Landlords and Security Deposits

[sammi]

Like many people, my husband was laid off after 9/11 and, after a lengthy job hunt, was only able to find work in Maryland. This, of course, meant that we had to break our lease four months short. I spoke with the people at our management company and alerted them of the situation three months in advance and I also went out and found a new tenant who signed a new lease at a higher rent rate. There was a fifteen day gap between my move-out and their move-in, and I paid the half-month's rent.

Now, I've received my security deposit back and it's missing a lot of money. The landlord says it's for painting -- a re-letting expense. Is it true that, if I break the lease (even though I found a new tenant and the apartment was not vacant) I'm responsible for painting the apartment - which would have had to happen no matter when I moved out?

It would have been a heck of a lot cheaper to paint it on my own -- which I would have done had I known in advance!

[ChrisG]

landlords are notorious for absorbing deposits and not having anything to show for it. yours probably just pocketed the dough and didn't even paint the apartment. they just don't like to give money back, and few former tenants are willing to fight for it, as they are on the way out at the time. you can try to take him to task on this, asking him for an itemized list of where the money went (not to mention the interest), but it's an uphill battle.