Refunding security deposit?

[Jen L.]

Hi Investors,

One of our tenant recently moved out.  We are still waiting for quotes for some of the fixes.  If we have not fix the issue yet(cracked tiles & garage doors), can we still deduct the security deposit?  What if we decided not to fix it but the tenants did break the tiles?  

Thanks!

PS:  I'm finding tenant move-out to be costing a lot more than I expect.  How much is your average move-out cost?  Just painting the whole house alone set me back a few thousand.  

[Barry H.]

JEN - I have a friend who held a security deposit in Marin Co for 22 days (1 day past the statutory deadline) and she was sued and had to pay 3X the security deposit back to the "professional tenants" even though they did over $3K in damages.  

You (unfortunately) live in the most litigious state of our US of A (visions of Pacific Heights coming into focus).  :-(

Not tying to scare you, but your best bet is to NOT WAIT for estimates and send pics and your best guess as to what things are going to cost (outlined in a line item letter with corresponding amounts foe each item for which you are withholding Sec Dep $$).  Send them back any remaining amount of their Sec Dep with the itemized letter with photos.  My guess is the damages are more than the Sec Dep, in which case your correspondence will indicate they are getting nothing back.  Make sure you send the letter (and check if they are getting anything back) Cert Mail.  My friend did do this, but the postage date on the mailing was the 22nd day AFTER the move out inspection, so she got dinged in court.