How much would you pay?

[MirrorriM]

I'm looking for advice on how much of a security deposit I should give this girl, Leslie. Little background info: I took Joan's spot in the apartment, and Joan was subleasing from Leslie. When I first looked at the place, Joan told me the deposit would only be $570 because of damages (VERY badly stained carpet, holes in doors, scrapes on walls, etc). Before I agreed to move in I told Joan I did not want to be held responsible for all the damages and would not have money taken out of my security deposit to pay for them. She agreed.

So I move in. Joan tells Leslie I have moved in and gives her my number. A few weeks later, Joan emails me telling me that Leslie wants $650 for a deposit and she gives me Leslie's phone number. I never call Leslie, I wait for her to ask for the money. Well, she finally called today, demanding money. She tells me she wants it ASAP. I told her I would not give her 650 and that Joan told me it would be 600 (I rounded up).

She says that 650 is what she wants and that I agreed to the damages when I moved in. I tell her no, I agreed to nothing and told Joan that. She says that "I gave you 2 months to pay me and you havent yet," I tell her no, this is the first time she has called me asking for money and I've only lived here 1 month. I tell her I'm not paying 650. She eventually says the lowest she'll go is 600. I tell her I'll talk to her Thursday about it.

So, after hanging up, I learn that Joan never paid her share of the deposit. She lived there for 5 months prior to me. So I'm thinking that's already half of the deposit I owe cuz I'm not paying Joan's half. Then, there are all the damages to the carpet, walls, doors, etc.

The apartment complex is not involved. How it works is the first people who moved in paid them the deposit, and then when they move out, the new people moving in pay the people who moved out, etc etc. So I dont have anything in the lease saying I must pay Leslie.

What do you think? Do I owe her money? If so, how much?

I've gotten some people saying I owe nothing and some people saying I owe some, but not 600. So for all you renters out there, what would you pay?

[Dameon Angell]

Alright, this one is an open and shut case.

First you look at any contractual agreements you have with this "Leslie" person. Is there anything in writing? If so, give me a copy and I can go over it for you if you need it. Without anything in writing though, you owe her nothing, but what you're worth.

Basically, you ask her, if Joan paid her share of the deposit, how much would I owe, then? Then you give her the amount of your share and no more. You didn't have anything in writing saying you would take care of "all the damages" nor were you the one who cause them. If she wants reparations, she needs to seek Joan, not let it out on you.

[MirrorriM]

Yeah, no contracts. I signed nothing. I told her this and she claimed I made a contract by moving in and "accepting the damages."

So I'm thinking okay, Joan pays 250 for living there 5 months, I'll pay 350 for living here 7 months. Then, how much should I take off for damages? Can the carpet even be cleaned or might it need to be replaced? I'm thinking with all the damages to pay for, that gets rid of the 350 I "owe."

[Dameon Angell]

Why do you owe the damages? That's Joan's dime, not yours. Unless you caused them yourself.

[T3l Ca7]

You should have obtained a written contract before you moved in. You should also be given sometime (usually a week here) to write down all the damages already existed in the place. Get your landlord to sign it.

But you probably have not done that. In your case, it is best to arrange a meeting with both Leslie and Joan (if possible) and sort things out. It would make things easier if all of you three are present at the same time.

Deposit usually is equivalent to 4 weeks/1 month rent depends whether you pay forenightly or monthly. But it can be any amount specified in the contract.

Always, always, get things written down and signed when going into a medium/long term contract with someone you do not know so well.

[MirrorriM]

Yeah dunno, gonna tell her to take it up with Joan. Then when/if Joan comes after me, telling her to pay for the damages.

[Dameon Angell]

Odds on if they take you to court they wouldn't have any proof of evidence that you did the damage yourself.

[MirrorriM]

Always, always, get things written down and signed when going into a medium/long term contract with someone you do not know so well.

Before I signed the lease I made sure about the security deposit. This should be said to Leslie, not me :P

[Lizard Fuel]

Typically a security deposit is equal to 1 months rent. Nothing more, nothing less. Ive lived in 3 different states and it was the same each time. Is this an actual complex or apartment building, or is it like somebodys home, that they rent out to pay the mortgage on it? Due to the lack of paperwork mentioned, I'd say somebodys privately owned building. If I were you, I'd tell the landlord to chase down the money from whomever caused the aforementioned damages, then you will leave a security deposit for any potential damage you may cause during your stay. If they refuse, gladly accept the invitation to court.

