Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New York

I moved out of a house we were renting in August. We never got out $2200 security deposit back. There were four of us living in the house and the lease was supposed to end August 1st. One roommate moved out in April and a second moved out in June but both continued to pay rent for the remainder of the lease. The landlord was aware that myself and the other roommate needed to find two more roommates if we wanted to extend the lease. On July 5th my landlord called and asked if we found anybody yet and I told them we had not and they should start showing the house so they aren't stuck if we couldn't renew. They posted ads on Craigslist and started showing the house to prospective tenants. Four days before our lease was up we were told they weren't too worried about finding tenants because we never gave them our notice in writing and we were still responsible for August. We were not reminded of this clause in our lease and they knew we weren't staying; they were showing the house. We also requested a walk through for when we moved out and they told us we could do it August 3rd and that we would have until then to clean. When I went into the house on August 1st to finish cleaning, the landlord was already in there with people cleaning and painting. He told us it was pointless to do a walk through and we never got one. Now, 5 months later, we still do not have our security deposit and we never received a list of damages/deductions. Do we have a case for the return of our security deposit?


Asked on 1/01/12, 3:11 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Carol Ryder Law Office of Carol Ryder PC

Not enough info but you might. This is a lease and yet it could be a month-to-month at that point with them looking to use your sec deposit for Aug rent which, from the limited info here, seems like they can. The whole "had to Aug 3 but they were cleaning Aug 1" makes me see some issues as well. BTW, always always put things in writing and use your camera phones in all kinds of scenarios. Videotape a rental before you move your stuff in, just before the movers come when you leave and again after the place is empty.ALSO use still photos and make sure they are dated with something besides the dates inside the cameras (e.g. newpapers, videotape the TV grid guide that gives dates, etc.) and use standard items of measurement (e.g. put a can of Coke, not just a tape measure which often cannot be seen in photos, next to that big hole the LL left you with)

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Answered on 1/03/12, 12:42 pm


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