I renewed my lease with the Landlord on May 22, 2008 and it was to expire on May 31, 2009. He called and asked if we could move out, he wanted to move back to Jacksonville, FL. We agreed and we were moved out with over six months still left on our lease.

He did a walk through of the house, returned our deposit. He never offered a buyout, nothing.

8 months later he is asking for money for a new hot tub cover, pond pump and two blinds. Total is about $600.00.

Is there any kind of statute of limitations on this? After all, he did the walk through, agreed on the conditions of the house and returned my deposit.

Mind you, the weather destroyed the hot tub cover. Pond pump was in the first place. If anything we would be responsible for the blinds.

Yes. A landlord has generally 30 days to present you with a bill for any repairs. Once that 30 days is up, the landlord forfeited the right to go after you.

The landlord should have waited the statutory time before returning your deposit.

If he does sue you, counter sue him for early termination of your lease.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

Yes. A landlord has generally 30 days to present you with a bill for any repairs.

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Since the OP didn't say what the state is, I don't know if this can be said with confidence.

Every state law I've seen gives 21-45 days for return of the security deposit and/or an itemized bill stating how it was used.

Eight months is clearly beyond that time frame.

Thank you...

I believe he is going to try and take me to court. Am I able to countersue for him breaking the lease even though we made the agreement?

That you agreed without asking for a buyout will probably hurt your case. But he has no more grounds for a suit then you do. Countsuing may get him to drop the suit.

Scott, the 21-45 day time limit is only for the landlord deducting repair costs from the security deposit. If the tenant caused damage the landlord has at least 2 years to sue them for it.

Of course the landlord is going to have a hard time proving to a judge that the tenant caused this damage if they did a walk-thru with the tenant and returned the security deposit. But they still have the right to sue and try to prove it.

State is Florida.

So he has up to two years to say that I owe him money even after taking residency for 8 months? That's crazy. :eek:

Now I've got to take off from work, make arrangements to go to court and hope that I don't loose. I see this ending well. The story gets even better, the landlord is a Lawyer.

Is there really any defense aside from denial? I know the weather damaged the cover, am I responsible for that? After all, I don't want to say I didn't know and the truth come out and be caught up. Then again, I'm not trying to pay this guy anymore money that I don't have.

Opinions welcome. Thanks again for everything.

Thanks for the correction Lisa.

Orgullo,

Do you have any documentation of his approval at the walk through? Do you have proof that the security deposit was returned?

Well as it turns out I was served the papers today.

It's not my landlord who is trying to take me to court but a credit collections company. I wasn't at home and they served the papers to my wife. I've got proof of payment back in Oct. 08.

However, I was reading my credit report and they've entered some negative reports on there.

Is there anything I can do to fight them for that? Like I said, the account in question has been paid in full and I have documentation stating just that.

I need to have this taken off my credit report and smething done to them for making me take the time off etc... Thanks.

Send a letter to the credit bureaus with copies of your proof of payment. Send a copy to the plaintiff. You can file a counter suit for your expenses.