Apartment staff told me that they can no longer talk to me...

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: HomeAppraiser
Real world rule number one: You never get your rental deposit back. Get over it and move on.

Yup. SO true. You may get a small percentage of it back. That is why I never rent an apartment that asks for a high deposit. I did that once b/c I absolutely had to get a place "right now" and I got screwed in the end. (literally and figuratively :Q )

They are ALWAYS nice when you are looking at the place and when you're signing the lease. The bimbette who shows you around is always young, good looking and talkative. The second you move out though, she turns into miss "you'll have to talk to the manager" and conveniently, that person is never there. Ever.

Now, the OP has a pet; that is AUTOMATIC "keep your entire deposit." I know these things b/c years ago, my GF at the time was the manager of the apartment complex we lived it. I know ALL the inside tricks.

Your lease states "The property owner/lessor retains the right to keep all, some or none of your deposit" or words to that effect. Belive me, it's in there.

When you move in and hand them that deposit check, you might as well kiss it goodbye. If you get any of it back, consider yourself very lucky.

And BTW, I have never seen a single apartment that contained a pet that wasn't trashed. Or at least the place stunk to high hell. Pet people lose their ability to smell wet dog, cat pee or gerbil rot. A non-pet owning, non-smoker like me can smell that stuff a mile away.

Your doggie ruined the carpet and stunk the place up. They had the right to keep your money...the fact that they are raping you for a new carpet (and other things I'm sure) is just them exercising their power to be complete asses. You sign the lease, you give them that right.

<--apartment renter for the past 21 years, buying a house in mid-2008.

 

[novasatori]

Originally posted by: funboy42
People need to realize that when ever you give a place a deposit be it a pet, security, first last months, what have you, your 99% sure never to see that money every again. They will always find a way to make sure they NEVER owe you a dime back and in most case find a way that what you have already given to them wasnt enough. Never ever count on getting anything back when ready to leave. You can clean, replace carpet, repaint the entire place in and out, they will still find something, like the op's mold, smell, greasy stove, thats nit picking to keep the deposits.

You can call un-fair all you want its just how they roll and been getting away with it, it cuts into their profits, and no place likes to give back several hundred dollars back let alone thousands, so if you putting up this money when you move it consider it gone, no matter what you do when its time to leave and you try to collect.

I had my last apartment manager do a walk through the day I moved out, quote me on the problems and give me an estimated amount of charges

sign and date

90% of deposit back and 50% pet deposit(which is 100% they only return 1/2) about 4 mo later

edit:
this is with 3 dogs btw - one is old and peed inside all the time - was third floor and he could rarely make it downstairs

its called cleaning up 😕:Q

 

[MichaelD]

There are pet-owner success stories out there, but you've got to really be a neat, consciencious person to get your deposit back.

 

[Ilmater]

So you're an overly sensitive person that dresses his poor fvcking dog up like a princess. You got lawyers involved so you didn't get screwed. That's fine. Don't whine when they then take the lawyer route with you. Also, stop doing that to your dog. I don't care the excuse, it's just not ok. That dog looks like it would slit its throat if it had an opposable thumb with which to hold a razor.

 

[HomeAppraiser]

It helps if you stay in the same town, but if you are moving out of the area or even just home from college for summer break forget it.

 

[yowolabi]

Originally posted by: novasatori

Originally posted by: funboy42
People need to realize that when ever you give a place a deposit be it a pet, security, first last months, what have you, your 99% sure never to see that money every again. They will always find a way to make sure they NEVER owe you a dime back and in most case find a way that what you have already given to them wasnt enough. Never ever count on getting anything back when ready to leave. You can clean, replace carpet, repaint the entire place in and out, they will still find something, like the op's mold, smell, greasy stove, thats nit picking to keep the deposits.

You can call un-fair all you want its just how they roll and been getting away with it, it cuts into their profits, and no place likes to give back several hundred dollars back let alone thousands, so if you putting up this money when you move it consider it gone, no matter what you do when its time to leave and you try to collect.

I had my last apartment manager do a walk through the day I moved out, quote me on the problems and give me an estimated amount of charges

sign and date

90% of deposit back and 50% pet deposit(which is 100% they only return 1/2) about 4 mo later

edit:
this is with 3 dogs btw - one is old and peed inside all the time - was third floor and he could rarely make it downstairs

its called cleaning up 😕:Q

I don't think anyone will claim it's impossible to get something back. But if you're counting on getting something back, you're going to be sorely disappointed.

 

[randay]

op sounds like an stubborn paranoid cheapskate. reminds me of my parents.

 

[HomeAppraiser]

Originally posted by: randay
op sounds like an stubborn paranoid cheapskate. reminds me of my parents.

LOL, mine too! Although since he retired my dad has gone even more insane and is blowing money out his ass.

 

[BoomerD]

In over 15 years of renting, the ONLY time we didn't get back at least a majority of our deposit, was ONE time, when the landlord offered to let us use our deposit as the last month rent. We still cleaned the house well enough that it didn't have to be cleaned before it could be re-rented, and got an excellent reference for that for the next several years.
MOST landlords are decent people, who only keep deposits to cover the damage done by tenants...YES, some are unscrupulous bstards, who find any excuse to screw you, but IME, they're not as common as most people claim.
Every state has it's landlord/tenant laws, that govern how much they can charge for deposits, how long before a carpet or paint is considered to have "lived it's service life", after which, the tenant isn't liable for replacement due to normal wear & tear. IIRC, in Kahleeforneeya, paint has a 2 year life, and carpet, depending on the quality, is also presumed to have a "service life, and the landlord is only SUPPOSED to charge a pro-rated cost for replacement...