Discussions

I am curious to see whether or not people got their damage deposits back and if they think it was fair.  
 
Did you get your damage deposit back? Do you think it was fair?  
 
Did you not get your damage deposit back? Was it fair?

I have had mine returned, never had a problem. I don’t do anything that causes lasting damage. I have also been a landlord and returned a portion of a deposit even though I should have kept it all.

As both a previous renter and now a landlord I’ve seen both sides. My last tenant moved out and left behind broken taps, broken screens on doors, garbage to haul to dump and it cost me more than her deposit to fix everything and pay for a cleaner and the carpets cleaned. I expect my tenants to leave the property clean and free of damage. Normal wear and tear (scuffs on walls, etc is fine). My personal option is that half a months rent is not nearly enough. If tenants take care of the place and leave it clean, they should have no problem paying more upfront and getting it all returned.

When we moved out we didn't get any deposit back. They even had the balls to charge us extra. I was pissed. We had a cat, fair enough. The people beside us had a mini zoo of animals. A week before we were scheduled to move out our blinds were gone. I called and said WTF and they said they needed to be professionally cleaned due to cat hair on the blinds. I asked who the heck gave them permission to enter and inspect the blinds in the first place....no comment. Then I called these professional cleaners that my blinds were at. Asked how they clean blinds. They take duct tape and pat the blinds till the hair comes off. Exactly what we were to do. The people next door, because they just had a baby....full refund. Us after solid week of cleaning. Another bill for cleaning the place. Seriously? We had before and after pics and everything. Shitty thing is with only asking 1/2 months rent it wasn't worth my wife and I to lose wages for the time to take the landlords to court and I think they knew that as it wasn't the first time I have heard them holding damage deposits. I told them I would see them in court for the remaining balance of the bill they sent me. Needless to say I never was called to recover that extra billing. I will never recommend the townhouse rentals on the west side of town.

I lived in a few places over the years, but I also am a very clean person, even so, when I left I:  
 
washed walls  
cleaned floors,  
cleaned the oven and stove  
defrosted and cleaned the fridge  
left no garbage in the apartment  
no damage from living there  
the last one I had a cat also

Every place but the last one I lived at. The last one, when I moved in, I had to clean up someone else’s dog crap. I clean a lot. She had the nerve to tell me the yard was a mess (even though it was better than when I moved in), that it was dirty, even though I thoroughly cleaned the house. She was also a friend

I always got mine back. One place I had in Brandon even said they would pay me extra for cleaning up the place thoroughly before I left, as long as they approved of the job that I did. Not an issue for me. I had a cat there. I think this sort of offer is rare and I was extra fortunate.

Every place, I’ve even received interest in my damage deposit at a place I was at for several years.

I once rented a place for 6 months and had the place spotless when moving out. Landlord kept back $100 for carpet cleaning. I said it’s clean, same as when we moved in. They told me they clean carpet between each tenant and it was in the very fine print of our rental agreement. I was ticked because it in no way needed cleaning and being young I didn’t really pay attention to that in my contract. There was no way it was done in time for the next tenant either because we did our final walk through with the landlord at 7 pm on the 31st with the next renter moving in the next day.  
 
So be careful and read the full contract.

That's terrible and you'd think it wouldn't be legal... I rented from a company that required you to provide the receipts from having your carpets cleaned professionally, which cost us around $90 for a small 2 bedroom too. At least we were allowed to shop around? But still couldn't do it ourselves in an effort to save on labour fees.

As a landlord I can official say I have never returned a damage deposit. Now before you get to worked up about that snowflakes, no renter has ever asked for it back because they left the place worse off then the value of the damage deposit. Good luck not spending your damage deposit on fixing painting and cleaning carpets. I think it’s just better to leave the deposit and not have to pay the actual bill or put in the actual work.

I was ticked. I had rented before and had no issues with ever getting deposit back. It was definitely a cash grab. I asked her to show me where the carpet needed professional cleaning and she said it didn’t matter as that’s what the contract said. I was young and had never encountered that before so didn’t even think it would be an issue.

