Landlord S Letter Returning Security Deposit & Guide: Fill & Download for Free

I successfully sued my landlord in small claims several years ago for failing to return my security deposit. I won and my landlord had to pay me the deposit plus a few extra hundred dollars as a bad faith penalty.To prepare for my case, I watched hours upon hours of "The People's Court" -- America's beloved court show. I kid you not. I think the biggest blunder the plaintiffs made on the show was that they failed to show how the defendant violated a contract or a broke a law. Likewise, defendants usually countersued for no legitimate legal reason. Of course, the show could purposefully select people who sue solely out of anger and an insatiable thirst for revenge. It's TV after all. The more irrational people are, the better.My advice: do your homework on the relevant laws. I did extensive online research on landlord-tenant laws in California. I wrote a brief summary stating the exact civil codes that my landlord violated and even their respective numbers. I also made notes of all of calls and letters sent to Mrs. Loser Landlord. Every time I called her, she said the check was in the mail. I even sent a self-addressed stamped envelope and followed up with her to make sure she received it. I showed up to court armed with evidence and the law on my side.Mrs. Landlord brought her two adult daughters who contradicted each other's stories about why they didn't return my deposit. Mrs. Landlord said my apartment needed extra cleaning because of my cat (RIP Floydy) while one of her daughters said they didn't know where to send it. Mrs. Landlord claims she knew landlord-tenant laws but she clearly didn't follow the rules. The law states landlords must send tenants an itemized list of how the deposit was spent within 21 days of their departure or else they forfeit their right to keep any of the deposit. If the landlord doesn’t know your new address, s/he can send it to the old address and the post office will forward it to your new address.The case took no more than 10 minutes for the judge to determine that the landlord owed me the deposit.My Tip for Going to Small Claims CourtWhile waiting for my case to be called in court, I watched the judge dismiss one case after another because of the second biggest blunder: failing to fill out forms correctly or not following legal codes. For example, a couple sued a store. They listed the manager as the plaintiff instead of the business. The manager may be the one who goes to court to represent the store but he shouldn't have been the named plaintiff. They had to resubmit their application.

I’m not a vengeful person, so I don’t have any stories about killing someone or robbing their house. However, occasionally someone seriously needs a small dose of instant karma!About ten years ago, I rented a townhome from Scott. Scott wasn’t a bad landlord, and after two years I delivered my notice, and requested my full security deposit back.I left Scott’s townhome in tip-top shape. I was anal-retentive about getting the place ready for the next renter. I spackled and painted; I had a carpet and floor cleaning company shampoo everything, etc.After moving out I waited patiently for my security deposit to come back in the mail. After spending so much time getting his townhome in perfect rental condition, I was shocked to see that Scott retained almost all of my security deposit. The biggest charge? Cleaning fees. Cleaning fees for the job I already did.I wrote back challenging him, and he begrudgingly returned an additional meager portion of my deposit, although he admitted in the letter that the place was left in great condition.Now I was irate. I deserved it all back! There was nothing left to do!!!This time I wrote back threatening legal action. Again, he returned a small amount, but this time told me if I wanted the remaining money to go ahead and sue him. Of course, he knew it wasn’t worth the hassle for me to follow-through with a small-claims lawsuit for such a small amount. He won that round.So he thought.Around this time the iPhone 3G S was released. It’s popularity was enormous. Unopened phones sold online for at least several hundred dollars, and often much more. There was crazy demand and almost no supply.I decided Scott had a phone to sell.I created a Craigslist “for sale” ad for good ol’ Scott:“Brand new unopened iPhone 3G for sale. I received this phone as a gift from my grandson and do not know or understand how to use it. Sadly I need to sell it to pay my bills. $175, cash only. Call Scott at 555–5555. If the ad is still up, the phone is still available.”Scott received 500 phone calls and texts every 15 minutes for the next two days, and finally disconnected his phone number.I tested the call volume by running a similar ad and plugged in my friends number. We received so many calls we couldn’t keep up! All we could do was answer and say “hold please” over and over. He received over 500 hundred calls and texts in less than 15 minutes. We had to shut his phone off, delete the ad and wait two days before the calls finally stopped coming in.It took my old landlord about 36 hours to get the ad taken down from Craigslist.Revenge is a dish best served cold.

A bit more information in your question would have been helpful. But I think the following is a good start.Massachusetts Security Deposit Limits and Deadlines“Under Massachusetts law, a landlord must return the tenant's security deposit within 30 days after the tenant has surrendered the rental property to the landlord (that is, returned the keys and vacated the property).Learn more about tenants' rights and landlords' obligations when it comes to the return of the security deposit in Nolo's chart Cleaning and Repairs a Landlord Can Deduct from a Security Deposit and Nolo's article Get Your Security Deposit Back.Is there additional information that Massachusetts landlords must provide to tenants when it comes to security deposits in Massachusetts?Yes. Landlords in Massachusetts must, at the time of receiving the security deposit, provide the tenant with a receipt indicating the amount of the deposit; the name of the person receiving it, and, if received by a property manager, the name of the lessor for whom the security deposit is received; the date on which the deposit is received; and a description of the premises leased or rented.Within 30 days of receiving the security deposit, the landlord must disclose the name and location of the bank in which the deposit has been deposited, and the amount and account number of the deposit.Landlords in Massachusetts must also pay tenants 5% interest on the security deposit per year, or the amount of interest paid by the bank (the bank must be in Massachusetts). Interest should be paid yearly, and within 30 days of the termination date. Interest will not accrue for the last month for which rent was paid.Where can I look up Massachusetts law on security deposits?If you want to go right to the source and look up Massachusetts law on security deposits -- or if you're writing a letter to your landlord or tenant and want to cite the applicable law -- the relevant statute(s) can be found at Massachusetts General Laws Annotated Chapter 186 § section 15B. To access your state law, check out the Library of Congress’s legal research site.”I don’t know where you are in Massachusetts, but most of the county courthouses I’ve had experience with (few, but more than 3), there are people who are very helpful, so don’t be afraid to ask there for help.