demonichell
Jun 28, 2007, 07:17 AM
Hello, I live in Florida.
I currently reside in the community in which I am having the problem with. 3 years ago, I had to sign the lease for my unit. This unit does not have an attached garage. A month after signing the lease, I decided I wanted a garage to go with the unit. The office required me to place a 150$ garage deposit on the particular garage. I also had to pay the monthly 125$ price for the garage on top of my rent. Since then, I have been in a lease agreement 3 times. This current lease is the 3rd lease at this community.
The problem is this. I moved to another unit recently in which I have an attached garage. So I spoke with leasing agents and informed them that I paid this deposit several years ago. Since then, they do not charge deposits for the garage anymore. And they have switched systems for rent and such in the office. I spoke with the manager and have been pressing her for a few weeks now to get back with me on this matter. She is now telling me that the deposit was applied towards my rent over the years. I did not OK this and I don't recall this happening. It may be something I overlooked, but last night I checked all my payment check reciepts for the last 3 years. I laid it all out on a spreadsheet and I am going in to speak with the manager today.
All of my deposits were paid in money order. I still have all documentation and receipts that show I paid this 150$. However, the money order reciepts have my handwriting that says garage deposit on them. So, I am stuck in a bit of a bind.
I will wait and see where these numbers meet with what I have calculated and see if she hasn't since then worked the numbers to try and discard me from getting this rent back. To me, it seems a little fishy that it takes her this long to get back to me. I have some kind of feeling she is manipulating numbers to make it even out. How can it be coincidence that the amount that was paid is exactly 150$. If the numbers were that difficult for her tom come up with then it can't be that simple to find out.
The problem with this community is that they lose all documentation and don't know their hand from their a$$ . I keep documentation of everything because I already know how their system works. They lose everything. The manager has pulled up the old records but I have requested from her a copy of all rent payments since I started living there.
The manager is basically telling me that this deposit was applied toward the rent. She said that even though on my receipt that I wrote garage deposit, that it wasn't recorded as a deposit for this garage on her records. It could have been a mistake from an employee at the time but who knows. I don't know how this will play out but if her numbers do match mine then we may not have a problem. However, I am highly in doubt and the fact that it has taken her several weeks to get back to me on this matter, I want to double check everything. I know its only 150$ but its still 150$ of my money that I feel they owe me.
I have paid rent on time every month for 3 years. If I accidentally missed a water bill payment the community doesn't hesitate to send me a threatening letter saying I owe them 300$ to get me into the office. Instead they can simply say, you missed your water bill. And when I try and get them to respond to me, I have to go hand over foot and nag them daily to get things done. It ends up turning into weeks and months. It has always been this way, and always will be this way with this company. Equity Residential.
What I need to know is this. What are my options?
Is it safe to say if her numbers don't match that I demand this deposit back? All I have is check reciepts over the last few years. All bank documents would require me to pay 10$ per statement per month for 2 years. That is not worth the hassle of getting the 150$ back.
Anyway, any help would be much appreciated. I have some familiarity with tenant law and have been reading up on security deposits recently.
I currently reside in the community in which I am having the problem with. 3 years ago, I had to sign the lease for my unit. This unit does not have an attached garage. A month after signing the lease, I decided I wanted a garage to go with the unit. The office required me to place a 150$ garage deposit on the particular garage. I also had to pay the monthly 125$ price for the garage on top of my rent. Since then, I have been in a lease agreement 3 times. This current lease is the 3rd lease at this community.
The problem is this. I moved to another unit recently in which I have an attached garage. So I spoke with leasing agents and informed them that I paid this deposit several years ago. Since then, they do not charge deposits for the garage anymore. And they have switched systems for rent and such in the office. I spoke with the manager and have been pressing her for a few weeks now to get back with me on this matter. She is now telling me that the deposit was applied towards my rent over the years. I did not OK this and I don't recall this happening. It may be something I overlooked, but last night I checked all my payment check reciepts for the last 3 years. I laid it all out on a spreadsheet and I am going in to speak with the manager today.
All of my deposits were paid in money order. I still have all documentation and receipts that show I paid this 150$. However, the money order reciepts have my handwriting that says garage deposit on them. So, I am stuck in a bit of a bind.
I will wait and see where these numbers meet with what I have calculated and see if she hasn't since then worked the numbers to try and discard me from getting this rent back. To me, it seems a little fishy that it takes her this long to get back to me. I have some kind of feeling she is manipulating numbers to make it even out. How can it be coincidence that the amount that was paid is exactly 150$. If the numbers were that difficult for her tom come up with then it can't be that simple to find out.
The problem with this community is that they lose all documentation and don't know their hand from their a$$ . I keep documentation of everything because I already know how their system works. They lose everything. The manager has pulled up the old records but I have requested from her a copy of all rent payments since I started living there.
The manager is basically telling me that this deposit was applied toward the rent. She said that even though on my receipt that I wrote garage deposit, that it wasn't recorded as a deposit for this garage on her records. It could have been a mistake from an employee at the time but who knows. I don't know how this will play out but if her numbers do match mine then we may not have a problem. However, I am highly in doubt and the fact that it has taken her several weeks to get back to me on this matter, I want to double check everything. I know its only 150$ but its still 150$ of my money that I feel they owe me.
I have paid rent on time every month for 3 years. If I accidentally missed a water bill payment the community doesn't hesitate to send me a threatening letter saying I owe them 300$ to get me into the office. Instead they can simply say, you missed your water bill. And when I try and get them to respond to me, I have to go hand over foot and nag them daily to get things done. It ends up turning into weeks and months. It has always been this way, and always will be this way with this company. Equity Residential.
What I need to know is this. What are my options?
Is it safe to say if her numbers don't match that I demand this deposit back? All I have is check reciepts over the last few years. All bank documents would require me to pay 10$ per statement per month for 2 years. That is not worth the hassle of getting the 150$ back.
Anyway, any help would be much appreciated. I have some familiarity with tenant law and have been reading up on security deposits recently.