Questions about going to small claims court to get a security deposit back in NC
HeraldS
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Registered User regular
I had a walkthrough yesterday at my previous place and it did not go well. For reasons unrelated to the state of the house, the landlord refused to give me any of my security deposit back. I'm not going to go into specifics here, but I should have gotten close to half of it back at least, roughly $200-300. I'm considering taking him to small claims court for this but I'm not sure how it would go or if there would be any money left after court and lawyer fees. The lease was month-to-month after our initial year lease ended in August, and almost all communications regarding the lease, when I was leaving, and what I would be paying while I was there were via texts that I've since deleted or phone calls that I did not record. So I'm wondering:
1) What documentation would I need, in general, to force him to return the portion of my security deposit that he owes me?
2) What are my chances in court if I do not have written documentation of these things, only my testimony and what I can piece together from my phone provider?
3) How much will this cost me to pursue?
I know this is vague and that no one will be able to give me exact answers. What I'm hoping for is a greater understanding of the steps/cost of pursuing legal action against my landlord, so that I can decide if it's worth the time and effort to see this through. I am in North Carolina, for what it's worth.
1) What documentation would I need, in general, to force him to return the portion of my security deposit that he owes me?
2) What are my chances in court if I do not have written documentation of these things, only my testimony and what I can piece together from my phone provider?
3) How much will this cost me to pursue?
I know this is vague and that no one will be able to give me exact answers. What I'm hoping for is a greater understanding of the steps/cost of pursuing legal action against my landlord, so that I can decide if it's worth the time and effort to see this through. I am in North Carolina, for what it's worth.
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The lease, at minimum. Documentation that the house was in an equal of worse state of repair before moving in would probably help. You should speak with a lawyer in your state to verify.
2) What are my chances in court if I do not have written documentation of these things, only my testimony and what I can piece together from my phone provider?
You would need to speak with a lawyer familiar with your state to know this.
3) How much will this cost me to pursue?
You would need to speak with a lawyer familiar with your state to know this.
Speak to a lawyer, get their quote before asking your questions.
Less important:
In most places I've heard of, you're not actually allowed to have legal counsel with you in the courtroom when at small claims court. So if you do go ahead with this be prepared that your success will depend on your ability alone.
Again, speak to a laywer.
1/2) You don't "need" anything, except for perhaps the lease, and proof you made the deposit would be helpful. Your testimony is sufficient evidence to support a ruling in your favor, but I have no idea how a judge will weigh your testimony against whatever evidence produced by landlord.
3) It will cost you $0, because you can't retain a lawyer, and it would not be cost effective to retain a lawyer. There will be filing fees or other court costs, which, depending on rules of your local jdx, should be recoverable if you win.
I would do some quick research to see if there's any way to recover your deleted text messages.
Also, maybe go sit down and watch some People's Court. It is filled with people in your exact situation and you really can learn what to do/not do and what to bring/not bring to a small claims court. It's not perfect, but I find it a good representation of what to expect in a small claims court
Okay, so the thing about this is everyone can't take this advice. This is why landlords do this shit, because they know it's almost always not worth people's time. If anyone's willing to fight a landlord on some petty shit I always say go for it! The more people willing to fight the less likely landlords are to be tortious assholes.
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
Yes, it's a collective action problem. That doesn't change the fact that the time and cost of filing, showing up during the working day, attempting to win your first time against a guy who has probably done this before, then having to get the money out of the guy which if he's a dickwad (and he's a shifty landlord so....) will involve more filing fees and more court appearances. He is very unlikely to come out ahead.
The real way to avoid this shit is meticulously and obviously document the fuck out of the apartment when you move in. Establish to the landlord that it is probably not worth his time to try dickery. Once you've been screwed it's too late to worry about protection, that ship has sailed.
To the OP, that stuff about "for reasons I refuse to go into?" For the love of Jeebus do not pull that shit in front of an actual judge. They will tear you to shreds. Also, if you're already conceding half the security deposit...you're quibbling over the price, not if you damaged the apartment or not. I would say that significantly lowers your chances of winning and whether this is worth your time.
That's almost-good advice. Just go to the small claims court you'll be filing and get a sense of the judge or judge pro-tem who sits in small claims court. Whether you'll have that same judge/judge pro tem depends on how your courthouse is administered, but you'll get a sense of where people go wrong. You should have your story written out (be comprehensive and succint), but expect the judge to interrupt you at some point with a question. Attorneys and laypeople alike often fail to actually listen to what the judge is asking and there's no quicker way to annoy a judge.
