$500 for a crack in the sink???

[KTK]

I moved out of my apt. in August. Today I called my old LL to inquire about the $500 he still owes us for work we did to improve the apartment. He had previously agreed to repay us for the supplies if we did the labor. Today he says that he had paid $500 for a new sink that we had cracked and was not going to refund any of our money. I checked out the price of our particular sink and found the price to be $60. At first during the conversation he said he had a reciept for it, but when I asked if I could get a copy of it his story changed. Is there anything I can do?

[sabrina]

This is not what you want to hear, but I doubt you will get your money. The fact that the LL still has not paid you after 5 months and is now lying about the cost of the sink, indicates his true intentions.

If you want to take the time and energy, you can sue him in small clains court. But first you might consider hiring a lawyer to just write the LL a stern letter demanding the funds. (Some lawyers will charge around $75-$100.) If the LL does not comply, take him to court.

It is always best to get these types of things in writing, but my experinece shows that many LL won't do this.

Good luck.

[NYCkid]

I believe that the state attorney general's office deals with people who are defrauded of their security deposits. I also believe that it may be considered a criminal offense. Call them and see what they can do for you.

[Cranky Tenant]

Sue him in Small Claims Court. Not only will he have to produce a receipt, but the receipt should be dated immediately after you moved out. If it's not, there's no reason to believe you did anything to damage it.

Of course it wouldn't hurt to get some documentation showig theactual price of the sink, like a flyer or perhaps an estimate from a store that sells it.

[Chimera]

The 500 dollars might not be just for the sink itself. It might include installation or repair of damaged pipes. Before wasting money on a lawyer (that you may or may not recover), make sure that this isn't a legitimate claim.

Also, this isn't a case of withheld security deposit. The poster indicated that the landlord isn't paying him money (out of pocket), in order to compensate for improvements made to the apartment. Landlords aren't obligated to reimburse you for improvements to begin with, they in fact can charge you for them because the apartment is supposed to be left in the condition that it was before moving in, so if you ever want to make major renovations that would be expensive to undo, get permission in writing.

At any rate, since this isn't a security deposit issue, it is probably a case for small claims court, and unless you can prove that he agreed to reimburse you for your supplies, it might be a tough case to win.

<small>[ January 18, 2003, 12:58 AM: Message edited by: Chimera ]</small>

[ykarj]

Ask your LL for a copy of the receipt. If he paid for a sink and/or other services related to replacing it with your money, you should at least get that..