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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    1

    Default My Landlord Withheld My Whole Security Deposit and Asked for More Money

    Nevada

    We use to rent a place for 26 months. We always paid rent on time and we gave the property management company 30 days move out notice. When I ask them when somebody will come over to make inspection, they told me to leave the keys in the office and an agent will call me in about one week to arrange inspection in a good for the both sides time. Nobody contacted me and it seems they did the inspection without my presence. Now I got a letter (with no agent signature) with deduction from my security deposit, even I have to pay them $22.50. They didn’t specify what exactly they did – just deducted $105 for cleaning, $487.50 for painting and maintenance & repair for $325.50. There are no receipts for any services so I am not even sure if they really did something. I am not agreeing with any of the deductions. In accordance with the lease I vacated the apartment after cleaning in such way as to satisfy all the criteria to which the rental agreement stipulated. The place was even in a cleaner condition than when I moved in. I can proof this with pictures. There was no cleaning fee that’s why I didn’t complain about the cleanliness when I moved in.
    We lived there for 26 months and I didn’t put any picture on the wall to not make holes. There had dark lines on the wall of couches that touched it, but I think the fading and soiling of the paint is due to normal wear and tear.
    I have no idea for what maintenance & repair they deducted $325. Everything in the condo was in a good working condition when we left. Nothing was broken or missing. Every time when we have any problem with the appliances or anything we first contacted their maintenance department.
    We always paid our rent on time and have been loyal. With our previous landlords we never ever experience problems like this. We always get back our cleaning and security deposits in full.
    My question is what we can do to get our money back and what are our chances if we go to a court?
    Thank you!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: My Landlord Withheld My Whole Security Deposit and Asked for More Money

    Are you in Clark County? It looks like there's a program that offers a short but free legal consultation to aggrieved tenants.

    The cost of cleaning is, apparently, a statutorily authorized deduction. I cannot state whether the lines from the couches would be deemed damage or "ordinary wear and tear" without seeing them (and even if I did, I can't promise that the judge would share my opinion); even if so the amount deducted should normally reflect the depreciated value of the paint. I can't speak to the repairs any more than you can, as at this point neither of us knows what was supposedly repaired. I question whether simply stating "repairs" (or the equivalent) suffices to constitute an itemization.
    Quote Quoting NRS 118A.242. Security: Limitation on amount or value; surety bond in lieu of security; duties and liability of landlord; damages; disputing itemized accounting of security; prohibited provisions.
    1. The landlord may not demand or receive security or a surety bond, or a combination thereof, including the last month’s rent, whose total amount or value exceeds 3 months’ periodic rent.

    2. In lieu of paying all or part of the security required by the landlord, a tenant may, if the landlord consents, purchase a surety bond to secure the tenant’s obligation to the landlord under the rental agreement to:
    (a) Remedy any default of the tenant in the payment of rent.

    (b) Repair damages to the premises other than normal wear and tear.

    (c) Clean the dwelling unit.
    3. The landlord:
    (a) Is not required to accept a surety bond purchased by the tenant in lieu of paying all or part of the security; and

    (b) May not require a tenant to purchase a security bond in lieu of paying all or part of the security.
    4. Upon termination of the tenancy by either party for any reason, the landlord may claim of the security or surety bond, or a combination thereof, only such amounts as are reasonably necessary to remedy any default of the tenant in the payment of rent, to repair damages to the premises caused by the tenant other than normal wear and to pay the reasonable costs of cleaning the premises. The landlord shall provide the tenant with an itemized written accounting of the disposition of the security or surety bond, or a combination thereof, and return any remaining portion of the security to the tenant no later than 30 days after the termination of the tenancy by handing it to the tenant personally at the place where the rent is paid, or by mailing it to the tenant at the tenant’s present address or, if that address is unknown, at the tenant’s last known address.

    5. If a tenant disputes an item contained in an itemized written accounting received from a landlord pursuant to subsection 4, the tenant may send a written response disputing the item to the surety. If the tenant sends the written response within 30 days after receiving the itemized written accounting, the surety shall not report the claim of the landlord to a credit reporting agency unless the surety obtains a judgment against the tenant.

    6. If the landlord fails or refuses to return the remainder of a security deposit within 30 days after the end of a tenancy, the landlord is liable to the tenant for damages:
    (a) In an amount equal to the entire deposit; and

    (b) For a sum to be fixed by the court of not more than the amount of the entire deposit.
    7. In determining the sum, if any, to be awarded under paragraph (b) of subsection 6, the court shall consider:
    (a) Whether the landlord acted in good faith;

    (b) The course of conduct between the landlord and the tenant; and

    (c) The degree of harm to the tenant caused by the landlord’s conduct.
    8. Except for an agreement which provides for a nonrefundable charge for cleaning, in a reasonable amount, no rental agreement may contain any provision characterizing any security under this section as nonrefundable or any provision waiving or modifying a tenant’s rights under this section. Any such provision is void as contrary to public policy.

    9. The claim of a tenant to security to which the tenant is entitled under this chapter takes precedence over the claim of any creditor of the landlord.

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