While I don’t agree with your landlord for removing the blinds while you still lived there, once you have given notice that you are moving out, the landlord does not need to give you notice when entering the rental unit. You can check my facts on the mb tenancies website.

If you rent go to the renters board and get them to explain your rights. There are rules that have to be followed regarding your damage deposits. Know them. When I was renting ( over 20 years now so things may have changed a little bit) landlords could only keep the amount of what it took to fix/clean the apartment and had to show receipts for the work done if asked. they could only outright keep it if you didn't give notice of you leaving.

whiskeydrinker14 said "While I don’t agree with your landlord for removing the blinds while you still lived there, once you have given notice that you are moving out, the landlord does not need to give you notice when entering the rental unit. You can check my facts on the mb tenancies website. "

Just had a peak around on the site and it was basic stuff. I didn't see anything saying they can enter without cause.

veloster said "If you rent go to the renters board and get them to explain your rights. There are rules that have to be followed regarding your damage deposits. Know them. When I was renting ( over 20 years now so things may have changed a little bit) landlords could only keep the amount of what it took to fix/clean the apartment and had to show receipts for the work done if asked. they could only outright keep it if you didn't give notice of you leaving. "

I knew a people that were landlords. Perfect scam was to be the one that said they cleaned the place. Not hard to write out a receipt for yourself cleaning a place. Stories of an hour or two for minor clean up but ended up with a zero behind the number. How do you prove otherwise? Needless to say they are not landlords anymore.

RichardL said "As a landlord I can official say I have never returned a damage deposit. Now before you get to worked up about that snowflakes, no renter has ever asked for it back because they left the place worse off then the value of the damage deposit. Good luck not spending your damage deposit on fixing painting and cleaning carpets. I think it’s just better to leave the deposit and not have to pay the actual bill or put in the actual work. "

would you have got to keep my damage deposit.  
 
I took pictures of before and after I moved into every apartment or rental I lived in. As mentioned I have always rec'd my full damage deposit. I can guarantee, you would not have kept mine. Also, why should they have to ask? As a renter you know that a walk through is done and damage deposit should be talked about. Sneaky one aren't you? The one that give many good landlord a bad reputation.  
 
Also, I believe whenever I got my full damage deposit back, it was also with interest.

I’m going off my memory but pretty sure section labelled fir s and it’s firm 1(rental agreement) the last page is rules and it’s on there under entry or something

LOL I have tenants of many years now perhaps ask them how I am as a landlord lol if you even bothered to read my post and didn’t just try to find a reason to be offended you would have noticed I said “because they caused more damage then the (sp) value of the deposit” so if I had a renter leave the place perfect the. I would have given the deposit back lol thanks for coming out!

always had mine returned with interest as is required.  
 
Only time I lost a small part of my deposit was when our car broke down in our parking space and left an oil mark before being fixed. Landlord i:ncluded the receipt for cleaning the spot off the pad, and deducted that amount from our total we should have received back. Totally fair, I was young and though we left our unit immaculate I never thought about our parking space... lesson learned.  
 
Edited by Happy Trails , 2018-08-10 18:46:11

RichardL said "LOL I have tenants of many years now perhaps ask them how I am as a landlord lol if you even bothered to read my post and didn’t just try to find a reason to be offended you would have noticed I said “because they caused more damage then the (sp) value of the deposit” so if I had a renter leave the place perfect the. I would have given the deposit back lol thanks for coming out! "

you said:  
 
"As a landlord I can official say I have never returned a damage deposit."  
 
nowhere did you say, I have given it back to good tenants, I have brought up damage deposit returns to good tenants.  
 
Maybe you could have added that to your comment.  
 
But as you said, I have never returned a damage deposit. Meaning to anyone that reads it, good condition or bad, you have never returned one.  
 
thanks for coming out!

