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rustam88 · Sep 29, 2006, 06:51 PM

Dear sir: Hi

I lived in an apratment in Hattiesburg MS for 6-1/2 years. Now I moved out but the landlord refused to refund the security deposit of $200 with the excuse that carpets in the apartment needs to be washed and the paints need to be redone, I cleaned the aprtment very well, but as you know I lived in this aprtment for 6.5 years and it is quite abovious the carpets and walls were supposed to be little bit messed up , moreover in thosr 6.5 years the owner never get the aprtment painted or the carpets ever got washed even though I requested few times. This is not a new aprt. At least 50 years old and by just by cleaning it I cannot turn into a new aprtment, I was only supposed to return the aprtment in a well celaned condition, which I did. So now the owners has refused to refund my security deposit, I was wondering that is there any tenants rights protection, agnecy by Govt or some welfare organization, which I can contact in the city of hattiesburg in Mississippi for help in this matter.

Thanks a lot.
Rustam Kahn

excon · Oct 1, 2006, 06:26 AM

Hello Rustam:

You are responsible for damages, not ordinary "wear and tear". Cleaning the carpets and painting are normal "wear and tear". Write him a letter demanding your deposit in 5 days. If you don't get it, sue him.

excon

Fr_Chuck · Oct 1, 2006, 08:13 AM

Of course I can't see your walls or your carpet, so while normal wear and dirt is to be expected, extreme spots, large bad spots would have course not be.

So the degree will be the issue and that can often be a matter of opinion.

So if the disagreement would continue, you would need really photos of the carpet in the condition you moved out in. That why you can file in small clains court for your money back, and have evidence that it was not excessive.

You can still try to file in small claims and merely tell your story without any evidence, but then they will merely testify their side. And it will be up to the judge to decide.

So what you have to do is now file in small claimis court.

Most landlords normally re-paint and clean carpets after every tenant,
( some states require it)