How to Get Your Security Deposit Back
14May
How to Get Your Security Deposit Back
Landlord and tenant disputes about security deposits are very common. If you believe that your landlord unfairly withheld deposit money for cleaning, repairs, or back rent or failed to return your security deposit at all, one major option you may have to consider is to sue them in small claims court. Read on to learn what you should do if your landlord doesn't return your security deposit.
Security Deposit Laws
California establishes certain rules that landlords must follow when it comes to returning and deducting any money from a tenant's security deposit. After the tenancy is terminated, a landlord has 21 days to return the tenant's security deposit in full or explain an accounting of any deductions.
Make a Written Request for your Security Deposit
If the deadline has passed, you will want to make a request for your deposit under any of these circumstances:
- Your landlord hasn't returned your deposit
- Your landlord hasn't given you an itemization of deductions
- Your landlord has taken deductions that you don't agree with
Your request should be written in the form of a "demand letter" and serves many purposes: It gives your landlord your forwarding address (even if you're already done it when you gave notice), it's a chance to build your case for a lawsuit, and it can help you get punitive damages from your landlord because they didn't comply with the security deposit law.
What Should be Included in the Demand Letter?
For your demand letter, you should include the following:
- The current date and your former unit number and address
- The circumstances of the dispute: note that you either you haven't received your full refund of your security deposit or that you dispute the deductions
- Your intention to sue in small claims court if you don't receive the refund (partial or full) within 2 weeks
Next Steps
If your landlord doesn't respond, then you can mediate (with the help of a third party) or begin a lawsuit immediately. Fortunately, the small claims lawsuit is fairly inexpensive. Here are the next steps you will take if you take your landlord to court:
- Complete the court forms
- Put together evidence
- Prepare your case and present your case in court
If your landlord files a lawsuit against you first for money claiming that you damaged the property beyond "wear and tear," you can take the steps to file a counterclaim for wrongfully withholding a security deposit.
Get Legal Help with Renting Issues
It's frustrating when you don't get your security deposit returned to you. However, before you sue your landlord, you might want to consider talking it over with an experienced tenants' rights attorney. A Wolford Wayne attorney can explain your rights and can determine whether you may have additional claims against your landlord. Contact us today to get started.
Related Posts You Also May Like
Habitability Defects How Long Does a Landlord [...]
One of the realities of apartment living is waiting for the landlord to make repairs. Not only does it try Continue Reading
Owner's Right to EnternameTenant Harassment How Can I Prove My [...]
Being harassed in your own home is simply wrong. It violates the basic concepts of privacy and security that a Continue Reading
Security Deposits 5 Things to Know about [...]
Whenever you sign a lease to rent an apartment, chances are that the landlord will require you to put down Continue Reading
Life Changing Results
$1.56 Million
Recovered on behalf of a group of 30 tenants living in an SRO in San Francisco who were living with horrendous conditions in their rent controlled apartments, including rodents, bedbugs, mold, water leaks and harassment.Read More
$750,000
Recovered on behalf of a couple living in a rent-controlled home in the outer Sunset neighborhood. Our clients were forced to vacate after the landlord served them with an Owner Move-In Eviction Notice. After the landlords failed to move into the property, our clients filed suit for wrongful eviction.Read More
$700,000
Recovered for a single long-term tenant in San Francisco. Our client was forced to move out of his apartment as a result of extreme landlord harassment.Read More
$575,000
Recovered on behalf of elderly, disabled tenant who was forced to move out of her rent-controlled San Francisco apartment of 50 years after landlord/owner failed to resolve numerous building code violations that remained outstanding for over a decade.Read More
$560,000
Recovered on behalf of two former San Francisco tenants who were evicted via an Owner Move-In Eviction and owner failed to occupy the unit as her primary place of residence.Read More
$550,000
Recovered on behalf of a San Francisco tenant who was forced to vacate his home as a result of ongoing, disruptive construction and the owners’ refusal to provide him with alternative housing. Read More
$525,000
Recovered on behalf of a tenant living in an illegal “in-law” unit. In this case, a new owner purchased the building and then demolished our client’s unit without permits while she was displaced for seismic retrofitting.Read More
$450,000
Recovered for tenant who was injured when their stairway railing collapsed at the tenant’s Mission District apartment building.Read More
$450,000
Recovered in action for a group of tenants forced to vacate their San Francisco apartment house due to severe habitability defects including mold and water leaks.Read More
$395,000
Recovered on behalf of two long term San Francisco tenants who were fraudulently evicted from their home of over twenty years under the pretext of an owner move-in eviction.Read More
$375,000
Recovered on behalf of a San Francisco family that was constructively evicted from their home in the Richmond District as a result of unlawful rent increases, defective conditions and tenant harassment.Read More
$375,000
Recovered on behalf of an elderly long-term tenant who was forced to vacate her long San Francisco apartment as a result of her landlord’s refusal to address longstanding defective conditions, including lack of heat, mold, rodent infestations, and defective plumbing. Read More
$325,000
Recovered on behalf of seven tenants living in a makeshift boarding house in East Palo Alto.Read More
$300,000
Recovered on behalf of three long-term tenants in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood who were constructively evicted due to noise and nuisance conditions created by their downstairs neighbors, which the owner refused to address.Read More
$300,000
Recovered on behalf of a San Francisco tenant in Russian Hill. Tenant was forced to vacate her illegal apartment in retaliation for reporting unlawful rent increases to the San Francisco Rent Board.Read More
$300,000
Recovered on behalf of three families living in a building in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood who were forced to live with substandard conditions for years as a result of their landlord’s negligence, including issues with lack of heat, lack of hot water and cockroach/rat infestations.Read More
Get In Touch With Us
For more information or to discuss your legal situation, call us today at (415) 649-6203 for a phone consultation or submit an inquiry below. Please note our firm can only assist tenants residing in the Bay Area.
Contact Us
Phone: (415) 649-6203
Fax: (415) 649-6739
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest news & updates on the Bay Area tenant laws.
Attorney Advertising. This information is designed for general information only. The information presented should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship. Past results and testimonials are not a guarantee, warranty, or prediction of the outcome of your case, and should not be construed as such. Past results cannot guarantee future performance. Any result in a single case is not meant to create an expectation of similar results in future matters because each case involves many different factors, therefore, results will differ on a case-by-case basis. By providing certain contact information herein, you are expressly authorizing the recipient of this message to contact you via the methods of communication provided.
NUVEW | Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved. | Accessibility Notifications