Flooring Question

Just send them a letter pointing those things out. Their failure is likely to be a bar to them keepin the security deposit and likely opens them up to treble damages.

If you can, find and prep a simple complaint for landlord/tenant court citing the statute and the facts demonstrating their failure to comply (i.e. no inspection, notice, etc. and failure to return the deposit). Tell them you are including it as a courtesy copy but will not file unless they return the deposit. If treble damages are mandated under VA law, tell them you'll file unless they return the double the security deposit (or deposit +50%). Show them you'll make them pay for dicking you around and they will probably just offer you the deposit to go away.

By the way, this is not legal advice, just friendly banter among friends who aren't licensed to practice law in Virginia.

Answer to what? They say they are keeping your deposit are you suppose to tell them that just fine or agree to something?

Sorry FD, missed this earlier. Basically a bully tactic. Answer before this time or else you owe it ALL!

If they push they'll have to provide to you their reasoning as to why you are at fault. They can't just keep your security deposit as a "maintenance" fee. If the place burns down due to faulty electrical wiring while you live there does that make you at fault? No. Occupation doesn't assume complete liability for the property. Again without pictures it is hard to say but engineered flooring doesn't just warp through typical wear and tear. It has to be subjected to extreme conditions. I mean I just can't imagine they actually think you're at fault. They're trying to screw you all. Have pictures?

Sorry FD, missed this earlier. Basically a bully tactic. Answer before this time or else you owe it ALL!

So they are trying to force you to take the best option of just loosing your deposit. I would document that coversation and fight them in court over the money. Better yet I'd tell the lady you talked to FD and he said that's a form of a bribe and you are reporting her to the city and state if they don't have your deposit returned by 9:00pm.

So we've decided we're definitely going to fight it as we don't feel it is acceptable for us be responsible for the entire floor. The floor was 9 years old and we believe the damage was caused by lack of maintenance on their AC unit in the adjacent room. We're going to file a complaint with this group (Consumer Complaint, Mediation & Arbitration Guide - Fairfax County, Virginia (http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/consumer/complaints.htm)) in an attempt to mediate the issue before turning to court. I plan on meeting with a lawyer shortly to see our options.

My question is, should we warn them we feel they are being unreasonable in their claims and will be submitting a complaint? Should we simply not respond? Should we be more aggressive as JR pointed out. Mentioning we will be obtaining legal counsel, but would rather eliminate this issue immediately.

Also, for the record, we offered 1,000 last night to get rid of everything and they scoffed. So... I'm guessing we'll end up going through the dance.

Should we be more aggressive as JR pointed out. Mentioning we will be obtaining legal counsel, but would rather eliminate this issue immediately.

JR knows his stuff, take his advice. Hey, maybe he'll throw you a Pro Bono Publico?

So... this is what we went with for anyone interested. Thoughts!

I have been advised to reject your offer and believe that the charges are both unfair and unfounded. The damage to the floor in the hallway is minor and can be repaired. Additionally, I believe that damage was caused due to lack of proper maintenance to the HVAC system in the adjacent room. We contacted maintenance personnel from The Renaissance and they suggested that type of damage is only consistent with an issue with persistent moisture. Lastly, there were already existing conditions with the floor before my arrival. The wood in front of the fireplace is discolored and there was scratching around the outside of the power outlet previous to my arrival.

Furthermore, during our official walk through and surrender of all keys, fobs, and parking passes, there was no mention of any damage to the property, with the exception of painting costs. I was of the understanding we had a verbal agreement and that the security deposit, less painting costs, would be returned.

As a courtesy I have provided you with this document before filing. Unless the security deposit ($1900.00), less $250.00 for painting, is returned I will be filing a complaint. Please be aware that due to VA law treble damages can be awarded for wrongfully withholding security deposits. I genuinely hope we can find a fair and amicable solution to our dispute.

Sounds good but I would have added that you had done nothing to the floor to cause that damage.

Reviving this thread for another round of advice. Been discussing this with a few people, but I like to get a broad range of opinions. Thanks to everyone who has helped me through some of the difficult parts of this... adventure (JR, TMC, GMAN).

TL;DR: We asked for some critical details such as pictures, names, etc and were sent an ambiguous e-mail that did not respond to a single question. Not sure of my next step!

Now that I've given a synopsis, they've offered us a lot of one-sided 'deals' to which we've fought back. We asked for them to provide the following:

Pictures of damage before/after.
Current hardwood in apartment
Name of company and contractor who gave the quote
Copy of the quote
Type of hardwood going into the apartment in quote
Ability to have a contractor, of our choose, assess the situation


We talked to multiple contractors that said patching would be no issue at all. However, all of them wanted to see anything before saying anything official. Their response was as follows:
We received your email and understand that you do not want to accept or consider the original offer, which of course is fine.
Therefore, we are further looking into the matter and handling it in a fair manner.

You will hear from us and/or our representative by the deadline that we have according to VA Law which we have looked into, 45 days from when we received the keys to provide a written statement regarding the deposit. Please note that when there are repairs to be made, an additional 15 days is allowed according to VA Law.

You will receive a written statement including a detailed list of any deductions along with any remaining deposit if this applies.
After that point, you may decide to proceed as you wish.

Their response seems to fail to answer any of our questions or portray really anything. We're not sure how to proceed. I believe the landlord has also moved. We're thinking of sending an e-mail asking them to please collect our requested information and provide their address. At that point, I believe we will file a claim to mediation, and if nothing comes of that we will have to 'lawyer up' and go to court. I'd rather avoid the 250/hr if possible, but it may not be possible. I hope we can recover our lawyers' fees if we end up winning.

We also found the following clause in the VA tenant landlord act:
3. Permit a tenant or his authorized agent or attorney to inspect such tenant's records of deductions at any time during normal business hours.

C. Upon request by the landlord to a tenant to vacate, or within five days after receipt of notice by the landlord of the tenant's intent to vacate, the landlord shall make reasonable efforts to advise the tenant of the tenant's right to be present at the landlord's inspection of the dwelling unit for the purpose of determining the amount of security deposit to be returned. If the tenant desires to be present when the landlord makes the inspection, he shall so advise the landlord in writing who, in turn, shall notify the tenant of the time and date of the inspection, which must be made within 72 hours of delivery of possession. Upon completion of the inspection attended by the tenant, the landlord shall furnish the tenant with an itemized list of damages to the dwelling unit known to exist at the time of the inspection.

Which we read as their responsibility to make us aware of any damage to the apartment, in writing, at time of the walk through. Considering they claim that there was substantial floor damage, in a heavily travelled hallway, there is no excuse not to mention it during the walkthrough. During the walkthrough they only talked about painting the apartment, which we had already discussed, in writing, prior to the walkthrough.

Thanks in advance for the advice. It's been quite stressful lately.

You told me today they said they have more time than that. That makes no sense, what's to keep anyone from damaging a place after the fact and charging you later? This whole thing is so shady.