Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida

I have a landlord who is not returning a security deposit of $1700 on a house that we just completed a 12 month lease on in September. We were notified by a ward of the Manatee County Court last month that the house was being foreclosed and that the landlord had not made a payment since March. Our lease says that we are to receive the deposit back minus expenses above normal wear and tear. The landlord says that he has to clean the house and clean the carpets, etc. and that no amount of the deposit will be returned, in fact he says we owe him 100.40 more. Before we vacated, we had a former building contractor walk through to see if there was anything above normal wear and tear and he indicated there was not. We personally feel the landlord doesn't have the money or doesn't want to pay us. Do we have a legitimate case and what course of action should we take?


Asked on 10/20/09, 12:06 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Lesly Longa Longa Law P.A.

Did your landlord provide you with written notice by certified mail within thirty days of your moving out? If so, you then have 15 days to object to the amount in writing. You can file a complaint against the landlord to determine if he has a right to the deposit. Check this site: http://www.800helpfla.com/landlord_text.html

If you need legal assistance with this, please contact me. Regards,

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Answered on 10/20/09, 12:58 pm
Lucreita Becude Lucreita D. Becude, P.A.

If your landlord did not give you an itemized statement of the funds used, try filing an action in small claims court. These are pretty simply and can be done online.

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Answered on 10/21/09, 3:55 pm


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