There is no "i refuse to go into" stuff in the OP - it looks like you have elided OP's statement that "the landlord refused to give me any of my security deposit back." with his subsequent statement that "I'm not going to go into specifics here, but I should have gotten close to half of it back."
I agree that it would have been better to document things, but not having done so doesn't doom you, it just makes winning harder.
And Devoutly, I think you have it all backwards when you say he's erred by "conced[ing] half the deposit." Assuming OP has some itemized list of the charges, then conceding line-items, or portions of line-items, which are reasonable, is the thing to do - you're going to come off as overreaching or out of touch with reality if you deny there was any damage to the apartment that needs cleaning, repainting, whatever. Overpleading can often result in a loss of credibility with the court, and correctly so.
On the other hand, if there's no itemized list, it's fair to first ask landlord for that list, and seek the entire deposit back if landlord fails to explain the deductions. There may also be statutory penalties/requirements based on what the landlord has to report to you. Which is why you need to talk to a legal aid via that previous link I left you.
This may be uncharitable on my part but I think it's best for him if he takes the hard look at what he's claiming now before he invests more time, money, and effort into this only to find that level of scrutiny from a judge.
Given the resources this would require I still think it's going to be something you do more for principle than profit.
and here's the bit that you need to prove:
http://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/Chapter_42/Article_6.html
In particular, you probably have a case if the landlord didn't adhere to this part of the law:
§ 42-52. Landlord's obligations.
Upon termination of the tenancy, money held by the landlord as security may be applied as permitted in G.S. 42-51 or, if not so applied, shall be refunded to the tenant. In either case the landlord in writing shall itemize any damage and mail or deliver same to the tenant, together with the balance of the security deposit, no later than 30 days after termination of the tenancy and delivery of possession of the premises to the landlord. If the extent of the landlord's claim against the security deposit cannot be determined within 30 days, the landlord shall provide the tenant with an interim accounting no later than 30 days after termination of the tenancy and delivery of possession of the premises to the landlord and shall provide a final accounting within 60 days after termination of the tenancy and delivery of possession of the premises to the landlord. If the tenant's address is unknown the landlord shall apply the deposit as permitted in G.S. 42-51 after a period of 30 days and the landlord shall hold the balance of the deposit for collection by the tenant for at least six months. The landlord may not withhold as damages part of the security deposit for conditions that are due to normal wear and tear nor may the landlord retain an amount from the security deposit which exceeds his actual damages. (1977, c. 914, s. 1; 2009-279, s. 5.)
IIRC, in NC you pay a filing fee with the court clerk in the jurisdiction where the landlord resides, pay an additional fee to have the sheriff serve the papers, and should be able to recover those fees if the ruling goes in your favor. Here's everything you need:
http://www.legalaidnc.org/Public/Learn/publications/Small_Claims_Court/default.aspx
Good luck. According to the lawyer I consulted with, North Carolina law is stacked pretty heavily in favor of the landlord. If he can produce documentation that shows the dollar amount of the repairs, you're probably screwed unless you can produce documentation that you weren't responsible for the damages (e.g., move-in photos). If he never sent you an itemized list of damages, you may have a case, per the law above.
Again, IANAL, but just sending my former landlord this stuff and a request for the deposit IN WRITING (everything in writing! No voice mails; no texts!) was enough to get him to relent.
So you're going to need to do your homework and get together all your documentation. Your lease, what you signed off of was wrong with the apartment when you got it, your deposit, etc.
Then you need to figure out what kind of damages you did (if any), get some estimates on how much it would cost to repair them. Then you show up in court. At worst, you are out about $50 plus maybe a day's wages. At best you can expect to get back your partial deposit, or, the full deposit if you can show that the damages are normal wear and tear. You can also argue in lost wages and court fees but that's silly I think in this case, just go for your deposit or partial deposit.
Why is your landlord denying your deposit back? What was your arrangement? Did you get it in writing? Pretty important stuff.
Maybe this will help you decide further, OP. If it were less than $100, I'd say walk, but anything over $100 is absolutely worth it for small claims court, assuming you can make your case reasonably well.