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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Posts
    1

    Default Mutually Agreed to Move Out July, Landlord Won't Return August Rent Deposit

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

    Hi everybody, new to the forum, I would appreciate any help concerning my landlord withholding my last month's rent deposit.

    I originally signed a apt lease 5 years ago that covered Sept 1 to Aug 31 and put down last month's rent + 1 month security deposit. After that lease expired, we had verbally agreed that I would stay but the terms were never discussed, particularly in regard to rental period. I've lived there for 4 years under such agreements, always casually agreeing to stay for the academic year.

    This March, my landlord writes me stating that my lease will end on July 31 and asked if I wish to stay again. I decide to move out and gave my 30 day notice on June 30 which they accepted. They even schedule a date after my move out to do some necessary repairs.

    I move out, return the keys on July 31 and email them asking when I can expect my security deposit and Aug rent to be return returned (I had forgotten that my original deposit included last month's rent so I paid full rent for July when I shouldn't have, most landlords charge 2 month's rent as security around here).

    On Aug 1, the landlord informs me that my lease actually ends on Aug 31 so they will not return Aug rent. I state that they had written July 31 was my lease end date to which we had mutually agreed and accepted on. But they claim that "if an error was made in the letter, the original lease still stands".

    But we did not negotiate a renewed physical lease. My agreement to stay was made orally and under vague terms. There was no mutual agreement that I was renewing for Sept to Aug, just that I would be holding over. I actually even believed it converted to a month-by-month tenancy as that's what most standard leases dictate (however we did not explicitly discuss this, I just assumed that if we did not agree on a year-to-year lease that it would be month-to-month automatically). However, the landlord claims that they never rent month-to-month and that our agreement was for Sept-Aug.

    I would like my Aug rent to be returned since we both mutually agreed on July 31 and I moved out by then.

    Do I have a strong enough case to take my landlord to a small claims court for 1 month's rent?

    Thanks in advance!

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

    Default Re: Mutually Agreed to Move Out July, Landlord Won't Return August Rent Deposit

    If you have something in writing from your landlord telling you that your lease ended on July 31, that's compelling evidence that your lease ended on July 31. You can use that as evidence in small claims court, if necessary, that your lease ended at the end of July and not the end of August. They can argue that it was a clerical error; you can respond that you acted in good faith reliance upon their representation and would not have moved out as they instructed but for their representation that your lease ended on that date.

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