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Landlord withholding security deposit

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Landlord withholding security deposit

Postby otisotis » Tue Jul 02, 2013 3:57 pm

My landlord only returned a portion of my security deposit and while I think I'm in the right about a number of things, I'm not exactly certain given that it was an unregulated apt (i.e. rented a condo from a private owner).

We started with a 18 month lease and then extended it further with two separate lease extensions, each for a year. The landlord provided an itemization of late payments and associated fees showing 20 times we had paid late totaling $5,700 in late fees. While he sent a couple of emails or calls over the years reminding us to keep payments timely or he'd have us pay a late fee, it was never enforced nor did he ever give us notice. While I would imagine he can't possibly legitimately claim these, I'm not sure what I should be citing to reflect that.

In addition, we moved out on May 8th. His broker had been in touch about doing a walk through but didn't respond to my email. No one was there to pick up our keys so we left them at the front desk on the 12th (we moved within the bldg). On the 20th, our landlord came to see the apartment and deemed it not to be clean enough and cited several repairs that our super was still making. Because that wasn't done until the 27th, he believes that he should be able to collect rent up until the 27th of that month. As such, he thinks that totals another $4,123 from the 8th to the 27th.

I can't imagine that he can legally profit from his own delay and since we were out of the apt on the 8th, there's certainly no basis for our continuing to pay rent. I think that's pretty easy to demonstrate but thought I'd add it for a bit of additional context.

If anyone has any thoughts on what exactly I should be citing regarding the late rental fees for an unregulated apt, that would be much appreciated!
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Postby TenantNet » Tue Jul 02, 2013 4:50 pm

Citing to whom?
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Postby otisotis » Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:21 pm

Sorry, left out that important detail!

Well, my first stop will be logging a complaint with the division of the NYAG's office that handles landlord-tenant issues. Presumably, I'll have to file a lawsuit as well. In laying out in the NYAG complaint why I think they've unjustly withheld my security deposit, I just want to make sure I'm citing the relevant law/regulation, etc.
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Postby TenantNet » Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:51 pm

You don't need to cite all the laws. Just tell them what happened, but keep it simpler than what you've detailed here ... I can't follow all that.

If you file a suit, it would likely be in small claims court. Again, you don't need to do a legal brief.
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