
Quoting
Jayes
My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Utah
I rented a home to a couple for a year. As the end of their lease was coming, the wife (whom I had become friends with) asked for their deposit back early to put down on their next place, promising to leave it "spotless." They had been good tenants so in good faith, I agreed. The day they moved out, she sent me a text saying that a pipe needed to be tightened in the downstairs bathroom after they removed a cloth diaper sprayer they had attached while living there and that my neighbor might come by later to tighten it with a tool he had. I was only in town for a couple days (not living in the home), then left and returned a month later. The pipe had never been repaired and a slow leak had begun, where after a month of going unnoticed caused nearly $4k in damages. They have refused to pay this based for various reasons, including 1) it's not their fault the neighbor didn't show up and because they moved out, they had no way of knowing if he did or not, 2) they tightened it to the condition it was before, and 3) their deposit was returned already. I hired an attorney and they are still not budging. The attorney said not following up with the neighbor is their fault as it was a non-delegable duty. Right now, I am considering taking them to small claims court. My attorney said my evidence (texts from her stating there was a problem and she had made arrangements to fix it; plumber's statement stating what caused the leak, etc.) is solid but the only potential issue would be the fact that the deposit was returned. However, it was returned before they even left (again, I know it was stupid but I was trying to be compassionate) and the lease states a deposit would be returned "if no damage is evident." The damage was not evident immediately when I did the walk-through because the leak was slow and the home was vacant, so I would likely have returned the deposit anyway at that time. My argument is they modified a pipe and knowingly failed to completely restore it or ensure it was properly repaired. As a result, damage occurred. I am curious to hear other opinions on this matter as I am still up in the air about whether or not to take it to small claims.