[jay26mc]

We had been renting a house for 5 months here in South Carolina that went into foreclosure. When we first moved in we paid a $500 security deposit. The landlord has never done any repairs of any kind to the house since we have lived here. In fact the weekend before the house was foreclosed I called him because the kitchen sink was broken and he told me he was sorry but it our sink was the last thing he was concerned about.Anyway the house was foreclosed on July 6th. A week before that the landlord told us to keep the rent for July until he found out if he could save it from foreclosure. Well he never did and we eventually ended up signing a new lease with the bank that took possession of the house. After a month we had received no security deposit back or even a phone call, or letter explaining why. We sent a certified letter to the previous landlord asking for it back within 10days of receiving the letter. After 2 weeks he hadn't signed for the letter so we sent another one certified and regular mail saying the same thing. He finally picked up the first one the next day. It has now been 2 weeks since that and still no security deposit or even a phone call from him. I want to take him to small claims court, and was just wondering if I have a good case even though he let us not pay July's rent even though he only had the house for 6 days in July. If I understand South Carolina's renter laws right I can sue for 3x the amount withheld.

[smoothy]

Good luck collecting if they filed bankruptcy... they did lose the house after all and its likely that wasn't all. Being owed something and actually collecting it are sometimes two very different things.

[jay26mc]

Yeah I'm worried about that. He has 2 other houses in the area that he has up for sale now I noticed. I think for me its more the principle of it for me more than anything.

[ScottGem]

You have a case, but having a case doesn't mean its worthwhile suing. My view is the probability of not collecting makes it not worth pursuing.

[ballengerb1]

So when did you sign the lease with the bank? Sounds like you may have not paid anyone for July, maybe. Kind of a wash, I'd skip trying to sue. Smoothy mentions bankruptcy but I did not see that, foreclosure doesn't mean bankrupt.

[AK lawyer]

...I understand South Carolina's renter laws right I can sue for 3x the amount withheld.

You have a case, but having a case doesn't mean its worthwhile suing. My view is the probability of not collecting makes it not worth pursuing.

I'd probably sue, especially if you are entitled to treble damages.

If he does file bankruptcy, I would claim it's non-dischargeable because taking the security deposit is probably fraud. It's a priority claim as well, as I recall. Which means if there are any assets you get first crack at them.

[Fr_Chuck]

You can sue, and you can win but that will only be a piece of paper , so after you win, how do you plan on getting your money from him ?

[smoothy]

Nobody doubts its owed to you, because it is. But it might cost you more to collect than you will ever see. Not to mention time involved. Principle or not... beating your head agaianst a rock trying to get blood out of it, usually gets you only your own blood. It is only $500, not like you had a $2,800 deposit.

Sometimes even if you win, you end up losing.

[jay26mc]

That's true. Its just aggravating when you trust someone to do the right thing. Its hard to just let someone take what's yours even if its just $500. Maybe its not worth the effort.

[Fr_Chuck]

You can do it in small claims court, not sure what the fee to file is there, that 30 to 50 dollars is a guess, and you will have to take off work at least one day to appear in court.

Assume they don't show up and you win, so you have a judgement, that says they now legally owe you the money.
It will hurt their credit but that is already in the gutter.

[ballengerb1]

When you get around to it please answer my question. Did you pay anyone for July's rent?

[jay26mc]

The bank that took over the house charged us half month rent for July.