Damage deposit dispute

[Tenant]

I rented a room in the basement of a house. The bathrooms and kitchen were shared with the landlord. I cleaned the room thoroughly upon move-out. I requested a walkthrough of the premise on the day I moved out. The landlord didn`t indicate any damage. I requested for the return of the deposit after the inspection and was told that he didn`t have the money with him but will call me when available. When I went to collect the damage deposit a few days later, he stuffed the money in some magazines and didn`t mention any deductions taken from the damage deposit. I discovered afterwards that $300 of the $500 damage deposit was withheld. He didn`t provide any proof for the damage. He indicated the deduction was for his time of cleaning the shared bathrooms, cost of not shampooing the carpet and oil stains in the garage/driveway.

Does the landlord have the right to withhold deposit under this circumstances? I was never provided with proof of damage or receipts or quotes.
There was no stain in the carpet. I vaccumed it but is it mandatory to shampoo it.
The bathrooms are shared. I cleaned it after each use but should I be responsible for cleaning the mess casued by other people in the house.
The oil stain in the garage. I`ve never seen any proof of oil stain.

I have filed a small cour claim on this.

Any suggestions or ideas of helping me to recover the deposit would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Thomas Beyer]

QUOTE (Tenant @ Aug 9 2010, 05:20 PM) ..


Any suggestions or ideas of helping me to recover the deposit would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, you`ve been screwed. Nevertheless: drop it .. LEARN FROM IT.

Some people are just scum bags.

You should have counted the money right there on the spot and received a receipt for the $s. Maybe it was $450 .. or $500 .. who knows ?

If he had told you $300 and not $500 he would have to explain. $200 withheld is not unreasonable as the carpet is usually shampooed.

Of course, the bathroom and the oil stain story is all made up. hard to prove by you though ! Nevertheless, you will spend the next few weeks going to court and trying to prove s.th. that is hard to prove .. all for $200 ?

Be more careful next time !

Yes you have the right to demand the money back morally .. but legally that is hard.

Learn .. and move on !

 

[Trizzy]

Are you a renter in Ontario? If so, he/she should not have been charging a Damage Deposit in the first place. It is illegal in Ontario for Landlords to collect funds for this..

 

[housingrental]

Unlikely this is Ontario

 

[Sherilynn]

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that your tenancy would fall under most Residential Tenancies Acts because you were renting a room in the owner`s house rather than renting a self-contained unit. If a landlord handled the security deposit and inspection this way in a proper suite, he could be fined thousands of dollars, but this is not the case here.

I agree with Thomas. Yes, you have a right to your money, but is it really worth the time and effort for $300? Even if it is worth your time, it sounds like a case of his word against yours since you didn`t mention any inspection reports, etc. which would serve as evidence.

Just trust that karma will set things right. In a few years that $300 will seem like pennies.

Regards,
Sherilynn