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I'm a resident of Arkansas and my landlord has held my deposit of 600.00 with no explanation of damages. They are requesting additional deposit amount of 111.56. A collection agency has called me asking for this additional money. Is this right?
Optional Information: State/Country relating to question: Arkansas Already Tried: I have written letters to the landlord company requesting an explanation.
Good evening. Under Arkansas law, if the landlord did not give you a written itemized list of what your security deposit was withheld for, the landlord loses his right to retain any of it. Since they will not respond to you, you should file a claim for the refund of your deposit in small claims court. Once you get your judgment, you can attach assets and garnish wages to collect that judgment.
I hope this has given you the guidance you were seeking. I wish you the best of luck!
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The information given here is not legal advice. As all states have different intricacies in their laws, the information given is general only. This communication does not establish an attorney-client relationship with you. I hope this answer has been helpful to you.
The itemized list of charges are listed ascleaning-140.00painting-350.00carpet cleaning 221.52 but there is no other detail. Besides they are asking me to pay an extra 111.52 to cover these charges. Then the office assistant was telling me that she doesn't understand why our deposit was so low since now they charge 900 to cover any turn over expenses. Besides I thought that a deposit was only used for unpaid rent or damanges to the property. Can they legally put this on my credit report?
That itemization would be sufficient...the question becomes are they legitimate deductions. You are required to return the premises as you found it, normal wear and tear excepted. That means if you did not clean it, then they would be entitled to deduct cleaning expenses. Unless you caused damage to the paint and/or carpet, simply repainting would come under normal wear and tear. Even if you caused damage, you would still only be obligated to pay the remaining useful life of the existing paint job or carpet, not the entire cost. If you file a claim against them, you will get a fair and impartial ruling from a judge or jury rather than the landlord simply getting to unilaterally make that decision.
We left the premises in a clean condition. No damage was done to the Townhouse and I have accepted the fact that they kept the deposit but they are askig me to pay for normal cleaning, painting and carpet cleaning to get the place ready for the next tenant and if I dont pay them an extra 111.52 they are threating to put this on my creadit report what is the law behind that?
They don't get to do that. The best way to head this off is to file your claim in small claims court for a portion of your security deposit back. That will head off the credit claim and if it doesn't, the court at your hearing can order the landlord to remove it. Better to be proactive here than reactive.
Are you saying that they can't put that on my credit report because there weren't any damages done to the townhouse? Or what was your reasoning for saying that? A collection agency has already called me on Friday asking for the 111.52 and i told them I was disputing this and they told me that if it's not cleared up by Aug 15th then it will be on my credit report.
If you dispute this with the collection agency, they cannot put this on your credit report. There is nothing to keep the landlord from assigning this to the collection agency, but if it's not a legitimate debt, then the collection agency can't report it. Write them a certified, return receipt requested letter telling them the debt is not legitimate, and that if they take any further steps to collect it or report it to the credit agencies they will be in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and you will report each violation to the Federal Trade Commission.
I'm afraid the the landlord company and the collection agency feel that these charges are legitimate. I feel that it should not cost 711.52 to get a place that had no damage ready for a new tenant. The townhouse was cleaned and there wasn't any garbage that needed to be removed. I think that the 600 deposit that was given should have been more than enough to get things cleaned up. These cleaning charges are subjective and could have cost any amount of money depending on who was doing the work. Since they now charge 900 for the deposit the landlord company Should grabdfather me into whomever they used to clean the place where 600 would be a sufficient amount but since they changed managers she may now be using different contractors to clean but I don't think I should have to pay for that what are your thoughts.