Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Washington
I have talked to my landlord and he told me that I could break the lease after we were robbed. We were robbed a second time and called and told him that we were moving out and that I wanted the deposit back. he told me that is not the way that it works. we have police reports for both times that we were broken into. Do we ave the right about getting our deposit back?
1 Answer from Attorneys
You do not have a right to get your deposit back based upon what you have explained. Just because your landlord is willing to let you out of your lease early� something the landlord is not obligated to do under the circumstances� does not mean that you get the deposit back. Instead, if the landlord allows you to leave, the situation should be treated as if you have just ended the lease and are moving out. A walk through inspection needs to be done and a written assessment of what, if anything the landlord deducts for needs to be provided to you within 14 days of moving out, otherwise, at that point, you would be entitled to the entire security deposit back.