THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 1, 1995 TAG: 9506290345
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Landlords & Tenants
SOURCE: BY WILLIAM MAZEL
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
I lived in Mechanicsville for 2 1/2 years in a nice apartment. I had a very friendly relationship with the rental manager. She seemed to be a trustworthy person.
She asked me to stop by and fill out a 30-day form when I decided to leave. I filled out the form around the end of March 1994. I told her I was moving out in mid-April. The entire amount of the rent for April had been paid.
I left the apartment in great condition. The rental manager told me I would get my deposit back in about a month. June came, no deposit. I received a letter from the agency that stated that I did not move out until May 17 and that I also owed a half-month's rent.
I showed my rental manager the letter and she told me she would go to Maryland where the agency was to talk to the woman responsible for returning deposits and straighten everything out.
July came, no deposit. August came, no deposit. I called the woman from Maryland and she told me that it was the first time she had heard of my problem. She also stated that she had not received a visit from my rental manger. I was very upset because for three months my rental manager had been telling me that she had been speaking to this woman.
The woman from the agency pulled my file. She read to me things that were on her copy of the 30-day notice sent to her. My copy did not have half the things she read. In comparing the two, I noticed there were different dates on each letter.
The woman seemed very concerned. She asked me to send her a copy of what I had for her comparison. She then stated that she would make a special trip to Virginia to talk with the rental manager. The last thing I was told was that I would be receiving my deposit the following month and that was last October.
I do not like to make assumptions, but I think that the rental manager misplaced her copy of the 30-day notice form and made one up with unsure dates and sent it over to the agency.
I would haves pursued this earlier but I was in a serious accident and have been in and out of the hospital for the past several months. I am sure they figure I have forgotten about it. What should I do?
First of all, I think someone is lying. Second, you should sue your former landlord for your deposit, making sure you ask for interest on your money from the date you moved out.
You can handle this matter quite easily. Go to the Clerk of the General District Court, Civil Division, in the area you currently live in and sue. The clerk will help you prepare the suit papers, tell you what to do and be sure that you take with you all the papers you need when you go to court.
I believe that once the suit papers are received, you will receive your deposit without having to go further into court. However, since you will have to pay filing fees, be sure to insist that your landlord pays these costs as well. MEMO: William Mazel is a retired lawyer. Send comments and questions to him at
Real Estate Weekly, 150 W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510. by CNB