Has anyone been extorted/threatened for the deposit back?

James Wise

Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 30k+ posts · 20k+ votes

7y

Originally posted by @Jim Morris:

Team-

We've had a really smooth 5 years of renting until now. My head is still spinning a little over the text we received from our tenant that just moved out. They have been good renters over the year, so I'm really surprised by this. All of this for "up to $200". The simple back story. The renter moves out, we inspect the apartment, it seems fine, we have the apartment professionally cleaned and they tell us the glass on the inside of the vanity mirror is cracked. Our mistake was to not check inside that stupid cabinet when we did the walk thru... So we tell the renter we're going to deduct it from his deposit to replace the unit. It's maybe 200 bones tops. So here's how he responds.

"I sincerely hope we don’t go down this road as I have done as I told you. If we can’t agree then I will also go after the two days of rent reimbursement for the days I turned over the residence to you as to help get you new tenant in the duplex and also seek additional damages for the change of plans with work (that's actually not true, he moved out and the apartment was vacant until the 1st). Shall I keep going. Trust me there are a few other things up my sleeve that you really don’t want me to pull out. Remember we are not the kind of people who fit with you tenants. I have every email and every text and I promise I will do everything possible to make things totally difficult for the future. I have deep contacts that I have developed over the last couple of years and I am done playing. No threats here just proof I have and I saved it all for this time. Please forward the deposit as agreed and I will go away. Please respond as I need to know how to proceed tomorrow."

Is this extortion? It's definitely a threat. We've had no issues either, so him keeping the texts and e-mails make no sense. Great, you have the text I sent you that the dryer repair guy is coming by today... I don't know how to handle this one. 200 bucks here, on a $1500 rental. He claims he didn't break it, but the cleaners are emphatic it was broken when they cleaned.

Thoughts?

Tenants threaten you about their deposit all the time. Totally par for the course.....If I had a dollar for every time a tenant told me they'd sue me.......

1 Reply

Stephanie MedellinBusiness Member

Mortgage Broker · CA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 642 votes

7y

Originally posted by @Jim Morris:

and with no further ado.....

Thanks for posting that - I was trying to figure out what a mirror on the INSIDE of a vanity looked like!

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Stephanie Medellin, Loan Factory58 Reviews

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Tanner Marsey

Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2017 · 439 posts · 578 votes

7y

It’s business.... which comes with expenses. It sounds like you missed it doing your walk through.... your bad. 200 dollar lesson learned.

As much as it pains me to say it And as much as I wouldn’t personally want to do it, give the dude his 200 bucks and you’ll never have to interact with him again. Not worth your time, effort, energy, thoughts, etc....

If you wanna get back at him make sure and site this incident when any possible future landlords contact you for a reference.

2 Reply

Jack Hildinger

Member since 2018 · 7 posts · 3 votes

7y

We don't need or want our tenant's deposit for us to make money. It is not a profit center. We prefer to be able to refund the entire deposit.

But if you broke it, you bought it. You are making too much out of your failure of 'missing' the damage at walk-thru. we do a property condition report at lease inception. The tenant has the opportunity to note any damage or excess wear to anything in the property. We accept relatively late additions to the list through out the first month. If it wasn't noted as damaged in the condition report and it is damaged at move out, they own it.

However, there is a reason that you don't refund the deposit at the walk-thru: hidden damage. This was certainly hidden damage. We have 30 days to return a deposit in Texas. During that thirty days some hidden damage frequently shows up. Sometimes it's nickel and dime. Sometimes it's a little more. We consider under $100 TOTAL hidden damage inconsequential. BTW, we seldom have an exit walk-thru. The tenants schedule often doesn't fit with our availability or vice versa. We do our best, the tenants often don't. We send a detailed move out document called 'How to get ALL your Deposit Back!' We also offer a pre-walk thru for the tenant to get a punch list of things to correct to avoid charges. Seldom do they take action on any of the items.

That all said, have we been threatened? Yes. Do we worry? No. We send an email notice upon move out that states the date that the reconciliation of damage and refund will be provided. We stick to it and deduct the charges fairly. I have received some strongly worded, often personally insulting emails after the reconciliation is received. We never respond after the reconciliation is sent. However, the tenant receiving the adjusted refund ($1500-200=$1300 in this case) will usually end it.

Jack

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Has anyone been extorted/threatened for the deposit back?

Has anyone been extorted/threatened for the deposit back?

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