a buy a house near the school with a minimum deposit. He fixed it up to fit as many bedrooms as possible, then gave his daughter a room and rented the rest of the place out to other students, I think there were about 5. Turns out the place not only paid for itself but it paid for her tuition too. When she graduated he handed his daughter the keys as a graduation present. Since his daughter was a renter he could go in and look around as often as he wanted AND since his daughter knew the house would be hers one day she kept everyone in the house in line. Win-win

I don't know what things will be like when my kids hit this age but this guys method sounds way more appealing that all the loans and trouble with landlords I always seem to learn the best ideas just shootin' the breeze.

 

[Kathi OD]

I don't blame you one bit for keeping your checkbook closed. The whole mess sounds awful and I'm not looking forward to any of that when my kids hit college age.

The Dad of one of my son's friends came up with a brilliant way to deal with housing for his older daughter. What the guy did was but a buy a house near the school with a minimum deposit. He fixed it up to fit as many bedrooms as possible, then gave his daughter a room and rented the rest of the place out to other students, I think there were about 5. Turns out the place not only paid for itself but it paid for her tuition too. When she graduated he handed his daughter the keys as a graduation present. Since his daughter was a renter he could go in and look around as often as he wanted AND since his daughter knew the house would be hers one day she kept everyone in the house in line. Win-win

I don't know what things will be like when my kids hit this age but this guys method sounds way more appealing that all the loans and trouble with landlords I always seem to learn the best ideas just shootin' the breeze.

WOW! Sounds like a great idea. Wish we had thought of it when our children were in college.

 

[dis-happy]

If it's not too late, have your ds take as many pictures showing the condition of the place, including the junk, bad walls, etc. I'd send a copy to the property mngt. company (so they can't come after you later) as well as the previous tenants so when they lose their deposit they and their parents will know why.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I don't blame you one bit for keeping your checkbook closed. The whole mess sounds awful and I'm not looking forward to any of that when my kids hit college age.

The Dad of one of my son's friends came up with a brilliant way to deal with housing for his older daughter. What the guy did was but a buy a house near the school with a minimum deposit. He fixed it up to fit as many bedrooms as possible, then gave his daughter a room and rented the rest of the place out to other students, I think there were about 5. Turns out the place not only paid for itself but it paid for her tuition too. When she graduated he handed his daughter the keys as a graduation present. Since his daughter was a renter he could go in and look around as often as he wanted AND since his daughter knew the house would be hers one day she kept everyone in the house in line. Win-win

I don't know what things will be like when my kids hit this age but this guys method sounds way more appealing that all the loans and trouble with landlords I always seem to learn the best ideas just shootin' the breeze.

I know many parents that did this that were able to do so. It is a great solution if you can pull it off.

 

[DawnCt1]

I don't blame you one bit for keeping your checkbook closed. The whole mess sounds awful and I'm not looking forward to any of that when my kids hit college age.

The Dad of one of my son's friends came up with a brilliant way to deal with housing for his older daughter. What the guy did was but a buy a house near the school with a minimum deposit. He fixed it up to fit as many bedrooms as possible, then gave his daughter a room and rented the rest of the place out to other students, I think there were about 5. Turns out the place not only paid for itself but it paid for her tuition too. When she graduated he handed his daughter the keys as a graduation present. Since his daughter was a renter he could go in and look around as often as he wanted AND since his daughter knew the house would be hers one day she kept everyone in the house in line. Win-win

I don't know what things will be like when my kids hit this age but this guys method sounds way more appealing that all the loans and trouble with landlords I always seem to learn the best ideas just shootin' the breeze.

Our neighbors bought a condo in Boston for the same reason. They had three sons all go to BU. When they were graduated, the sold it.