Returning keys

October 1, 2016 12:22 AM

I moved out of my apartment on the 30th (the last day of the lease). The movers were late, and by the time they were done, the management company's office was closed. Now it's the weekend. The lease states that keys must be returned to the office. How do I return the keys in a way that will be considered "on time"?

Management is unresponsive. No one ever picks up the phone, and I rarely ever get replies to my emails.

This is a walkup in NYC.

posted by airmail to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

Is there a mail slot in their door? If not, overnight shipping with prorated funds for the additional day (s) including a note about your issue with the mover.
posted by brujita at 1:05 AM on October 1, 2016

Do you know where the office is?
posted by amtho at 1:28 AM on October 1, 2016

In my experience, if they're that unresponsive, I'd just send them the keys thru regular old certified mail and not expect to hear about it.
posted by STFUDonnie at 4:39 AM on October 1, 2016 [23 favorites]

Mail them the keys certified mail and don't worry about it.
posted by HuronBob at 4:41 AM on October 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

I am pretty sure you had until the end of the day in your lease, not until 5pm. You performed. They were not available to receive the keys. Leave a voice mail telling them you were forced to mail them because they were not available up until the end of your lease and mail them certified.

If you can send an email too in order to further document, that would help too in case you have to go to small claims over your deposit.
posted by AugustWest at 8:52 AM on October 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

Even if there is a mail slot, I would still use some form of certified mail so there's a record of you sending the keys on time. You don't want to stick them in a slot and not know what happened after that.
posted by fingersandtoes at 8:59 AM on October 1, 2016 [7 favorites]