My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: New Jersey
Please read the letter below that I am planning to send my Landlord asking him to refund my deposit.
Dear Mr. F,
As entertaining as the letter you wrote to me was, there was hardly any truth to it. I regret to inform you that I am disputing all of the conditions stated on your letter dated 03/24/15 and some additional reasons. Below are the reasons listed for my dispute:
1. Early lease termination is void because of the following reasons:
a. Within 30 days of me moving in you must provide me with a(n) original/copy of the signed lease document, which you violated. I did not receive a copy of the signed lease until January 2015.
b. A certificate from the county office that certifies that the space is habitable and has passed inspection, was not produced.
c. You are supposed to give me the bank/account details where you will be storing my security deposit, which was not provided.
d. The law requires you to provide me with “The truth in renting” guide which you did not provide me with at the time of leasing/ thereafter.
e. I would like to remind you that you did not “discover” that I was moving out, rather you had violated my privacy by going through a document in my car that you were NOT authorized to view.
f. You did NOT mention (verbally nor in writing) that you were going to deduct the loss of $450 from my security deposit. Per the conversation we had during the last week of May 2014, you had agreed to lower the rent (on humanitarian grounds) without any consequences to me, as a favor to help me pay the rent and to continue staying. This caused a loss of $300 deposit that I had paid for another space. Had you told me that you would be deducting the balance from my security deposit, I would have moved out and would have had the opportunity to pursue a case in court. This and the rest of your letter only proves your desperation and malicious intent to deprive me off any monies that I am legally entitled to.
g. I would like to bring to your notice that the New Jersey renter’s law states the following:
“From October 1 to May 1, the rental premises shall be maintained at a temperature of at least 68 degrees Fahrenheit between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m.; between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. the rental premises shall be maintained at a temperature of at least 65 degrees Fahrenheit. The hot water temperature should be maintained at a minimum of 120 degrees and a maximum of a 160 degrees Fahrenheit.”
This was in violation for the entire duration of my stay. I can assure you that the temperature at which the room you rented to me was maintained around 55 to 60 deg. F. with the help of a space heater (that I had purchased for $50 as a result of you not providing a habitable space to live in). Regardless of what I set the thermostat to be, the room was at a constant 50 deg. F. which is inhabitable. During summer, the room that I was living in was at a constant 90 deg. F. as it was a NW facing room with a lot of heat gain (due to lack of insulation, sloping roof and inadequate air flow) during summer. As the utilities were a part of the rent, you are supposed to provide me with a comfortable if not, at least a habitable space which you failed to provide. This is in clear violation of lease terms and/or landlord-tenant law.
h. According to the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors:
“One of the reasons that restrictions are a potential fire hazard is that, along with water vapor evaporated out of wet clothes, the exhaust stream carries lint – highly flammable particles of clothing made of cotton and polyester. Lint can accumulate in an exhaust duct, reducing the dryer’s ability to expel heated water vapor, which then accumulates as heat energy within the machine. As the dryer overheats, mechanical failures can trigger sparks, which can cause lint trapped in the dryer vent to burst into flames. This condition can cause the whole house to burst into flames. Fires generally originate within the dryer but spread by escaping through the ventilation duct, incinerating trapped lint, and following its path into the building wall.”
The lint in the dryer vent was not cleaned until a random inspection found that you were in violation of this safety code. A copy of this violation and the bill to perform the necessary services should be available at the respective office. This violates the lease terms and hypothetically speaking it could have caused grave consequences should I have continued to use the dryer.
i. Last but not the least, during the summer of 2013 and numerous occasions thereafter you had a couple of guests over (names excluded for privacy) whom I witnessed not only using illegal drugs, but also abusing prescription drugs in the apartment while you were PRESENT (for every occurrence). This not only voids the lease, but also could be lead to a felony charge for being an accessory to an illegal activity. Let me remind you that summer of 2013 is ahead of February 12, 2014. You had violated the lease even before I could.
2. The $475 in late charges are outrageous. Had I been given the lease or a copy of it, within 30 days of me moving in or a written warning that I would be charged $25 late fee for every late payment, then I would have made sure to pay the rent on time. Since, you did not provide me with either of those, you are not eligible to collect a late payment fee.
3. Cleaning costs: It was mutually agreed that you would hire a professional cleaner who would come clean the premises every 6 weeks, which you failed to provide. When I asked about bringing my cleaners, you denied my request. I tried offering, but you denied my offer but chose to not honor my request to hire professional cleaners of my choice. This shows that I had every intent to maintain the property, but you were obstructing me from it so that you could gain financially.
The mold remediation issue explained: The way water will evaporate off of a completely enclosed space without heat or direct sunlight is through the passing of tempered hot/dry air. The only source of any air handling equipment was the exhaust fan which was clogged and underperforming even before I had occupied the house. The growth of mold (a consequence of water logging) is due to a low performing exhaust fan, which you should have considered cleaning and balancing the exhaust air-ducts with the use of a licensed balancing contractor. This voids my responsibility for any mold growth or the lack of proper maintenance of facilities.
