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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
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    Default Can You Hold The Keys Until Your Ex-Roomate Gives You Your Share of the Deposit

    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: South Dakota
    HELP!
    I recently moved out of a place and had another girl take over my side of the lease. I had a roommate there "molly" and she is going to continue to live there with the new girl. They agreed they are going to sign a lease for at least another year. I moved because molly had been meeting men on the internet and one had started stalking her. I felt unsafe there and told her she needed to get a protection order, which she never did. So another girl took over my lease and I moved.
    When I moved, the landlord said she won't deal with the deposit, that its a civil matter between us. I paid the full $500 deposit upon move in, as well as the first full months rent of $650 because molly couldn't afford it. She agreed to pay me back for the first months rent and never paid me in full. She still owes me $129 to this day.
    I made a verbal agreement with her that she would pay me $300 for the deposit and would get the deposit upon move out (which was going to be more then $300). The landlord knew of this agreement and said it was fine. I went to sign the sheet of paper saying that my lease was signed over to the new girl. I told molly I would give her the key as soon as she paid me the $300 (at this point I knew the $129 was a lost cause..she has never followed through). And I get a call from the landlord saying that they made a complaint I haven't relinquished keys and the lease turn over i signed isn't valid until i relinquish keys. I have been calling/texting/emailing/leaving voicemails for both girls with no answer. I went over there and molly was there. She said she "will pay me when she can". I told her to put that in writing and she refused.
    She then said the landlord said she would pay me the deposit at their move out. Which I don't agree with because I shouldn't be responsible for any damage done while i'm not living there the next year. Then she said she didn't have to pay me at all. She is making things up obviously and is trying to get out of paying me.
    I have emailed the landlord letting her know of the situation, but it is the worst company i have ever rented from and don't expect much of an answer or help. When i went to her originally she said that the deposit was a civil issue between us because the only way she pays the deposit out is if the house is completely vacated.


    Please please please...help! What do i do? Am i out of luck? What are my options?

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Default Re: Can You Hold The Keys Until Your Ex-Roomate Gives You Your Share of the Deposit

    Quote Quoting jessilee
    When I moved, the landlord said she won't deal with the deposit, that its a civil matter between us.
    You apparently accepted the landlord's position as part of your agreement for an early release from the lease, so that part of it appears to be a done deal.
    Quote Quoting jessilee
    I made a verbal agreement with her that she would pay me $300 for the deposit and would get the deposit upon move out (which was going to be more then $300). The landlord knew of this agreement and said it was fine.
    It's also not the landlord's problem.
    Quote Quoting jessilee
    I told molly I would give her the key as soon as she paid me the $300 (at this point I knew the $129 was a lost cause..she has never followed through).
    Once you surrender your tenancy you have no right to keep a key.
    Quote Quoting jessilee
    And I get a call from the landlord saying that they made a complaint I haven't relinquished keys and the lease turn over i signed isn't valid until i relinquish keys.
    I can't read it from where I'm sitting, but that's a perfectly reasonable requirement to include in a document granting early release from a tenancy. Pick up your copy, read it, and tell us what it says about the keys. Note that if you're not released from the lease until you return your keys, you're still on the hook for rent.
    Quote Quoting jessilee
    She said she "will pay me when she can". I told her to put that in writing and she refused.
    You have told us that you agreed to let her pay you when she moves out. If she does not pay you when she moves out, you can sue her in small claims court.
    Quote Quoting jessilee
    She then said the landlord said she would pay me the deposit at their move out. Which I don't agree with because I shouldn't be responsible for any damage done while i'm not living there the next year.
    You can talk to the landlord about whether there has been any change in the understanding that you would be recovering your deposit from your former roommate.

    You can sue your ex-roommate over the $119 you claim she owes, at any time you choose.

    The refund of the deposit is complicated by the fact that your lease term is not yet over, you chose not to include any provision for the refund of the deposit in the release you signed, and depending on what that document says you may have released your landlord of any obligation to refund the deposit to you.

    Under the facts you've shared, it could be difficult to convince a court that your ex-roommate has any obligation to refund your share of the deposit during the remainder of your lease term. You state that you agreed to allow your ex-roommate to repay you at the conclusion of the current lease term, and it doesn't seem likely that your ex-roommate is going to may a concession on that point that would allow you to recover the money any earlier than that. But even if your roommate denies any agreement, if you released your landlord from any obligation to return the deposit to you in association with the change of roommates, a court may find that ordering the return of the deposit is premature based upon the fact that the lease term has not ended.

    It can be difficult to predict what a small claims court will do, even when you know what evidence has been submitted and what both sides have argued.

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