Share

Apartment living is a great option for people who don’t plan on staying in an area for a particularly long time, for individuals who can’t afford to carry a mortgage and for individuals who are single and have no real need for a home yet. Most of us will live in an apartment at one time or another in our lives, often when we first move out from home. Quite often it can be quite a steal because you don’t have to deal with any maintenance and upkeep and you don’t pay nearly as much in utilities, but there are always downsides. One of which is that it can be very difficult to get your security deposit back if you have a landlord whom does not have the highest moral stature. Fortunately you can empower yourself as your consumer and get the security deposit that you are rightfully owed returned to you.

First, if you live in an apartment and move out, clean it up real nice, and after you have all of your possessions removed from the premises, take pictures with a digital camera of the building. This way you will be able to demonstrate that the apartment was in excellent condition when you left it and there is no reasonable cause for the landlord to keep any part of your security deposit. Landlords can only keep your security deposit to compensate for any physical damages which occurred in the apartment by the tenant. They cannot keep a security deposit to cover normal wear and tear on the unit.

If it’s been 30 days since you’ve moved out of the apartment and haven’t heard anything from your landlord, give them a call and ask them when it’s coming. If it’s not there within two weeks, send a letter inquiring the same question. Two weeks later if you’re still not getting anything from them, send them a letter through certified mail stating that X number of days has passed since you moved out of the apartment, that you returned it in good condition and have proof that you did, and that they have a week to provide you the security deposit.

Most of the time a couple of friendly reminders will cause the landlord to rightfully return your security deposit to you. Most of them aren’t crooks, but writing checks to other people is never going to be much of a priority for them. If the landlord still doesn’t cough up your security deposit, you have the right to sue them in small claims court in your locality. It’s not as scary as a process as one might think, just head on down to the local courthouse and tell them the situation and that you’d like to file a small claims suit. You won’t need a lawyer, you’ll simply have to show the judge that you lived in said apartment, returned it in good condition, and did not receive a security deposit back. Nolo.com and LawHelp.org are two sites which will give you more specific information about statues and legal information about apartment rentals in your specific state.

Don’t let your previous landlord keep the security deposit which is rightfully yours. Be an empowered consumer and get your money back!