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Can I Keep The Security Deposit

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  • 03-28-2007, 09:38 PM
    vasilica
    Can I Keep The Security Deposit
    I rented a house in Charlotte, NC in June 2006. In the lease agreement, I specified the tenants need to connect the utilities in their name.

    They were not able to do so and I agreed to keep some utility bills in my name as long as they pay them every month. I kept asking them to transfer the utilities in their name and they kept saying "just give me a little more time".

    For a while, they paid the rent and utilities (eventually) and everyone was happy. At some point in November, they started to get behind on the rent. I started to threaten them that they should pay me or I will disconnect the utilities that were still in my name. After about a month of not receiving any payments, I called the gas company and asked them to disconnect the gas from my name sometime in December (the bill was about $250/month).

    It took them 2 months to reconnect the gas in their name. (So they stayed 2 months without the central heat).

    When they fell behind by about $2000 (about 3 months rent), I filed eviction papers. At the eviction hearing, the tenants complained to the judge that I cut their heat off and they stayed without heat for 2 months. The judge got mad at me and told me to hire a lawyer if I don't know what I am doing. She said that if the tenants moved out while they had no heat, they could sue me and ask a lot of money in damages because I engaged in "self-help" remedies. She also gave me posession without money judgement.

    Now they tenant is thinking they can sue me for a lot of money and are asking me to refund their deposit ($750).

    I spoke to another property manager who said that just because the judge did not award me money owed judgement it does not mean they do not owe me money and that I should not refund their security deposit.

    The questions are
    1) Can they sue me and ask for damages (remember that I did them a favor by keeping the utility bills in my name)?
    2) Am I obligated to refund their security deposit?

    I want to play by the rules but I think it is unfair that their whole debt was removed. I did not know that I was breaking the law when I disconnected the utilities from my name. I thought that the gas company was going to do that, too if they did not pay their bills for a while. I also did not believe it was my legal responsibility to provide them with utilities - they were supposed to provide their own utilities.

    I apologise for the long post, but I did not know which of this is irrelevant.
  • 03-31-2007, 08:46 AM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Can I keep security deposit?
    This is an example of where a novice landlord tries to be nice, and has a tenant who knows how to take full advantage of the landlord. They can try to sue you. If they due, you can try to countersue for any amounts they owe. The judge will decide, but what if it's the same judge?
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