Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Pennsylvania

Hi i need to know about landord and tenant law my tenant left and wants her security and deposit back in full she sent me a certified letter stating all the things that she says was not fixed or repaired in a timely manner

she is a crazy woman in my opinion anyway she lived here 10 yrs i bought the apartment 4 yrs ago she asked for rug to be changed and things like that

i told her i dont feel it needs to be changed but if u choose u can do what u like anyway

my issue is she wants 1600.00 back minus the water bill 240.00 so thats 1360.00

she did keep apartment clean and closed all holes but every room in the apartment is a diffrent color i want to take the money out for paint and supplys 2 fix what she did

when i told her that she said im takin u to court and hung up

do i have the right to take her security deposit for her painting and me fixing it

the rug and alkl the other things she said i didnt fix is all on me but the walls i feel is her my question is by law in pennsylvania her painting all rooms diffrent colors can i charge her for it or is it ilegal


Asked on 2/09/10, 11:39 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Davidson Law Office of John A. Davidson

Unless the lease or some writing says she had to get the approval of the landlord on color selection she did have the freedom to paint them any color she wanted. Now if you asked her to paint them back to the standard colors she might have done that.

Given that the place probably hadn't been painted since she moved in painting may very well be on your dime as after 10 years the painting should be done due to normal wear and tear,

If you didn't notify her of the damages and refund the unused portion of the security deposit with in 30 days she can sue for up to 2 times the amount of the security deposit. If she does that than you can counterclaim damages to the apartment as asking for 2 times the security deposit does allow you to do that.

{John}

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Answered on 2/14/10, 2:49 pm


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