Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Virginia

Deposit

While moving out of our rental house our moving truck (that we rented) pulled down a private security wire and loosened the pole. The wire was below the height required by the regional power supplier, but in good faith since I caused the damage I allowed the landlord to fix the situation with my deposit. However, they are requesting more money than was the deposit. The repair work that was done not only fixed this problem, but also did additonal repairs on another pole up the line, which was not necessary. I feel like somebody who has had a fender bender and now is having to pay for a fender a new bumper, as well as, paying for a new paint job. The landlord is an out of town owner and I feel like the electrical contractor has taken advantage of the situation knowing full well that she would go along with anything that they recommended. I do not feel like I am liable for the additional amount. What recourse do I have?


Asked on 5/28/02, 4:33 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Deposit

Your recourse is to write a letter to whoever "they" is (the one making the demand for

additional payment)with a copy to the other party(whether landlord or contractor), explaining your

position and why you believe that the forfeit of your security deposit should be sufficient to cover the damage that you are responsible for,

and, therefore, you will not pay any additional amounts.

Keep in mind, however, that there is a possibility that the damage you caused to the first pole could have in some way also impaired the other pole up the line, assuming that the two are connected.

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Answered on 5/28/02, 6:40 pm


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