Need to recover stuff left behind at last apartment. Landlord is angry.
September 22, 2015 5:14 PM Subscribe
My last landlord is angry with me. She's withholding my security deposit. There's some important stuff that got left behind in the apartment. How do I get it back?
I moved to a new apartment a few weeks ago. I lived at my last place for three years. I was on good terms with the landlord—I helped her move furniture, took in packages, etc.—but once I moved out, she decided to withhold the security deposit, citing a series of pretty minor things. Her email was unnecessarily harsh, in my opinion ("your lack of respect...", "I'm sorry to leave our relationship this way..."). It was a bit of a shock. I think she might need the money. She's also older and acted erratic now and then, so there might be some health issues involved.
That was about two weeks ago. I haven't decided whether to put up a fight and I haven't replied to the email.
I recently discovered that my girlfriend, who lived with me and did some of the moving, left behind a few important boxes (in a separate small apartment where our landlord asked us to move some stuff while moving, so she could show our place with minimal clutter). Some of it is irreplaceable—like, boxes of papers and things that I've been collecting for a decade or so.
How do I approach the landlord to get my stuff back?
I moved to a new apartment a few weeks ago. I lived at my last place for three years. I was on good terms with the landlord—I helped her move furniture, took in packages, etc.—but once I moved out, she decided to withhold the security deposit, citing a series of pretty minor things. Her email was unnecessarily harsh, in my opinion ("your lack of respect...", "I'm sorry to leave our relationship this way..."). It was a bit of a shock. I think she might need the money. She's also older and acted erratic now and then, so there might be some health issues involved.
That was about two weeks ago. I haven't decided whether to put up a fight and I haven't replied to the email.
I recently discovered that my girlfriend, who lived with me and did some of the moving, left behind a few important boxes (in a separate small apartment where our landlord asked us to move some stuff while moving, so she could show our place with minimal clutter). Some of it is irreplaceable—like, boxes of papers and things that I've been collecting for a decade or so.
How do I approach the landlord to get my stuff back?
Have a camera, never know.
posted by Freedomboy at 5:20 PM on September 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Freedomboy at 5:20 PM on September 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
IAALL, albeit certainly NYexLL. There are regulations, depending on jurisdiction and your lease, that stipulate the necessity of LL preserving your stuff/your ability to retrieve stuff/etc. If the LL puts up a fuss, having those laws at your fingertips may come in handy. Otherwise, as xingcat and Freedomboy suggest, do this calmly but with a camera (you may want to bring another person along).
posted by thomas j wise at 5:25 PM on September 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by thomas j wise at 5:25 PM on September 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
It might help to have the girlfriend contact her, if she isn't the supposedly-disrespectful one.
posted by salvia at 6:54 PM on September 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by salvia at 6:54 PM on September 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
Also it's worth noting, if you wanna fight on the deposit, every penny of deposit withheld needs to be accounted for (receipts for cleaners and repair bills, etc). If she can't provide that, or the charges are unreasonable, you can and should sue her. In many jurisdictions you can sue for up to triple any security deposit money illegally withheld.
posted by Itaxpica at 6:56 PM on September 22, 2015 [13 favorites]
posted by Itaxpica at 6:56 PM on September 22, 2015 [13 favorites]
In many (all?) U.S. states, landlords are not permitted to seize tenants' possessions without a court's say-so. That is theft. So it may well not matter how you approach your landlord, if she has a legal obligation to give you your property.
posted by waldo at 7:08 PM on September 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by waldo at 7:08 PM on September 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
What does your lease say? Mine says all my crap has to leave with me at the end of my lease term or my landlord can toss my stuff in the trash.
You think your old landlord may need some money, show up, ask nicely for your stuff, and offer her some cash for her troubles.
posted by Rob Rockets at 7:38 PM on September 22, 2015
You think your old landlord may need some money, show up, ask nicely for your stuff, and offer her some cash for her troubles.
posted by Rob Rockets at 7:38 PM on September 22, 2015
Just call the landlord, and tell her the boxes were accidentally left, can you come over at day/time to get them?
