Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Pennsylvania

Renter's security deposit

I recently moved out of an apartment. Though I broke the lease and moved out early, I provided the landlord with new tenants who were ready to move in immediately. The landlord told the new tenant (not myself which means he was discussing my business with a third party) that he was keeping my security deposit because I broke the lease. The new tenant is a family member and I have seen the apartment since they moved in and NO WORK was done at all. The only thing I forgot to clean was the refrigerator and it is still noticably dirty. Is this legal for him to keep the security if he did NOTHING to the apartment? Do I have a chance to get back the security in small claims court?


Asked on 7/12/08, 4:53 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Leslie Ditlow, Esquire Leslie F. Ditlow, Esquire

Re: Renter's security deposit

First, you need an attorney to review the lease that you had with the landlord. You would want to ask for an accounting of where the landlord allegedly used the funds from the security deposit to fix the apartment. Another question that may factor in is how long was the apartment without a renter during the time that you departed and the family member moved in. If you have pictures of the apartment while you were there and can get them now to establish that there have been no changes to the apartment that would help in a small claims matter.

Please feel free to call me to discuss this a little bit more.

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Answered on 7/27/08, 9:37 am


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