Renter Small Claims Stories

Have you ever had to take a landlord/management company to small claims court? Have you ever wanted to? Well, this is the place to share your experience. Unfortunately, there are a lot of folks out there who think they can take advantage of college students or other renters. One of the most common legal issues in Davis is landlords refusing to return security deposits without justification. Other common problems include broken items (or worse, mold problems) not getting fixed in a timely fashion or landlords not notifying tenants properly before entering the dwelling. There are plenty of other problems that come up, though. By sharing your experience, you can help empower other Davisites facing shady landlords.

If you have friends who have been through this process, send them on over here to dish.

If you're unsure what to write, consider the following:

• Who was involved?
• When and where did it happen? How long did it take?
• What was the issue? How much money was at stake?
• What was the resolution? Did you win? Did the landlord/management settle to avoid having to go to court? Did you recover the full amount?
• How much did it cost you? How much time was involved? If you won, were you awarded costs?
• Any advice for people who are headed down the same path?

This entry is a seed, a starting point for writing a full entry. You can help the Davis Wiki by expanding it! Just click the "Edit" button.

 

2010-09-26 19:40:54   I thought I would get this page started. I was not involved in a suit against my former landlord, though I was ready to file. The dispute was over money taken out of the security deposit, they had taken over $1000 out, out of which we disputed $575 for painting and $200 for cleaning. After a demand letter to get this money back we were able to come to a settlement of $650 to avoid suit. So, I would say for those that have a good claim to get money back they should threaten suit and most likely you could come to a similar arrangement. —ChrisDietrich

2010-09-29 14:05:31   I lived for one year with two roommates at 1352 Drake Drive, Apartment #C, managed by Sindy Cagley of Cagley Enterprises. We received the apartment in an unclean condition, carpets needed to be vacuumed and walls washed. We did a walk through with Sindy when we arrived. Upon our leave from the apartment, Sindy deducted $120 from our $500 security deposit for carpet cleaning (even though we had vacuumed 3 hours earlier!), a "dirty" patio (even though our lease determines that outdoor facilities are the owner's responsibility), and "crumbs" under the microwave and in the kitchen drawers. We believe these charges were entirely inappropriate. We won't pursue legal action, but potential renters be advised. —TylerRobinson

2011-03-22 18:28:56   Responding to the previous entry regarding Tyler Robinson, deducting $120 from the security deposit was absolutely warranted. I don't think Tyler even lived there the last three months. The condition of the private patio itself would have taken more money to clean up, if it hadn't been for the awesome company that I found who did it at a very discounted rate. Plus, the tenants knew that they were responsible for keeping it up, because I had mentioned it to them months prior. It is almost impossible to hire a cleaning company to do even a light cleaning of a two bedroom townhouse for under $150 these days- ask any management company or landlord. If there's any indication that I am not a fair landlord, then you can ask the girls who moved out next door at the same time. You'll find that they received their full $500 deposit back for doing a good job cleaning. You'll also find that there are very few landlords that will give a tenant their full deposit back, no matter how much they cleaned (not that I think that is right). —SindyCagley

2023-06-24 19:58:18   Don’t pay your last month’s rent until they itemize every single thing. This has worked for me in 3 different rentals after one bad experience. If you’re carpet or linoleum is more than 8 years old they cannot charge for stains, learn the legal definition of ‘’wear and tear’’. Also, don’t let them in if they haven’t given you 24 hours notice! —LydiaElle