Hi Excon, we sent them their deposit back (the remainder of the deposit) minus the amount that we kept based on the quote from the contractor to make the repairs, back within the 30 day period stipulated by NJ law with a letter detailing all the items that were going to be repaired and the cost of each repair. The tenants are wanting the copies of the actual material receipts of the repairs. That is what we are waiting for from the contractor. I wanted to know what the appropriate reply would be to the tenants while I am trying to get the receipts from the contractor. He's not even sent us his final bill yet.

Hi Excon, we sent them their deposit back (the remainder of the deposit) minus the amount that we kept based on the quote from the contractor to make the repairs, back within the 30 day period stipulated by NJ law with a letter detailing all the items that were going to be repaired and the cost of each repair. The tenants are wanting the copies of the actual material receipts of the repairs. That is what we are waiting for from the contractor. I wanted to know what the appropriate reply would be to the tenants while I am trying to get the receipts from the contractor. He's not even sent us his final bill yet.

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Originally Posted by fromnj

Hi Excon, we sent them their deposit back (the remainder of the deposit) minus the amount that we kept based on the quote from the contractor

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Hello again f:

The problem is the actual receipts, because you don't HAVE any receipts, because the work may not have even been done yet, from what I can tell. Your tenant is RIGHT. You cannot deduct ESTIMATED costs. It must be ACTUAL costs. If they sue you for the balance of their deposit based on what you did, I believe they'll WIN.

Apparently the damage wasn't TOO bad because there was SOME money left over. How come it's taken SO long?

excon

We have a quote based on the materials the contractor purchased for us and we are waiting for the copies of the receipts from him and the final bill.

Our contractor has had some problems with transportation and getting another contractor to do the work. We've had problems getting another contractor in to do the work. So at this point should we just send the remainder of the deposit back and look for another contractor and just pay for it ourselves? We are in another state otherwise we should have done the work ourselves.

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Originally Posted by fromnj

our contractor has had some problems... So at this point should we just send the remainder of the deposit back and look for another contractor and just pay for it ourselves?

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Hello again, f:

I'm sorry for your difficulties. Your contractor problems are YOUR problems.. Yes, I would send their deposit back.

Hopefully, you DIDN'T pay some contractor IN ADVANCE, but it looks like you did. Being a landlord is a HANDS ON business.

excon

An "estimate", or "quote" is a proposal to do specified work at a given price. Unless it says otherwise, it is the price you will have to pay. When it is accepted it forms a contract. It cannot be unilaterally changed by the contractor after the fact (absent mitigating conditions).

Now, if the estimate recited that it was based upon estimated costs of materials, and that the actual material costs might be different, I would go with the estimated costs and not try to tack on higher costs.

So if you accepted the estimate from your contractor, and he did the work, I believe you would be justified in charging that amount to the tenant, whether you have yet received a "final" bill. If the final bill contains changes ordered by you in the course of the job (additonal to the work described in the estimate), those may or may not be appropriate to charge to the tenant.

Thanks AK Lawyer. We are not looking to charge the tenants anything else. They are texting me wanting a copy of the material receipts. We have not yet received the receipts for the materials he purchased to make the repairs. It's been 2.5 almost 3 months since the tenants moved out and we received the quote from the contractor a few days before we were required by NJ law to send them the deposit minus the repair costs and certified detailed letter. The contractor has been bouncing back and forth between jobs and he's not finished the repairs, we have spoken to him several times though but I don't have confirmation that the work is finished yet nor the receipts.

I was wondering how I can communicate this in a formal way to the tenants. My understanding of NJ law as it applies to the NJ security deposit law is that landlords are required to send the deposit minus any repair costs plus a letter detailing all of the damages and costs that will be associated with making the repairs, all within the 30 day time frame per the law. I cannot find anything in NJ law that suggests that a landlord has a "time frame" to make the repairs and provide the details to the tenant, like California law stipulates.