Landlord Wants to Keep Security Deposit Over Subtenant's Breach

[Beta8472]

My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Connecticut


Finished masters program early in December - had a lease that extended until the end of July. I paid my landlord a re-letting fee to find a sub-letter - she found one for April through the end of term of the lease.

The sublet agreement states that all the terms of the original lease apply and that a security deposit would be payed to me. The agreement indicated that rent was to be payed directly to me, but to simplify things I requested that payments be made directly to the LL.

The broker sent the security deposit to the landlord instead. I didn't think this would be an issue until now, two months into the lease, the tenant refuses to allow the LL to show the apartment to prospective clients. The wording in the lease quite obviously indicates that the sub-letter is in breach of lease. The LL therefor asked the brokerage to move the tenant from the apartment -- the brokerage believes this request constitutes acceptance that the LL is in breach of lease and is expecting the entirety of the security deposit to be returned.

My LL seems to simply dismiss the issue and will only respond that I am responsible for the last two months on the lease (plus what I assume is the per-lease cleaning fee I incurred while staying in the apartment, plus [I'm assuming] the sub-letter's cleaning fees, etcetera).

The sub-letter claims the LL didn't give sufficient notice to show the apartment -- the lease clearly states that if the tenant hasn't renewed his/her lease, the landlord may enter at any time without warning (the sentence before this states that the LL must give reasonable notice). The brokerage is claiming that the client wasn't given reasonable notice (2 hours on two occasions). The LL let the sub-letter off the hook because she knew she had me and my security deposit to fall back on.

I really don't know what my next step is ... The sub-letter moved out today. I'm assuming the LL is returning the security deposit intact (the brokerage is expecting it all, as they believe the LL was in breach). I never received the security deposit from the brokerage - is there anything I can do about it now?

HELP, please! I really don't know what to do and have asked for advice but am spinning in circles. I will have to completely empty out my coffers to pay my LL, and am really disappointed that I will have to, most probably, pay the sub-letter's cleaning fees.

A quite depressed, stressed, and greying,

Beta8472

[Mr. Knowitall]

I have no access to the contract between you and your broker. If the broker was supposed to turn the security deposit over to you but gave it to the wrong person, and it was improperly refunded to the subtenant (it's not clear at this point that the subtenant isn't entitled to the money), you may be able to make a contract-based claim against your broker. You may have waived that claim through your inaction / silent acquiescence.

You have not explained how your landlord managed to "move the [sub]tenant from the apartment", with or without the broker's help. You don't appear to be talking about an eviction, so what are we talking about? The subtenant's voluntarily agreeing to move out early?