Do I still have to go by a lease when it when it ended 6 months ago?

Question

I have been living in my apartment for a year this month. Our lease was month-to-month during that time, and now of course we are month-to-month, but without a valid lease. We have been paying on the 15th of the month, sometimes would be a day or so later, but we would always let them know and they seemed like they had no problem with it.
NOW, we are trying to move. I gave them our 30 days notice, and our move-out date is set at October 1st. They have not called us, written us, nothing ever since we called about us moving. I sent the later a day after and they have yet to contact us. Mind you, when we finally did get in contct with them, it was 2 weeks after we 1st started calling! U can understand myfrustrations.
I called an attorney and he informed me that we are entitled to our deposit up to 60 days after we give our 30 days notice. My problem is: will my landlord attempt to charge for worn carpets / dirty oven that we couldn't use b/c it was dirty when we came and would smoke...

... and the fire company was summoned b/c of it / whatever else he may try and think of? Will he try to put late fees on us now? Are we still working on our old lease even though it has ended 6 months ago? That's what says that we have to pay late fees, and even though we haven't been paying them when we were late, do you think they will try to pin it on us now? We owe them $95 by the way, and offered to have them subtract it from our deposit ($495 total), but he never got back to us. PLEASE HELP WITH WHATEVER YOU CAN!!!! We don't need the money to move, but we want our money...because it's ours.

Answer 1

if you have a copy of the letter you sent 30 days a go you should have no problems.

if the oven is smoking due to it being dirty then clean it. i would get a good oven cleaner and clean it. from what you say it sounds like you may need to clean it several times. geta good cleaner that you can leave work in the oven over nite. after the oven is cleaned clean the whole house well.

what i do when leaving a rental property is to move out clean very well pact holes from pictures. clean carpets etc.

then walk thru the apartment with landlord with a list of things he sees. this way if he has an issue you can say ok i will fix if its reasonable. keep a copy and have them sign the paper with his list of issues.
you dont have to return the home in as good a shape as you moved in but you should try to return it clean. as a renter you should return the property in good condition. normal wear and tear is on him. if you lived there for a shile and the carpets need replaced its on him. these are things that need replacing from time to time. be aware many landlords do try to get renters to pay to replace the carpets but if you havent made holes due to cigerettes pet etc.
make sure you walk thru apt with landlord. have him write down every thing he wants fixed and sign paper when its done have him come in and sign off. once he has done this he cannot keep your deposit.

Answer 2

You are definitely entitled to your deposit. It is not uncommon for a landlord to subtract some money for a cleaning service, but they may try to justify keeping more or all of it. Things that fall under "reasonable wear and tear" (like wear on carpets and appliances) should be covered in your lease, so don't let them get you on that. If your lease is month-to-month, it is probably in still in effect. It should say towards the end of the lease how it is terminated and what happens after the year is up. Standard practice is for the lease to stay in effect until it is replaced by a renegotiated lease, or you move out.

Also, a grace period of 5 days or so should also be mentioned in the lease before any late fees are assessed. This allows for mail delays and due dates that fall on holidays. Make sure you're not getting charged late fees for payments that are actually on time according to the lease.

If you are having trouble contacting them personally, you can have your attorney write a letter. That usually gets a response. Your last resort is small claims court. Take photos before you leave to document the state of the apartment so your landlord cannot make things up.

Good luck!

Answer 3

First of all, what does it mean to say a lease is "valid"? It means that a court will enforce it.

Now, when/if one of you should sue the other for a situation like yours where the lease expired, how do you suppose the court will know who was supposed to do what? They are going to look at the lease, even though it has expired. Everything in the lease as far as rights and responsibility is basically unchanged, except that the expiration goes from a set date to a month to month basis. The rent remains unchanged until the landlord gives proper notice of an increase. It's all the same as it was.

What your attorney told you is this: When you move out, the landlord is obligated to either return your deposit, or give you written notice of what is being kept and why. This obligation is contingent on YOU giving notice of your new address. Until you get that notice, there's not way of knowing whether your landlord is going to try to charge you for the stove and whatnot.

