Landlord Question and Answer Forum

Our tenant has one more dog than was stated on the lease...the carpet in the family room is beyond repair, we believe, because of the dog...also, the tenant did not take care of the yard as was stated in the lease...we need to get a lawn care service to come in and clean it up...further, he asked if he could go month to month on his lease as he needed to move by the end of August.....he offered to have the property "ready to show" by May 1st if we agreed to go month to month...it is July 13th and there is no way we could show this house...it's a mess...he also is at least six weeks behind in his rent....he has accused us of making up excuses to withhold his security deposit....he wrote us a letter stating that we are to put his security deposit in a legal trust and will do the same with his back rent....what are my rights regarding these issues?

He has violated the lease and broken contract. State that simply and point out where the breaches were. You may withhold all of the security to go toward the repairs and may go after the rest of the monies owed plus ant extra that you may have spent on replacing carpet, paying landscapers etc. You are not in the wrong and you have the full right to withhold the security deposit. To many renters think they can do what they want and still get the deposit back. That deposit is in place to clean up after the scumbags that destroy YOUR house. Make sure you get paid and that everything is in showing order before any security is returned... if there is even any left.

Posted by Richard W, PA on Thursday, July 17, 2014