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Tenant Law in Pa.
Philadelphia, PA
Viewed 187 times.
Posted 11 months ago in Landlord / Tenant
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I appreciate the info posted re return of sec. deposit under Pa. Tenant Law. My two friends and I vacated the premises on the last day of the 1-yr. lease leaving them neat and clean. After a few months I wrote landlord by certified mail requesting return of sec. deposit. She wrote back saying we had not given 30-days notice(the lease says nothing about this), had left the bathrooms dirrty (which is a lie and friends who helped us clean will attest to the cleanliness of the apt.) and she had to paint the apt. when we left. She had told us when we moved in that she always paints between tenants. In researching the law, we found that she should have advised us of her intention to keep the sec. dep. in wriiting within 30 days of our departure; however, a later paragraph did indicate we should have given her written notice of our new address. We did file a Change of Address form with the post office immediately upon moving. We're not interested in getting double our $1,350 back, but can't we get the face amount back if we take her to Small Claims Court??
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Answers (1)Dale G. Larrimore
This attorney is licensed in Pennsylvania.
Posted 11 months ago.
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Yes. Re-read the lease and make sure that there is no provision that required notice to the landlord that you were not going to renew the lease.
If that is not present, then you should be successful in recovering your security deposit and the penalty for her failure for not returning it to you. I am assuming that you did tell the landlord that you were vacating the premises and that you returned the key when you left. It would be nice if you took a few photos to show the condition of the premises when you left, but if you have friends who will testify that it was neat and clean - with no damage - then you should win. The security deposit is for damages. Not for repainting. She had no right to keep it and within 30 days after you left she had to either return the security deposit or send you notice of what the damages were. File suit for the security deposit and for double damages and maybe she will offer to settle for just the face amount.
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