[HateTheFake]

tell her if she fixes the damages then you will pay the full deposit, after all your gonna get screwed when you decide to move out, and they jack the money from your security deposit.

also if they take you to court, have pictures in hand of the previous damage done to the apartment.

[MirrorriM]

Yeah, it's a tricky deal here. Hard to explain.

The rent is $517 a month, so yeah she's definitely jacked it up.

Let me try to clarify the deposit and how it works:

The first people who moved into the apartment gave the apartment complex the security deposit. The complex keeps this money unless ALL of the 4 tenants move out at the same time. Then they assess cleaning and damage costs. There have been a lot of people before me. Since these people never moved out all at the SAME time, they had to get their deposit back a different way.

How they get their deposit is asking the new renter (aka me) for the money they paid the previous renter. So "Jane" paid the apt. complex 600, then decided to leave the apt and had "Bob" take her place. Bob then pays Jane $600. If Bob moved out, he'd get the new guy to pay him $600. So in the end, the landlord/apartment complex isnt involved with the situation (and told me so when I signed the lease) unless all 4 of us move out at the same time (which isnt going to happen).

[Cops]

this is a confusing situation, it's ridiculous that the security deposit keeps getting pushed on to the next person, it's not even a security deposit it's just a set amount of money that keeps getting pushed and expected to be paid back to different people who move into the complex. It's like saying 'some dude made me pay $500 now you have to pay me $550 if you want me to live here', how do you even know the initial security deposit was $500 or $600? Look into what the original person paid and tell them you refuse to pay anymore than that because frankly this is way too un-regulated to know how much you should be paying. Refuse to give money until the damages are fixed though, that's the previous tenants responsibly.

Here's some options

1) tell Leslie and Joan to meet you, and make sure you get them to sign something saying 'I am not responsible for any previous damages in this apartment, I will not pay for this carpet to be washed, cleaned or a new one to be put in'. You hand over less than what they want for the security deposit, which isn't even a security deposit! it's just a 'you pay me and the next guy will pay you situation', honestly it's a waste of time.

2) You find out what the cost of the damages are and you tell them you're using the 'deposit' to repair the damages that you've apparently been 'left with' to fix. Snub them at their own game, nothings in writing, you can do whatever you want really. This works in two ways, you ensure that your damages are fixed and that the next person doesn't feel like he or she is paying you a questionable amount of money.

3) Say fuck it and get out of a situation like that, I'd definitely not want to deal with that kind of crap.

I really like option 2....

[MirrorriM]

Yeah I'm thinkin of going with option 2. Only problem is I think the carpet needs to be replaced, which would cost way more than the deposit. I meet Leslie Thursday.

[Cops]

Tell her straight up until these things are fixed she wont get her money, make it clear you wont pay the bill for the past tenants. They're going to try and make you feel as though you're in the wrong for not paying but just remember your living in an apartment with a shit carpet and a 'questionable debt' to a stranger who has absolutely no proof of what the original cost of the security deposit was. If it gets heated and they get pissy walk away from it, you got the money and you can definetly use that to fix up your living area, and the best part is that they can go suck a lemon cause they don't have anything written down that proves you'd do anything they're saying you would.

I'd totally get quotes of what it's going to cost to get a new carpet, show up with some bills and quotes of your own, it will shock the hell out of them. Remind them that in your eyes they still 'OWE YOU MONEY' to make sure that this apartment is in decent condition before you agree to pay any sort of security deposit back to them.

I'd really get out of that type of situation, everything that needs to be fixed probably lays on the hands of the tenants since the complex has not had to agree to a new lease, I'd bail out, all of you for a week and then agree to a new lease with the complex, at which time you tell them they have to ensure that 'this apartment doesn't look like complete ass before you agree to any type of lease'. Fucking subletting gives you no ability to actually say 'fuck off, I'm not paying this, so fucking fix it'.

[MirrorriM]

Yeah, they dont have anything to pin me down on. I'm holding all the power right now. My name is actually on the lease, Joan and Leslie are off the lease.