Duval county, Fl

The house we rented was originally $1400.00 w/ yard service. We signed a lease for $1200.00 per mo. & agreed to take care of the yard. This was 10/15/06.
Gave a $500.00 security deposit.

Aug. '07 we went out of town & the grass grew. We came home from work one day, & someone else had cut the grass. Our landlord called & told us she was unhappy w/ the lawn & was very rude. (She came to the property EVERY month to pick up the rent) Since we were on a mo. - mo. Basis, we gave 30 day notice (in writing), paid our last mo. Rent, cleaned & moved.

I received a letter from the landlord sometime in Oct. '07 stating she was keeping our security dopisit & why. ( not certified mail, not dated, & didn't make us aware that we could object to the claim within 15 days)

I filed w/ small claims court for $500.00. She is countering for $3100.00. $700.00 for landscaping, & $200.00 for each mo. We were there. (she has a receipt for the landscaping)

Our SIGNED lease is for $1200.00 & in the additional terms she pot a 0. Says nothing about the yard. We did agree to take care of it & we did. Her 17 year old son is a witness for her as far as the verbal agreement.

Should I be worried?

Also, she has an extra $1200.00, because we paid our last mo. Rent @ the lease signing. This is not documented on the lease, & I don't have a receipt. I do have all the cancelled checks endorsed by the landlord.

ANY advice would be wonderful!!

Thank you!

I don't understand the connection with expenses for landscaping unless you damaged the yard and she had to repair it. Take your cancelled checks to court, of course. My view is that she has a lot of experience running over people with court papers; since she is a landlord, she knows her way to the courthouse and she understands that a lot of folks are afraid to go there and will just walk away. If you don't go, you risk the court giving her a judgement for everything she is asking for.

The cancelled checks will be helpful. I find it hard to believe that having the grass cut once in your absence cost $700 ; I'd insist on verification of that one. If they're trying to charge you for additional landscaping services then that's on them ; as the owners of the property, if they choose to make improvements to the landscaping then they're the ones responsible for paying for that, just like they'd be responsible for paying for a new roof if they chose to have one put on. As for the extra $200 for each month, I don't think they have a leg to stand on if the rent stipulated in your lease is in fact $1200 and that's what you have been paying. I'd countersue to get your deposit back and let the judge sort everything out.

Talk about getting creative! She takes the cake here. Apparently she's done this tap dance before and I'll bet you it worked. You must get any kind of agreement in writing like you were going to do the lawncare. Her charging you $700 to have lawn cut once is a bit steep. She had landscaping done and now wants to charge you for this.

Also you said the rental was $1,400 but your signed lease said $1,200. The judge will have to go with the $1,200 monthly amount. He is essentially bound by what is said on the lease and not want landlord says (or verbal agreement either for that matter)

What I don't understand is why did you pay the last month's rent twice? You said you paid it at the signing of the lease but it was not noted on the lease? Hopefully you have a cancelled check that shows a notation of this being the last month's rent.

She is trying to hang onto your $500 deposit. What, if anything, does she claim that you and your family damaged when she sent you the letter undated? Hope you at least kept the envelope it came in.

I woiuld worry some, it does sound like she may have done this before and knows exactly how to bill it out.

So in the end keep all of your receipts, if ou had photos it would be even better of the yard.