Do it as soon as possible. If she is acting erratic she may toss them, legality be damned.
Do NOT mention security until you have retrieved your possessions.
As others have said, you need to find out the specific laws for your area. She may have a month to get it to you. Regardless, give her a copy of the law/regulations with relevant parts highlighted. Tell her that by your understanding you are entitled to a full refund as per the law. This is not open for discussion, she has 3 choices, she can give you the full refund, give you a partial refund and legally required documentation, or be subject to the full penalties that a court would impose.
posted by Sophont at 7:50 PM on September 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
Do it as soon as possible. If she is acting erratic she may toss them, legality be damned.
Do NOT mention security until you have retrieved your possessions.
As others have said, you need to find out the specific laws for your area. She may have a month to get it to you. Regardless, give her a copy of the law/regulations with relevant parts highlighted. Tell her that by your understanding you are entitled to a full refund as per the law. This is not open for discussion, she has 3 choices, she can give you the full refund, give you a partial refund and legally required documentation, or be subject to the full penalties that a court would impose.
posted by Sophont at 7:50 PM on September 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
Does she live on site? I'd seriously just show up at the front door and call her saying "Hey, sorry, i forgot some stuff but i'm here to grab it right now!"
Make her have to send you away. That applies some real pressure and makes her less likely to hem and haw and make up excuses.
If she's there, and the stuff is there, and she doesn't want to let you in i might even call the cops. I've actually had to call the cops to get my stuff out of a building in a weird situation before and they were surprisingly super helpful and basically showed up just to say "Hey, yes, you do have to let them get their stuff. You can't just keep it".
I second not mentioning the deposit at all until you get your stuff back. And, how big of a deposit are we talking about here? I wouldn't seriously fight it if the total was less than $500. It will cost you some money, but it will really cost you time and unless you have a ton of free time right now for some reason, you'll probably even have to call in sick to work or something to deal with it. It's generally only worth it monetarily when it's like, a $1500 deposit.
In the future, many storage unit places have a 1st month $1 a day or just $1 deal(with no contract! but it's often byzantine to cancel and not get charged a second month). A friend of mine does this EVERY TIME she moves, and has never paid for more than the first deal month. It's worth it to rent a storage unit to avoid stupid situations like this.
posted by emptythought at 8:24 PM on September 22, 2015 [7 favorites]
Make her have to send you away. That applies some real pressure and makes her less likely to hem and haw and make up excuses.
If she's there, and the stuff is there, and she doesn't want to let you in i might even call the cops. I've actually had to call the cops to get my stuff out of a building in a weird situation before and they were surprisingly super helpful and basically showed up just to say "Hey, yes, you do have to let them get their stuff. You can't just keep it".
I second not mentioning the deposit at all until you get your stuff back. And, how big of a deposit are we talking about here? I wouldn't seriously fight it if the total was less than $500. It will cost you some money, but it will really cost you time and unless you have a ton of free time right now for some reason, you'll probably even have to call in sick to work or something to deal with it. It's generally only worth it monetarily when it's like, a $1500 deposit.
In the future, many storage unit places have a 1st month $1 a day or just $1 deal(with no contract! but it's often byzantine to cancel and not get charged a second month). A friend of mine does this EVERY TIME she moves, and has never paid for more than the first deal month. It's worth it to rent a storage unit to avoid stupid situations like this.
posted by emptythought at 8:24 PM on September 22, 2015 [7 favorites]
There's not a lot of detail here but I'd say you should know that if your landlord is mad at you, that isn't your problem. Don't let her feelings distract you from your legal rights.
I would be brief and clear. I like the idea of just showing up tomorrow and saying, "I am here to get the boxes I left." If she doesn't give you your belongings, I would go through traditional legal channels.
posted by latkes at 8:46 PM on September 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
I would be brief and clear. I like the idea of just showing up tomorrow and saying, "I am here to get the boxes I left." If she doesn't give you your belongings, I would go through traditional legal channels.
posted by latkes at 8:46 PM on September 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
"Also it's worth noting, if you wanna fight on the deposit, every penny of deposit withheld needs to be accounted for (receipts for cleaners and repair bills, etc). If she can't provide that, or the charges are unreasonable, you can and should sue her. In many jurisdictions you can sue for up to triple any security deposit money illegally withheld."
