Uhhh, security deposit "legal fees" (California)

[Ksandra]

So, we recently moved out of our apt. in Covina. Today I got our letter for our security deposit.


Shit is pretty normal in general, carpet cleaning type stuff. But there's a category that says "legal fees- $585."

I could be jumping the gun and it's a mistake,so I'm calling them tomorrow, but I wanted to at least try to get a basis on this before I just call them not knowing wtf at all.

Facts:

1. we completed our lease
2. gave a 30 days notice in plenty of time
3. paid our rent/utilities on time every month
4. were never evicted, or did they have an attempt eviction


Anyone think of any other reason they may claim that would require legal fees?


On top of this, according to this thread:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/los-a...y-deposit.html

LL can't withhold security deposits for legal fees anyway. Trying to find the exact wording they're referring to, but the code their referring to is pretty jumbled for me so not sure what they're referring to.

http://www.housing.ucsc.edu/cro/pdf/...y-deposits.pdf

They also say it's hard to win in small claims against it. Any advice on this?

Unless I'm missing something that seems pretty bs and just sounds like they're trying to get extra money out of us.

[Tekki]

I've moved in and out of apartments for nearly a decade now. Never heard of that. Only had issues with one deposit (lame repair fees that werent my fault) Simple phone call fixed that. I'd call them in the morning.

[Ksandra]

ya I have never heard of it either. I just wanna try and be prepared for any bs they may try and throw at us.

[Melena]

Fpi management?

[Ksandra]

Fpi management?

yep.


Called this morning, apparently the only lady that can handle this issue is off until Tuesday (fu). Lady I talked to didn't want to answer any questions about it, but I pulled from her that legal fees are for things like being delinquent on your rent, which isn't the case for us.


One thing though, for our last month rent it took until the 6th for it to come out of our bank account. When I had checked my balance on maybe the...3rd? I had seen it wasn't pulled and called the office to be like "why didn't you deposit the check" Lady looked at her log and said "no it's processed on our system so it must be your bank" then on the 6th it finally went through.

Could they be trying to claim that I paid late? There's no "late fee" or anything charged at me. This is the only thing I can come up with though. Even if it were true and we paid late, could they charge those fees over that?


BS, we were gonna use that money to go fix my comp, but now I don't want to spend any until we know what's up. -.-;

[Aylee]

Sounds like you did your part and they have no reason to hold those fees against you. Should be fine. If worse comes to worse take it to small claims court and fight it should be a joke to win if you have records of all your payments.

[Ksandra]

Ya I have all my bank statements handy, and I am more than happy to fight for my deposit. This is just so frustrating though. -.-;

[Aylee]

Shit sucks. I moved into an apartment with my friend and fiance at the time, ended up breaking the lease because they didn't uphold their part of the lease. Tried to charge us for rent for months we weren't there, with hold our deposit, ext. Had to take it to court and draw it out for 3 months but finally got our deposit back x2.

[Melena]

Just Google Fpi management. One of the worst for apartments. I'm amazed they didn't try to fuck me on my apartment.

[Kohan]

Ideally, you still have a copy of your lease. What you should do now is review it, and see if they made any statement therein noting that legal fees would be deducted from your security deposit upon your moving out. If they did so, it doesn't matter whether you signed it or not, as such a claim is already invalid; no part of a security deposit may be deemed non-refundable according to California law.

Beyond that, when you provided your thirty day notice, I presume that it was both in person and by Certified Mail with Return Receipt. At the very least, the latter should have been done. If it was not, you may not have a means of proving that you provided appropriate notice. Don't let your former landlord know that you're aware of this weakness, though.

Regardless, "legal fees" are not something that can be deducted from a security deposit if you haven't violated your lease agreement. Though the link you've provided stated that a judge sided with a landlord in such a case, that should not happen.

http://landlords.about.com/od/LegalI...eposit-Law.htm

There are a multitude of links in that article which you can use to further your knowledge, but the conclusion of this one is worth noting as well:

http://landlords.about.com/od/Landlo...ty-Deposit.htm

Additionally, you should be prepared for this:

http://landlords.about.com/od/Tenant...it-Dispute.htm

It is extremely likely that you will get your money back. I also hope that, in addition to Certified Mail with Return Receipt, that you are willing to potentially visit their office in person. They can hang up on you or otherwise tell you that someone will be unavailable, but it's doubtful they're going to keep their front door locked during business hours.

[Ksandra]

Ty for the links kohan! In regards to the thirty day, I made my own but when I showed up at the office they had a generic one they have people fill out and we both sign. I have a photocopy of that.

[edit] I also have the lease and saw nothing about legal fees, but I will look through it again as it's like 20 pages of small print so I might have missed something.

[archibaldcrane]

Never heard of it. Sounds like horseshit, talk to the lady on Tuesday and don't relent.

[raven12]

I'm a current resident at an FPI property and am bracing myself for what they'll pull upon our moveout. We reported them to the housing department, and they didn't even put up a fight. They were ordered to adjust our rent and reimburse us for illegal charges. A certain number of people will just pay whatever they're told even though they know they're being screwed.

Inflated, vague, and ambiguous charges seem to be common with the move out bill. A lady in our complex who was here 4 years moved out and left her unit spotless. Not only did she not get her security deposit back, FPI charged $1,700. She said they listed 6 hours for cleaning and charged her to replace the carpet and stove.

Take them to small claims. They're used to it.

[Ksandra]

I should have updated the thread (forgot about it) took forever to get a hold of someone and ya it was a mistake, still waiting on my check though. If I don't get it by this weekend I'm calling them to see what happened.

[raven12]

It's good that they acknowledged that it was a mistake. I hope you get your check soon.

[Ksandra]

ty, I hope I do, too XD

[kuronosan]

If they don't, drown them and hope they learn their lesson.

[Ksandra]

hahahah

[isladar]

Good thing is as a CA resident you get huge rights as a tenant. Because they sent you the itemized list of the charges (bogus as they may be), I think that fulfills the "send check or itemized list of deductions within 21 days of lease termination", so I'm not sure if that means they then get 21 days on top of that.

[Aylee]

Good thing is as a CA resident you get huge rights as a tenant. Because they sent you the itemized list of the charges (bogus as they may be), I think that fulfills the "send check or itemized list of deductions within 21 days of lease termination", so I'm not sure if that means they then get 21 days on top of that.

Best bet would be to go to their office and ask them to sign a letter saying that the charges were a mistake and that you would receive what ever the amount was by x date