I have just evicted a rental tenant through court. She has caught up past due rent, no late fees though and no court costs as ordered by the judge. BUT, she is now into August and owes for the 9 days of this month. I am doing a walk through inspection with her and she wants her security deposit back. I was told that once you are past due and go into another month, that you actually forfeit your right to get your security deposit back. Is this true? I know that I can deduct for the damages and repairs that need to be done, plus the court costs and the prorated rent, but do I return the balance of the deposit?

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/real-estate-law/state-landlord-tenant-laws-other-helpful-information-25845.html

This is at the top of the real estate law section. You should be able to find the answer to your question within the link. They have general answers then broken down by state.

Actually I went there first... no luck. I also used several other online services and found no rules of tenant forfeiting.

What state are you in? Most states do allow you to withhold the deposit to cover unpaid rent. I'm not sure if court costs would be covered though.

South Carolina. Actually the judge ordered that she pay the court costs, so I should be able to hold her to that.

What does your lease say?

Would she really have anything coming back after late fees, rent, court cost and damages are all taken out?

It was there, pretty easy to find:


SECTION 27-40-410. (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/) Security deposits; prepaid rent. (a) Upon termination of the tenancy, property or money held by the landlord as security must be returned less amounts withheld by the landlord for accrued rent and damages which the landlord has suffered by reason of the tenant's noncompliance with Section 27-40-510. Any deduction from the security/rental deposit must be itemized by the landlord in a written notice to the tenant together with the amount due, if any, within thirty days after termination of the tenancy and delivery of possession and demand by the tenant, whichever is later. The tenant shall provide the landlord in writing with a forwarding address or new address to which the written notice and amount due from the landlord may be sent. If the tenant fails to provide the landlord with the forwarding or new address, the tenant is not entitled to damages under this subsection provided the landlord (1) had no notice of the tenant's whereabouts and (2) mailed the written notice and amount due, if any, to the tenant's last known address.

This clause mentions accrued rent and property damages. I'm not sure if the court costs are covered under that. Clearly she owes you the money, the question is whether you can withhold that from the security. Ask the court that gave you the eviction order.

It states the refunding of a Security Deposit will happen only after a thorough inspection by the landlord and a home inspection specialist occurs and reports all findings with appropriate fees. It also states that at that point she will accept the landlords choice of inspectors and relinquish her deposit in the amount proven to cover findings of damage or she may pay for her own inspector to provide the landlord with a report. At that point, the landlord may approve the tenant's new report, and the tenant will have damages fixed to the landlord's approval and provide receipts for services rendered. She then will receive the deposit back to cover her expenses.

She has been a great tenant and at the last home inspection, the house appeared great! I don't think there is much I could legally take due to the wear and tear being within normal limits. She does have a damaged screen due to teen climbing through the window..?

The realtor showing my home (to sell) is the one who stated that due to her having to be evicted through court, she forfeited her deposit. No questions asked. I just wasn't sure since this is my first rental property.

You really shouldn't become a landlord without familarizing yourself with the rules.

Who drew up that lease? Its very favorable to the tenant. Who pays for the inspection? I've never seen a lease that requires a 3rd party inspection.

The realtor drew up the contract and the realtor pays the inspection. It is a part of my contract with their office. By the way, don't need your sarcasm, I don't need to become that familiar when I am paying a realtor. I was trying to help my tenant out, I didn't want my realtor to do her wrong when she had been so great.

First, I wasn't being sarcastic. Being a landlord can be a complex task. In most places, laws are skewed more towards tenant rights than the landlord's. We get plenty of posts here from people who rented properties without doing their homework and got taken or abused by tenants. I stand by advice. It really applies to anything. Before you take on a project, you should do your homework.

Second, you did not mention that you were using a manager for the property, I probably wouldn't have made that comment if you had. But it still applies unless you have absolute trust in realtor doing the management. Again, that's seems to be an unusual (and tenant friendly) clause in the lease.

But the bottomline is you can apply the deposit towards unapid rent. Its not clear whether you can include court costs, since that's not really part of the rent but part of the eviction proceeding. However, if there are any necessary repairs, there might not be enough of a deposit to cover the unpaid rent and the repairs. In which case she will still owe you.

I don't need to become that familiar when I am paying a realtor. Hello lduda:

Ok, then I'll be the sarcastic one. Actually, you DO need to become familiar with the rules, unless you want to lose all your money. How much is your rental house worth?? Is it one of your biggest investments?? I'll bet it is. Who is responsible for the investment to grow? The realtor?? I don't think so. Who will lose their shirt if the tenant is a really bad one? The realtor?? I don't think so.

Nope, the responsibility for your future rests with YOU. If you're going to play in the real estate business, in my view, you SHOULD know the rules of the real estate business. But, that's just me. I don't play poker unless I know the rules either.

Look, the real estate business is hard enough when you DO know the rules. I have to tell you, it's impossible for those who don't.

And, there you have my sarcastic advice. Actually, this advice is worth millions. Too bad you're not going to hear it.

excon

Now I'm confused. Are you trying to keep more of the deposit? Or return more of it to the tenant?

If she was a great tenant how did she wind up getting evicted?

If your property is being managed why are you having to disperse the deposit? They should be doing that - it's part of what you're paying them to do. And they DEFINITELY should know the applicable rules/laws or they shouldn't be charging you to manage your property. (See excon's post above.) It really does seem like the realtor is using some weird lease rules and may not really be the best manager.

How much money are you talking about here?