Landlord will not return deposit. Help!

[hathak]

I live in Hawaii, and recently moved into a pool house with my boyfriend. The entire way this "compound," is set up, is completely illegal in and of itself. It's a house split into five separate studio units, with the sixth being our poolhouse. We signed a six-month lease here, and recently decided we did not feel that we or our property were safe being here. One tenant in particular would have the cops over constantly to complain about her boyfriend, and would later be up all night yelling, acting belligerent, breaking beer bottles, and throwing property into the pool/all over the place. (Not to mention screaming at me and yelling profanities towards my friends for no reason several times when I merely walked out of my front door.)

I called our landlord on several occasions and told him that my boyfriend and I did not feel safe at all and if he did not evict her, we would be leaving to find a new place to live. He did not do anything to remedy the situation, so I called him on/before February 25th and gave him VERBAL notice of our leaving within one month. He said this was fine as long as we found replacement tenants. (I know this is where we totally slipped up, but just hear me through.)

We fully paid rent for the February 25 - March 25 term. We found and moved into a new unit within that time period. We found new tenants to live in the unit, which i know for a fact began occupying the unit on March 25.

Since we were paid through March 25th, we took our time to slowly move our belongings out of the old unit and into our new apartment. In early March, we went to the unit to gather more belongings, and saw that someone had broken in through our window. We discovered that our LANDLORD had told other tenants (the ones who made me fear for my safety) to break in through the window so they could show the unit to a prospective tenant. We were given no notice of this.

On about March 20th, we went back to the unit to finish cleaning and doing touch-ups so we would be able to receive our whole security deposit. We discovered AGAIN that someone had entered the property and fully cleaned/painted the unit.

When we called our landlord to ask for our deposit, he informed us that since we left it messy, we would not receive any money. Even though we were still technically the 'tenants' through the 25th and were not even given the option to really clean.

Sorry that was long. Couple questions about the law:

1) We never did a walk through checklist of the unit's state prior to us occupying it. My understanding under law is that with out this initial walk through, it's assumed that the unit was in the same condition at the end of tenancy as it was when we moved in?

2) In Hawaii, landlord must provide a written notice within 14-days of tenancy termination about why the security deposit was withheld/deducted UNLESS tenant broke lease somehow. I know we technically could be screwed since we only gave verbal notice, but what legally defines "tenancy termination?" Since new tenants moved in on March 25th, would that legally constitute our termination as tenants?

Thank you for reading through my rambling, I'm pretty upset over all of this. I honestly just don't think he HAS the money to pay us and is looking for excuses.

[AFFA]

Re: Landlord will not return deposit. Help!

I wish to inform you that as new tenants have moved thus your tenancy agreement have been terminated. If you landlord had not given you written notice then a demand can be made by you for return of money. Landlord can charge you for any loss which has been caused by you and not otherwise. You can first give a written notice to other party and if they refuse then a lawsuit can be started.

AFF

[Unregistered]

Re: Landlord will not return deposit. Help!

1) We never did a walk through checklist of the unit's state prior to us occupying it. My understanding under law is that with out this initial walk through, it's assumed that the unit was in the same condition at the end of tenancy as it was when we moved in?

You moved in, there was no checklist. So what. There is NO ASSUMPTION that the unit is in the same condition at the end of the tenancy as it was when you moved in.

2) In Hawaii, landlord must provide a written notice within 14-days of tenancy termination about why the security deposit was withheld/deducted UNLESS tenant broke lease somehow. I know we technically could be screwed since we only gave verbal notice, but what legally defines "tenancy termination?" Since new tenants moved in on March 25th, would that legally constitute our termination as tenants?

A verbal notice is worth the paper it's printed on. A verbal notice doesn't matter because it then becomes "he said, she said" and is not provable or verifiable. NO, your verbal notice was not a notice at all, and it does NOT legally constitute your termination of tenancy. You could have easily given a verbal notice and decided change your mind and stay, and then legally pulled the verbal notice off the table because it was verbal, and not legal (i.e. written notice of termination of tenancy.)

[Lexus]

Re: Landlord will not return deposit. Help!

The landlord may withhold a portion, or the entirety, of your security deposit if you have failed to pay rent or if you have damaged the premises. However, in such circumstances, landlord is required to provide you with a notice of intent to retain the deposit with complete details of damages claimed. Failure to do so constitutes an agreement that no damages are due and that the landlord will refund the deposit immediately. Further, a landlord may not keep damage deposit money for repairs associated with normal wear and tear. So, you must ask the landlord, in writing, to return your deposit. If your landlord fails to return your security deposit, you can sue him in small-claims court. Include copies of any documents you have to support your claim. Consult with an attorney to discuss your options further.