I rented from the same landlord for 6 years and lived in 2 of his apartments. I put up with almost zero heat one winter (I would have to wear a jacket and mitts in the apt!!) and a leaky bathroom that needed other repairs as well. I was a clean, quiet, respectful tenant. When I moved, I had it cleaned and yet he refused to give the damage deposit back. He had been a good landlord up until I moved. I spoke with others and they said they had the same problem with him about the deposit. This was in Portage fwiw.

By good landlord, I mean he was always polite, friendly, apologized for the issues, tried to do quick fixes for the heat etc. He definitely needed to up his game on repairs and maintenance though! And he def had the money to do so!!!

Lol read lady. I’m sorry your having trouble understanding what I wrote. I have never returned a damage deposit BECAUSE no one has ever had a right to it back lol I’m sure it’s hard to understand but think of it this way... your taking one part of what I said out of context and disregarding everything else that does not fit your narrative to cry about me... classy!

RichardL said "Lol read lady. I’m sorry your having trouble understanding what I wrote. I have never returned a damage deposit BECAUSE no one has ever had a right to it back lol I’m sure it’s hard to understand but think of it this way... your taking one part of what I said out of context and disregarding everything else that does not fit your narrative to cry about me... classy! "

cancelled message - because I read, I can read every word, I read very well and I can decipher exactly what you mean, even for good I tenants....so I will end it here.  
 
Edited by Brenda.., 2018-08-11 05:39:00

IMO.. damage deposit should not be expected to be paid back. IF you do get it back or even partial of it, consider yourself lucky. I have rented before, at the time my damage depost was around $350, I got back about half. This was because I left in between winter, did not clean the windows. Also carpet needed to be cleaned, i left blinds with dust and i cleaned the oven, but it wasn't clean enough.  
 
For those if that say I took pictures and I left the apartment just as clean as I got it. I call BS on it, especially the carpet.

I'm amazed that anyone even gets their deposits back, especially if they have kids and/or pets (a single person I could see maybe, but the reality is that there's always wear-and-tear even from the best tenants, accidental damage, etc).  
 
I've owned my home for many years and I *know* the damage kids and pets do. I can think of quite a few things I did myself that would preclude me from getting my "deposit" back.  
 
As a young person, I expected to get my deposit back, but now days I would never expect it. Just consider it a trade-off for not having to do your own maintnence and repairs.

The landlord went through the apt with you when you first rented the place. Look at the condition report and make sure that the apt looks the same as when you rented it!  
I have always got my entire deposit back. Even when I had children. My son rented a townhouse with his two kids. When they did the move out inspection the landlord said he'd never seen such a wonderful cleaning job! Why? He was taught to clean by his mom!

RichardL said "As a landlord I can official say I have never returned a damage deposit. Now before you get to worked up about that snowflakes, no renter has ever asked for it back because they left the place worse off then the value of the damage deposit. Good luck not spending your damage deposit on fixing painting and cleaning carpets. I think it’s just better to leave the deposit and not have to pay the actual bill or put in the actual work. "

i read your post as you never returned a deposit because renters always left more damage then deposit covered, which being a landlord I can see, seemed clear imo  
 
I have given deposits back, probably when i shouldnt have but tenants have always left damage, renters are hard on stuff! I have never changed for broken taps tho, i could see if it was negligent but otherwise i would call taps a maintenance item  
 
years ago as a renter i did get all of my deposits back but now i am a landlord i realized how good a renter i was lol  
 
as far as entering the unit UNLESS its an emergency a landlord MUST give 24hour notice(without tenants permission), re-renting a suite is not an emergency as much as us landlords want it done. But if the tenant agrees otherwise, which i have had agreeable tenants, then you can

Getty said "IMO.. damage deposit should not be expected to be paid back. IF you do get it back or even partial of it, consider yourself lucky. I have rented before, at the time my damage depost was around $350, I got back about half. This was because I left in between winter, did not clean the windows. Also carpet needed to be cleaned, i left blinds with dust and i cleaned the oven, but it wasn't clean enough.     For those if that say I took pictures and I left the apartment just as clean as I got it. I call BS on it, especially the carpet. "

I have always got mine back. I do not consider myself lucky. I consider myself clean and respectful of property that is not mine.