Landlord needed to be sued before he returned my security deposit

I was living in an apartment for two years without any problems.  The landlord was a great person and did whatever I asked him to keep the apartment nice and beautiful.  There was never a moment when I had an opportunity to complain or fight about something and I was feeling that I was the luckiest person alive.  Things however did not turn out so good when I had to leave the apartment as I was transferred out of the state by the office in which I worked for.

 

I had given a three month security deposit to my landlord when I had taken the apartment and it was agreed between us that the money would be returned to me after I had vacated the premises at the end of the lease period.  As I had done so in accordance with the agreement I provided my forwarding address to my landlord and asked him to forward the check for the return of the deposit down there.  I left the place thanking him for all the nice things that he had done for me over the years.

 

Two months down the line I still had not received the money that was due to me and I was wondering what had gone wrong.  I tried calling up my ex landlord but did not get any response to the calls.  Writing to him did not get any response either.  I finally had a friend of mine pay him a visit and ask for the money only to be told that it would be sent shortly.  As my friend called me in the presence of my landlord he had to speak to me and that was when I finally got to hear from him about anything.  He did not sound such a nice person over the phone and I was again left wondering whether this was the same person that I was dealing with a short while ago.

 

A month later I had still not received the money and when I called him up again he started making excuses and again started giving me the same stories that the payment would be with me shortly.  I waited for another month and after that did not bother calling him.  I just contacted a lawyer and sued him for the money that he owed me plus the interest that he had earned on the money all this time.  My lawyers were good and were able to get the case heard in court in quick time.  The landlord had no option but to pay the money with the interest and the costs of the litigation.  I still have been unable to understand what made the man behave the way he had after I had left the apartment.    

  ...1 year ago

Posted On : Jul 31,2008    Posted In : Real Estate,Residential landlords & tenants disputes    Post Comment (1)

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