4. The Bed set which you claim to have cost you $100 was not part of the lease and shall be excluded. Please refer to Clauses 29 and 30 of the lease which do NOT state the inclusion of the comforter set as part of the lease. Moreover, charging me $100 for a “USED” bed set shows your greed and malicious intent to embezzle my money. I will however clean them for you or provide $30 as a cleaning expense.
5. I informed you well in advance before moving in, about my furniture which included but not limited to, my mattress, dining table set, and miscellaneous boxes. Prior to me moving in, you agreed to me bringing my mattress and assured me that I would have a place to put my mattress and sleep on it. Based on your assumptions, you thought it would be a wise decision for me to occupy the first floor room with the washer and dryer. You had promised me that you will move your study desk to the third floor bedroom, which you failed to. This again proves the fact that you are trying to rob me of the deposit that I am entitled to. I had to store my orthopedic memory foam mattress (retailing at $3,000+, and used mattresses sell online for at least $1,000+) in your garage until you moved the study desk, shoe stand and other items that you did NOT as you promised to. I entirely lost access to my orthopedic mattress, which I use for a minor back condition and hence lost comfort of sleeping and had minor back pain for almost my entire duration of residency in your house. Furthermore, you not only decided to store your surf board under my mattress (for which I cannot be held responsible in any way, as you were PRESENT all the time on the day I moved in, watching me store my bed at the exact location that you had wanted me to store) but also throw a trash can on top of it and ruined my mattress. In addition to destroying my mattress you had damaged my brand new road bike by throwing your golf bags on top of it damaging the digital odometer, sensors, specialty seat and the structural frame of the bicycle. I cannot get it repaired and hence I am at a direct loss of $250 for my bicycle, plus the mattress and box springs for which I cannot put a value to. Please bear in mind that you are not as magnanimous as you tried to sound in your letter (dated 3/24/15), by letting me store my furniture, in fact what savings you claim I got, is not even comparable to the damages your negligence cost me. It is a direct consequence of you not honoring your word/neglecting to provide proper location to store my furniture. Hence, I shall not be liable for any damage that resulted as a consequence of your negligence/dishonoring of your word.
6. I would like to let you know that I had to buy a brand new chest to store my clothes since you did not provide me with an empty closet space as promised. The chest cost me about $100, plus mileage (per IRS Standards) $56, tolls and parking $15 plus the labor to bring and install (@ $20/hr for 2 hrs) $40. The total cost I incurred to buy a chest as a consequence of you not providing me with an empty closet space is $211 plus taxes and surcharges. I wouldn’t have required a chest, had you provided me with the closet space that you promised you would.
7. On 3/2/2015, a day after I moved out, I had texted you to inform me of any cleaning that I needed to do and I did come that evening to pick up all my food items. I would like an inventory of all the food items that you claim to be mine as well as the pantry. As far as I remember, I was assigned the top most shelf of the pantry which I had emptied out. Any cleaning that you did was of the food items that you had purchased and not me. During my entire stay I was not given proper space to store any food in the freezer. I would be generous if I were to say, I had 20% of the storage space in the freezer. I emptied out the 20% that I had occupied. I further requested that I will personally take care of anything you needed me to, to which you never replied. Proving your malicious intent to scam me off my legally entitled security deposit. I have taken every effort to reach out to you to clean and repair the premises before I left, but you did not respond intentionally so that you can over-charge me for damages. This does NOT constitute my negligence to clean, but your mendacious intent to get your hands on my security deposit.
8. The stains on the carpet could have been caused by any of your pets that were present and had access to my room during the duration of my stay. Not to mention the unpleasant feces smell in the first floor of the house caused by your incompetent pet care. I am sure I would be able to get cat hair fibers from underneath the bed, this doesn’t mean that your cats caused the stains, nor does it mean that I caused them. I offered to come help clean, but you refused to reply. Hence, the article 12 of the lease doesn’t apply to the stains.
9. Please understand that just because you “almost never” use the microwave, does not mean you didn’t break it. I not only used the microwave, but the oven, the refrigerator, the washer and dryer. If I can responsibly use the other appliances with care, I can promise you that I had the same responsibility and handled the microwave with utmost care. I suggest you ask your guests about the microwave handle. Let me remind you that I replaced a ladle that I had burned accidentally while cooking, and you joked about it saying that it was “just a ladle”. This shows that, I am responsible for my actions, and hence, replaced the ladle that I damaged. I will NOT tolerate any false/baseless accusations.
I have personally incurred a loss to approximately $1,200 in addition to the $1,000 that you are trying to deprive me of citing false reasons. Less $30 for cleaning the comforter, I would like you to return the rest of my security deposit in full. If I decide to proceed legally, I am sure that I will be entitled to twice the amount of my security deposit (per applicable law), plus any legal charges, lost wages and other expenses that I must incur. You have violated the lease conditions on multiple counts and also served as an accessory to commit illegal activities within the rental premises. I would like you to re-consider your intent on returning my security deposit. I am willing to negotiate, but not surrender. I hope you realize the truth and act ethically by refunding me the deposit that I am legally entitled to. Please address all your correspondences in writing to me.
Thank you!
Yours truly,
~ammo~
- - - Updated - - - I do not have any pictures or evidences as he was more like a friend than a landlord and now has sent me a list of items that he claims to be damages. What do I do?
