Ok, If you agreed with the landlord to move out early then they would only have grounds to deduct from your deposit any delinquent rent and damages under your lease. They could only charge you for any default on your lease.

.
So lets say you gave 30 days notice to terminate lease on the 1st of March. Then you moved out on the 30th. If they moved back in on the April 1, then they couldn't charge you for any lost rent because they didn't re-rent, but rather moved back in.

.

Anything that they had to pay their landlord would be between them and the landlord if they breached their lease. The landlord can only charge you for any lost rent on your lease that they would have earned had you stayed. So if they moved back in, they wouldn't have lost any rent because they wouldn't have re-rented.
.
Their lease was between them and their landlord and has nothing to do with you. If they had stayed in their lease and tried to re-rent their house and been unable to do so, then they could have charged you for their lost rent. But when they moved back in, they waived that right to charge you for any additional rent.

.

If they were charged rent from their landlord because they voluntarily left and moved back into their house, that was their choice and they would bear the consequences of the breach with their landlord.

.

Essentially they did it wrong. If they had fulfilled their lease and you breached, then they could have held you liable for any lost rent. Their contractual obligations with their landlord has nothing to do with you.

.

The long and short of it is that if they have unlawfully withheld part of your deposit as compensation for their breach with their landlord, you can file suit in small claims for a return of that portion that was unlawfully withheld.

.

.

.

Thanks.

Barrister

.

.
Please be patient as I am typically working with several customers at any given time. Some answers take 5 minutes, some 35 minutes, depending on the level of complexity. But rest assured, I will get back with you as soon as I am able.

.

If you need additional clarification on this question, just click "Reply" and I will be happy to help you. Please give me as much detail as you can so that I can respond after receiving all the relevant details.

.

Please be aware that I am not entering into an attorney client relationship, this is a public forum, and all posts are available for public viewing. There is no duty of confidentiality that attaches to any posts. With that in mind, please do not post any specific information you do not want available for public viewing. The information provided is not a substitute for a local attorney’s legal advice.