Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Minnesota
Landlord is blaming the tenants for water damage in the basement.
On the move out date, another tenant and I were waiting around to have the landlord check things over. He noticed water in the basement, and he then checked the gutters and one was off and the other was damaged. He said to our face that we aren't responsible for the water damage. He told us that he will send the damage deposit out to us when we give him our new address. A week later he tried to avoid our calls and when we finally got a hold of him he said that we were responsible for the water damage and we wouldn't be getting our damage deposit back.
We talked to the neighbors while we lived there and one said that it is a nice house; however, the tenants before complained about water in the basement in the same bedroom that there currently is. We certainly didn't take any of the gutters off and I don't think it is our responsiblity to check on the gutters, because they were at the bottom of thick shrubs and hard to get at. The landlord also refuses to give out the name of his contracted, which I find suspicious.
Also, I drove by the house and noticed that the landlord, just after we moved out, put gutter extensions on the gutters as well as built up the landscaping around the house. What is your advice?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Landlord is blaming the tenants for water damage in the basement.
How much is he claiming? Did you get itemization? You may have to sue in cc court. Actual damages caused by tenant is only legal basis (wear + tear excepted.)
Re: Landlord is blaming the tenants for water damage in the basement.
Minnesota statutes have a requirement that if a landlord wants to keep the damage deposit, he or she has to provide the former tenant with a writen notice which details exactly what the damage is that the deposit is being kept for. For this requirement to be in effect, the tenant has to have provided a forwarding address. I tell my clients to always provide that address in writing and keep a copy for their own records.
If the notice from the landlord is not provided within a certain time - I think it's two weeks, but I would have to do some research to be sure - then the landlord is required to pay the tenant the deposit along with a penalty equal to the deposit. In other words, if the landlord does not send the notice, you get double your money back.
As Mr. Anderson mentioned, however, you would have to sue the landlord in conciliation court in order to get this money.
You need to come see someone like me, let me pull a couple of law books off the shelf, and figure out exactly what the time period is and so forth. I would give you a copy of the applicable law. My consult fee would be $100. Then you could probably go to conciliation court on your own.
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