Sara thought she was being a good tenant. She moved cities and rather than pay the stiff penalties for breaking the lease, she continued to pay rent on the old place. She even turned off the electricity before she left. Ever since she told the old landlord she won't be renewing the lease, he's been going all aggro on her on the phone, demanding payments for electricity she didn't use, insinuating she's a criminal and is still living there, and generally being a jerk. Sara wants to extricate herself from his clutches but is afraid for her $700 security deposit. What can she do?
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Everyone knows you never get your security deposit back! I learned that lesson while in school at su. I rented a slum property with 3 roommates from local landlord phil parker. Mind you it was a crappy old house he paid 45k for and the rent was $975 per month. We did a walk through and he promised he would fix stuff up and took internal notes of the condition upon move in. Once the lease was up I got docked for the pervious tenets damage which we went over before we moved in. I pointed this out to parker and he said o well. Rather than fight with this stoner wanker I let him take my portion of the security deposit. My other roommates moved out of the area but I stayed in Salisbury. I promised if I ever had the chance to tell my story about Parker Rentals I would not hesitate to tell it. The slum lords know most kids move out of the area and there will always be fresh meat to prey on!
ReplyDelete8:49 am, what a story. You should contact one of the good city council members about it.
ReplyDeleteDebbie Campbell (410) 860-0893
Terry Cohen (410) 845-0296
Not that they can do anything to help you now. I think all tenants with a bad experience should call them because they are the only two on council who have tried to get laws on the books that protect renters. The slum lords tried to smear both of them during elections. That was my cue as a renter to check them out and vote for them.
If Sara is in Salisbury,she is probably SOL.The landlords will find the most mundane things to justify keeping your money.Not that all tenants are perfect,far from it,but some of the landlords are downright scandalous.I was shown a home for rent for $900 that was FILTHY.When I asked the realtor/landlord if the previous tenants were pigs she got pissed and said her daughter and a few friends had lived there.LOL wonder if THEY got their money back.I would have been ashamed to admit my kid was that nasty but then again she had no shame showing a dirty house to prospective tenants.
ReplyDeleteAnon 8:49
Which Parker did you rent from?Theres 2 or 3 of them in Salisbury who own properties.
Anon 1:03. The second sentence of 8:49 says she rented from phil parker. (Not just a Parker).
ReplyDeleteThere are legal ways of getting out of a lease. If you are moving for a job or job transfer more than 45 miles (you need to check it differs from state to state) you are legally allowed to get out of your lease early and get the full security deposit back. I help tenants all the time take the previous landlords to court to get there security deposit back aqnd they usually are awarded more even people in salisbury. It cost no more than $50.00 to file in court! If she has done no damage she will win
ReplyDelete