[goddessoflubboc]

I live in Hawaii, and recently moved into a pool house with my boyfriend. The entire way this "compound," is set up, is completely illegal in and of itself. It's a house split into five separate studio units, with the sixth being our poolhouse. We signed a six-month lease here, and recently decided we did not feel that we or our property were safe being here. One tenant in particular would have the cops over constantly to complain about her boyfriend, and would later be up all night yelling, acting belligerent, breaking beer bottles, and throwing property into the pool/all over the place. (Not to mention screaming at me and yelling profanities towards my friends for no reason several times when I merely walked out of my front door.)

I called our landlord on several occasions and told him that my boyfriend and I did not feel safe at all and if he did not evict her, we would be leaving to find a new place to live. He did not do anything to remedy the situation, so I called him on/before February 25th and gave him VERBAL notice of our leaving within one month. He said this was fine as long as we found replacement tenants. (I know this is where we totally slipped up, but just hear me through.)

We fully paid rent for the February 25 - March 25 term. We found and moved into a new unit within that time period. We found new tenants to live in the unit, which i know for a fact began occupying the unit on March 25.

Since we were paid through March 25th, we took our time to slowly move our belongings out of the old unit and into our new apartment. In early March, we went to the unit to gather more belongings, and saw that someone had broken in through our window. We discovered that our LANDLORD had told other tenants (the ones who made me fear for my safety) to break in through the window so they could show the unit to a prospective tenant. We were given no notice of this.

On about March 20th, we went back to the unit to finish cleaning and doing touch-ups so we would be able to receive our whole security deposit. We discovered AGAIN that someone had entered the property and fully cleaned/painted the unit.

When we called our landlord to ask for our deposit, he informed us that since we left it messy, we would not receive any money. Even though we were still technically the 'tenants' through the 25th and were not even given the option to really clean.

Sorry that was long. Couple questions about the law:

1) We never did a walk through checklist of the unit's state prior to us occupying it. My understanding under law is that with out this initial walk through, it's assumed that the unit was in the same condition at the end of tenancy as it was when we moved in?

2) In Hawaii, landlord must provide a written notice within 14-days of tenancy termination about why the security deposit was withheld/deducted UNLESS tenant broke lease somehow. I know we technically could be screwed since we only gave verbal notice, but what legally defines "tenancy termination?" Since new tenants moved in on March 25th, would that legally constitute our termination as tenants?

Thank you for reading through my rambling, I'm pretty upset over all of this. I honestly just don't think he HAS the money to pay us and is looking for excuses.

As to number 1, if the LL did not do a complete walk through AND provide you with a copy of a detailed checklist, then yes it's assumed the condition is the same. Unless the ll can PROVE otherwise.

Number 2 - you walked out early on your lease. You didn't even give proper notice. It is as if you abandoned the property.

[Unregistered]

Re: Landlord will not return deposit. Help!

I wish to inform you that as new tenants have moved thus your tenancy agreement have been terminated. If you landlord had not given you written notice then a demand can be made by you for return of money. Landlord can charge you for any loss which has been caused by you and not otherwise. You can first give a written notice to other party and if they refuse then a lawsuit can be started.

AFF

My understanding was that in the state of Hawaii, if the landlord does not give you written notice within 14 days of what is happening with the security deposit, they will be found in court to pay you three times the amount of your deposit, REGARDLESS of whether or not they legitimately needed to make repairs/use the deposit in it's legal fashion.

So, according to you, since new tenants have moved in well over 14 days ago, and we have not received a formal letter from our landlord, we are [technically] legally entitled to three times our deposit, end of story?

It's not that I necessarily care to receive three times our deposit, I just want all of my facts straight in case he literally has no money to pay any of our deposit and I am forced to take him to small claims court.

[Unregistered]

Re: Landlord will not return deposit. Help!

A verbal notice is worth the paper it's printed on. A verbal notice doesn't matter because it then becomes "he said, she said" and is not provable or verifiable. NO, your verbal notice was not a notice at all, and it does NOT legally constitute your termination of tenancy. You could have easily given a verbal notice and decided change your mind and stay, and then legally pulled the verbal notice off the table because it was verbal, and not legal (i.e. written notice of termination of tenancy.)

I understand this, but what about the fact that new tenants moved into our unit the day we had planned on with him. Even though there is no written documentation, doesn't this still mean something?

[sandyclaus]

Re: Landlord will not return deposit. Help!

I understand this, but what about the fact that new tenants moved into our unit the day we had planned on with him. Even though there is no written documentation, doesn't this still mean something?

Yes. It means that your LL cannot come after you for unpaid rent, only damages to the property. It's entirely possible that whatever repairs they did, they did so while working around the new tenants.