Hello,

We find ourselves in an unusual predicament regarding the lack of return of our security deposit and are in need of some advice/recommendations...

We signed a one year lease on a new construction home and gave the required security deposit. We leased through a property management/real estate company. The property manager signed her name on the lease and all our communication has been through this individual who is employed by a real estate company. In the middle of our lease we found out the owner of the home was in financial trouble since she had purchased 8 of these homes and overextended herself. Turns out she never made any mortgage payments on the leased home we were renting and we found ourselves receiving foreclosure papers on our front door. We gave 30+ days advance notice, in writing indicating we would be vacating premisies May 30th, 2007, when our year lease expired, and provided our forwarding address where our security deposit could be mailed. We were in constant communication with the property manager and found out exactly what needed to be done to the home to assure most if not all of our deposit be returned. We had the carpets professionally shampooed by a company she recommended, painted the entire home, cleaned cabinets, appliances, floors, baths, etc. We were told by the property manager the home had truly been returned in exceptional condition and assured us our securiy deposit would be returned to us in full to our new address. We patiently waited until June 30 and at that point contacted the property manager. Her reply to us was the owner didn't have any money to pay us back but she (the property manager) would send us a check that Friday. It has been two weeks and to date we have not received any check nor any communication.

The owner of the property resides in CA although the home in reference is in the State of WA. She was trying to re-finance through a relative and the house is for sale through the same real estate company we leased through. We believe it's still in foreclosure with already 2-3 extensions. We have, in writing, the e-mail the property manager sent to us admitting the landlord spent our security deposit "has no money" and stating she would pay us back our depsosit since she knew how much time, work and money we put into that home to return it in excellent condition. We also have pictures of the home when we moved. Who can we go after for our deposit? Can we place a lien on the owner's property(ies)? Can we legally go after the real estate company (property management co) we signed the lease with? Our lease states our security deposit was to be deposited in a Bank of America branch in California... and any change made to the monies in the account needed to be informed to us in writing which was never the case. Surely we have some leg to stand on! Any advice would be most appreciated! Dave & Nancy

Hello Dave & Nancy:

Sue 'em both. I think you have some leg...

excon

Check with the county clerk's office where the home is and see what the rules are for filing a "mechanic's lien". I would suspect that you may have to sue the landlord and get a judgement against her before you can place a lien against the home. However, once you get the judgement you can do so. However, your lien will be subservient to the mortgagor's lien. If the house is being foreclosed on its likely it will be auctioned for less than the balanced owed, so a lien may not help you.

I appreciate your advice and will certainly look into the rules for a mechanics Lien and probably try to sue both simultaneously hoping one will pay us back. In your opinion though can't we go after the broker/property manager since she stated in writing she would pay the security back since the landlord doesn't have any money and she signed her name under the "lessor" signature line? In addition the contract states lessor or broker would notify us in writing if any changes were made to our security deposit and no one did? It would be easier to do so since her business is in the same county. I'm going to at the very least put a complaint in to the Better Businsss Burea and contact the Dept of Licensing but can I take this all the way with her?

The landlord, although under foreclosure for the home we leased owns 7-8 other homes in the same community. If placing a mechanic's lien on this home may not allow us to get our deposit back because of selling under the owed amount could I file a lien on any of her other homes? The big question is do I need to file in the county she resides in? She lives in CA and I in WA.

File a lawsuit against both the landlord and the property manager as co-defendants. File in the county where the property is located. Make sure you bring all of your paperwork with you to court, including the original lease, bills for any work you did to the house, and any other paperwork which was signed by the property manager.

If the prop mgr promised something in writing, you can certainly sue on that basis.

You need a judgement in WA that can be recorded in CA if that is the way you want to go... easier to sue the PM/real estate company. Make sure you sue and serve the correct entity - check the WA dept of RE website.