Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida

Tenant Deposit Questions:

I live in Florida and had signed a lease with a landlord with which I had paid a $1,400 security deposit. The landlord stated that they would put the deposit in an interest bearing account which I would receive a quarterly prospectus on. I never received a prospectus. During my stay in the property, I had faced numerous hardships. I had signed to move in on the 1st of the month and it was "not ready" so I couldn't move in until the 6th upon which the water was broken and I couldn't shower for over a week, the AC was broken for 2 months in the summer and after contacting the landlord numerous times - finally fixed - and in the mean time I was paying 4x the normal electric bills because it was broken and running constantly, I also had the same situation with a water leak which took over 1 month to fix and again an abnormally huge water bill I had to pay. When the lease ended, the landlord avoided me for over 1 month before finally performing the walk-through and giving me back the deposit. When I received the deposit back it was a Wachovia Cashiers Check written to me for around $2,500 with a description of closed money market. I was pleased thinking the interest must have added up and they might have given me extra compensation to reimburse me for the high utility bills and for having to wait so long to get the deposit back. Over one month after cashing the deposit, the landlord called telling me he gave me too much money and he wants it back. Ofcourse I have spent the money. Can he make a claim on this money now? Also, I thought by law that a landlord must keep separate individual escrow type accounts to hold each rental property's deposit which cannot be touched until the lease has ended - if this is true, how did extra money end up in my account - is this legal? Would he win in a court case even though it has all been error on his part? Also, if there was extra money in this account how will I know what portion is the interest earned on my deposit?


Asked on 8/28/09, 9:43 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Sarah Grosse Sarah Grosse, Esquire

So, your deposit was $1400, and you mysteriously received a deposit return of $2500? And, you think for many reasons that all or part of the additional $1100 is yours? It doesn't work that way. The LL is required to hold the deposit money (not spend it), and return it to you. But, under no circumstance I can possibly think of will the LL invest the money and give you an $1100 profit. You cannot factor in any circumstances of the place being crappy to now claim that you are entitled to that extra $1100.

I think the LL can sue you for the extra $1100 and probably win.

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Answered on 8/28/09, 12:14 pm


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