Can sue for is not the same as will actually receive. Judges side with landlords overwhelmingly. My ex and I had what I thought was a slam dunk case against our ex-landlord, who had withheld nearly all our security deposit, and paid the small part he did give back late. However, the judge sided with him, despite the fact that we had the envelope showing when he mailed the tiny fraction of our deposit back; despite the fact that he had pulled round numbers out of his ass for supposed repairs (literally every single imaginary repair was a multiple of $10.00); and despite the fact that he had ZERO receipts, records of what companies he used for repairs, or bank records showing payments.
I was stunned by this but in talking to an acquaintance with a long record of public service including in the courts, came to understand that this is absolutely par for the course. Even when defendants have donated money to a particular judges campaign (!!!) it's still considered fine and dandy for that judge to hear a case involving them. Conflict of interest? Bias? What's that?
It took much more $ to sue the landlord than it should have, because he was elusive and hard to serve, and it would have cost lots more to contest the decision.
Try NOT to go town that road!
posted by mysterious_stranger at 9:38 PM on September 22, 2015
Can sue for is not the same as will actually receive. Judges side with landlords overwhelmingly. My ex and I had what I thought was a slam dunk case against our ex-landlord, who had withheld nearly all our security deposit, and paid the small part he did give back late. However, the judge sided with him, despite the fact that we had the envelope showing when he mailed the tiny fraction of our deposit back; despite the fact that he had pulled round numbers out of his ass for supposed repairs (literally every single imaginary repair was a multiple of $10.00); and despite the fact that he had ZERO receipts, records of what companies he used for repairs, or bank records showing payments.
I was stunned by this but in talking to an acquaintance with a long record of public service including in the courts, came to understand that this is absolutely par for the course. Even when defendants have donated money to a particular judges campaign (!!!) it's still considered fine and dandy for that judge to hear a case involving them. Conflict of interest? Bias? What's that?
It took much more $ to sue the landlord than it should have, because he was elusive and hard to serve, and it would have cost lots more to contest the decision.
Try NOT to go town that road!
posted by mysterious_stranger at 9:38 PM on September 22, 2015
Your legal rights are kind of irrelevant if she throws your stuff in the trash. You can't get your stuff back if it's destroyed, no matter how illegal it was of her to destroy it.
I agree you should just show up and ask for your stuff back, if she lives there, or ask her to meet you at the apartment if she doesn't. Don't give her the chance to destroy your stuff out of spite.
posted by mskyle at 6:50 AM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
I agree you should just show up and ask for your stuff back, if she lives there, or ask her to meet you at the apartment if she doesn't. Don't give her the chance to destroy your stuff out of spite.
posted by mskyle at 6:50 AM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Can sue for is not the same as will actually receive. Judges side with landlords overwhelmingly.
This hugely varies by location. It's the complete opposite here, to the point that almost any tenant who goes to court wins. The judge outright opened with "if you're a landlord here illegally withholding a deposit, you better get out your checkbook" at one point.
Maybe see if you have a local tenants union if you go that route? They'll know which way the wind tends to blow.
posted by emptythought at 3:35 PM on September 23, 2015
This hugely varies by location. It's the complete opposite here, to the point that almost any tenant who goes to court wins. The judge outright opened with "if you're a landlord here illegally withholding a deposit, you better get out your checkbook" at one point.
Maybe see if you have a local tenants union if you go that route? They'll know which way the wind tends to blow.
posted by emptythought at 3:35 PM on September 23, 2015
Property manager here - seconding suggestion to go to tenants union or whatever organization that helps tenants in your area. Landlord tenant law varies greatly by locality and they will know what works in this situation in your town.
posted by Melsky at 8:04 PM on September 23, 2015
posted by Melsky at 8:04 PM on September 23, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by xingcat at 5:19 PM on September 22, 2015 [2 favorites]