i was talking to a friend yesterday, who came to the states a year ago to study english. His lease was up and was currently enjoying his cross country trip before he went back to korea.
when he first came here, i found his rental apartment and before he started on this trip, we were discussing how he would get his security deposit back since he'd be travelling. i told him perhaps i could forward it to him.
anyway, during our conversation, he mentions that the landlord had called him and told him that he was going to deduct $400 from the deposit to paint the apartment. the landlord also told him that that was the standard practice here, that either the tenant repaints the apartment at the time of moving out or pays for the paint job.
now, i don't know about the rest of the country but this is not standard here in bergen county, new jersey.
i thought, oh my, they gotta be kidding me.. who are they trying to cheat? we automatically thought, since it was his first time renting in the states, first and only and ever, they thought they could tell him that and get away with it. the friend/client, thinking that this was a customary thing with rentals, he told the landlord to deduct the $400 from his security deposit.
when i heard this, i got mad! the landlord was trying to take advantage of my client and totally fell for it!!
i knew that this landlord has had several investment rental units, which were always rented using a realtor, so there was no way that anyone else that he has rented his units to had ever agreed to this. i called the landlord's agent, who called me back several hours later, who was also surprised to hear about it as well. i told her to give the landlord a call and tell him we are not going to give in to his BS.
i also told my client/friend to call the landlord, tell him not to start the paint job until he speaks to an attorney on monday.
this morning, my client/friend called me saying that the landlord has agreed to give back all of his security deposit, but still tried make it seem like he was doing my client/friend a favor by not charging him for the paint job.
i'm just glad i found out about this before he got his security back minus the $400 and hope that in the future, i don't run into any other bad landlords who try to take advantage of their tenants
;)
;)
Good Job! That is why it is always good to maintain contact with your clients. I try to tell my clients that I wish to be thier Realtor for life, not just the transacation. Even though your friend is leaving the country, I am sure this type of service will be noticed and you will get more in the end from sources you never expected.