My sister is suing the landlord for not returning damage deposit. The damage deposit was kept for items like paint, rollers, cleaning supplies, his time to clean. None of the above situations are allowed by the statute.
In addition to the deposit he would like to charge an additional $900. What falls under wear and tear and where does the responsibility lie? She lived in the home for four years and the carpet wasn't new to begin with. He indicated problems with carpet needing to be replaced and deducted that amount in whole. He billed for his time to clean the home citing that it wasn't at all cleaned. We have pictures to indicate otherwise. Question #2
If you are already going to court are you in a position to counter sue for additional items? These items are as follows:
The refrigerator in the home stopped working in 2006. After requesting a new refirgerator the landlord didn't think one was ncecessary, food continued to spoil. She brought in a refrigerator that she had in storage with the understanding that it would be until he replaced the one that was previously there. Never happened, since moving she took her refrigerator with her. Can she sue him for depreciation of her refrigerator?
The water bill was determined to be coming in as 4 times higher than normal. When she asked to have the problem looked into it never was. She has the continued emails to the landlord asking him to resolve and the water bill receipts and cooperation from the water company in supplying documentation that there had to have been a problem in the home or a leak. Is it possible to sue for the above and beyond amount of the water bill over the 2 something years? For example: the bill should be around 7 units $40/approx. the bill was 26 units $110 approx. every month

Forget the refrigerator. As to the water bill what proof do you have that it was high? As for the damage, if the landlord has an itemized statement of the work done, its unlikley she will win.

The damage deposit was kept for items like paint, rollers, cleaning supplies, his time to clean. None of the above situations are allowed by the statute. This is true in some states. Did you say where she is located? If the state law dictates what he can and cannot charge for, then by all means, she has a case to get that stuff thrown out.

In addition to the deposit he would like to charge an additional $900. What falls under wear and tear and where does the responsibility lie? She lived in the home for four years and the carpet wasn't new to begin with. He indicated problems with carpet needing to be replaced and deducted that amount in whole.
Carpet gets tricky. Does she have any proof of the condition / age of the carpet when she moved in? 4 years of wear and tear definitely counts for something and he's not entitled to the full cost of new carpet. Although I don't see any way that 900 could be the full cost for all new carpet. If it is, that's really cheap. But either way, there should definitely be some allowance for the age of the carpet when she moved in, as well as for normal wear and tear. The more evidence she has regarding both the condition and age upon moving in and out the better of an argument she'll be able to make.


If you are already going to court are you in a position to counter sue for additional items? These items are as follows:
The refrigerator in the home stopped working in 2006. After requesting a new refirgerator the landlord didn't think one was ncecessary, food continued to spoil. She brought in a refrigerator that she had in storage with the understanding that it would be until he replaced the one that was previously there. Never happend, since moving she took her refrigerator with her. Can she sue him for depreciation of her refrigerator?
The water bill was determined to be coming in as 4 times higher than normal. When she asked to have the problem looked into it never was. She has the continued emails to the landlord asking him to resolve and the water bill receipts and cooperation from the water company in supplying documentation that there had to have been a problem in the home or a leak. Is it possible to sue for the above and beyond amount of the water bill over the 2 something years? For example: the bill should be around 7 units $40/approx. the bill was 26 units $110 approx. every month

She can countersue for whatever she wants. Just like you can sue someone for whatever you want. The more "firvilous" it seems to the judge, the more likely it is to be thrown out and the more annoyed he's likely to be with her on other issues.

I'm with Scott that I'd probably forget the refrigerator. She should have followed the remedies available to her by law to get him to replace the fridge. By not following that all the way through, she kind of loses her standing on that. For the water bill... if she has some kind of proof that it was unreasonably high, then she could sure ask for it. She may again lose some standing on the issue since she let it go on for so long, but it sounds like she at least has a bit more documentation on that issue.

Let us know what happens.

Thank you for your responses. We will definitely take it all into consideration when presenting the case to the court. Your great.