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Landlord doesn't have security deposit, what happens when I move out?

Leros

Leros

Lifer
My apartment complex was foreclosed on about 1.5 years ago. It switched hands between a few banks and is now owned by Fannie Mae.

During the initial foreclosure my original landlord returned my deposit. My existing lease got taken over by the bank, but they never asked for a deposit.

I'm about to move out. If there is any damage or cleaning that needs to be done, they would usually just deduct it from my deposit. In the event that there are costs, is there anything my current landlord can do? I'm mostly just curious.
 
As long as the place doesn't require any abnormal attention, I doubt they'll bother with anything serious. At most you'll probably get a letter billing you a couple hundred bucks for standard cleaning.
 
Arkaign said:
As long as the place doesn't require any abnormal attention, I doubt they'll bother with anything serious. At most you'll probably get a letter billing you a couple hundred bucks for standard cleaning.
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Can they actually bill me? My lease says they can take money out of my deposit, but doesn't say anything about billing me.
 
They could, of course, bill you for it. Whether you're legally obligated to pay is another question, but it's probably not worth a court fight or anything like that. Just clean the place up and I'm sure it won't be a problem.
 
Leros said:
Can they actually bill me? My lease says they can take money out of my deposit, but doesn't say anything about billing me.
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It would be very odd if your lease did not say something about you being financially responsible for damage that you do to the apartment. Even if they had your security deposit they'd bill you for any damage you did above the deposit.
 
Bignate603 said:
It would be very odd if your lease did not say something about you being financially responsible for damage that you do to the apartment. Even if they had your security deposit they'd bill you for any damage you did above the deposit.
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It basically says that they can deduct from my deposit (but not over the value) for things like cleaning costs and minor damages. Excessive damages (which isn't defined in the lease) can be charged to me if the cost is in excess of the deposit.
 
I assume they could argue that the landlord had no right to give you your deposit back, but it's a lot of work to go through depending on how much damage there is to the apartment.

are you looking at normal wear and tear, or did you punch holes through the wall, steal the bathroom sink, and paint the bedrooms black?
 
Leros said:
It basically says that they can deduct from my deposit (but not over the value) for things like cleaning costs and minor damages. Excessive damages (which isn't defined in the lease) can be charged to me if the cost is in excess of the deposit.
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I think you'll find excessive damage means any damage in excess of your security deposit.
 
Leros said:
Can they actually bill me? My lease says they can take money out of my deposit, but doesn't say anything about billing me.
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so you can destroy the apartment and only pay the deposit? no. it does not work that way. of course they can sue you.

now in this case i doubt they will.
 
They can bill you in addition to the security deposit (depending on local laws). Most of the time, they don't do it because once you skip town, it is too much of a hassle to track you down.
 
Considering they don't go after homeowners who gut the house, removing kitchen cabinets, doors, switches, just about everything before a foreclosure, I really doubt they're going to go after you for something trivial.
 
DrPizza said:
Considering they don't go after homeowners who gut the house, removing kitchen cabinets, doors, switches, just about everything before a foreclosure, I really doubt they're going to go after you for something trivial.
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That's different. Those people are generally broke so there's no point in going after them. Apartment complexes go after people all the time.
 
Try and get another deposit back out of them. Maybe they don't know your deposit has been given back. Free Money!
 
I do not think the bank will even bother to bug you. The place is foreclosed. Right now, all they care about is getting the place off their hands.
 
they will maybe send you the bill. Just try not to give them the address, maybe they'll drop it.
 
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