Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New Mexico
Being held accountable for a security deposit.
I lived in an apartment with two other people for six months. During that time
I did not have any written agreement or lease with either the landlord or my
roommates. When my then roommates decided to move out of the apartment
I initially told the landlord I would sign a lease when my former roommates
moved out. However, because I could not secure new roommates I backed out
of signing a new lease and moved out of the apartment on August 31st, a few
days after my former roommates moved out. This angered the landlord quite
a bit.
Now the problem is the landlord wants to hold me accountable for my
previous roommate's security deposit and is trying to take me to small claims
court. I'm not sure why he thinks I'm accountable for it. I think his argument
is that in the few days that I lived in his apartment after my roommates
moved out I caused $850 worth of damage to the apartment. Which is in no
way true since I left the place in the same condition as that of my roommates
when they moved out and at that time he was willing to refund them the
majority of their deposit. Since I had no contract with the landlord does he
really have a case against me? Thank you.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Being held accountable for a security deposit.
Yes.