Answer 4

The issue of the lease and security deposit are matters of state law and your state's landlord tenant act should be consulted. Many states also have a separate security deposit act. Your state legislature may have a landlord tenant guide on their website.

In general reasonable wear and tear is not considered damage under most security deposit acts. The issue of cleaning is a bit less certain. Many state courts have ruled that the need for cleaning does not count as damage. When they have ruled this way then they have stated that cleaning cost may not be taken from a security deposit. This does not mean that they can not charge a cleaning fee, simply that it can not be deducted from refundable monies.

The notice requirements and time allowed to refund the deposit are usually found in the state law. Get a copy of the applicable law and make sure you follow all requirements. If your landlord fails to comply with the timeline in the law then you can usually file a simple action to enforce. You sometimes even have the right to double damages if your landlord violates the act.

Ultimately you need to get a hold of the proper statute for your state. The principles remain the same throughout the country but the details vary and the courts have made varying interpretations.

Answer 5

My sense is the guy is probably planning to keep your money. If you did not document the state of the apartment when you moved in...that is you should have written the dirty carpets and other problems into your initial lease agreement...he will probably claim you did the damage and charge you for cleaning it. AND then he won't clean it anyway. Chances are he did this to the last tenant.

It's not clear from your note. If you didn't give your notice in writing via a verifiable method (fax, return mail receipt) you have no proof of giving timely notice.

The terms of your month to month are probably taken from your previous lease (this likely varies from state to state). That's not your biggest problem though. Whether or not your landlord is ethical is a much bigger problem.

If you haven't been careful to document everything, you may be in for an expensive lesson in renting. Good luck!

Answer 6

It depends on your state's law about the lease and how "fair" your landlord is in reference to how much of your deposit you get back. It's generally accepted that with a month-to-month lease after a certain period of time you have "re-accepted" the terms of the prior lease. So yes, you could likely be held to pay for the late fees and that, in my humble opinion, would be fair. If you did wear the carpets more than normal wear and tear, then you could be held for the cost of that as well. I got stiffed with that one at my last apartment--it sucks. If you don't get any deposit back and you don't think that's fair, you can always get your attorney involved. Good luck!

Answer 7

Laws regarding leases are different state by state, but generally, you have agreed to live by the lease simply by not renegotiating earlier. If you were "month by month" then you probably are fine if you can document your original 30 days notice. If you are worried about getting your deposit back, then clean! No law says you have to leave it dirty just because you found it dirty. However, if you documented the problems on arrival, you might be able to remind the landlord that he failed to provide a clean environment to begin with. Taking possession of the property may have eliminated his obligation to clean it further unless you pressed him at the time. Again, it varies by state. Your local district attorney should have pamphlets or someone in the office to explain your rights as a renter. You might also try websites for your state or community. We had trouble in Colorado getting our deposit back even though at the time of the exit inspection (get one or take photos with a time-stamp) the manager of the apartment complex commented that it was clean enough she could show it and rent it the same day we gave her the key. In that situation, we had to write to the management requesting the deposit, and reminding them that since they failed to provide notice of a reason for keeping the deposit, Colorado law at the time allowed us to get double our deposit back if they failed to repay the deposit within 30 days of the letter. They repaid the deposit.

Answer 8

No, you don't have to honor the lease unless it stipulates what happens after the lease date ends. However, as for getting your money back, that may be tough. The problem is, even if they owe it to you, it may cost you more to try to get it back than they owe you. You can stand on principle, but long term it's best to let it go if you can't get it back yourself. By the way, I have a house for rent and I'd love to have honest renter like you. Wanna move to Missouri? good luck. peace

Answer 9

depends on who you are dealing with; a company who rents out the building or the person who ownes the building. it sounds to me like you have someone who will work with you (consider yourself blessed). most people don't get the security deposit back. i hope you saved a receipt from the fire marshall. i hope you also took pictures to show what it looked like before you moved in (proof).