Landlord Giving Out Personal, Non-Confidential Information

[clubsoda]

I received a phone call from my landlord's brother, who asked if there were any evident repairs that needed to be addressed before move-out. I mentioned to him a small leak in one of the rooms that had been discovered the day prior. The issue was not addressed until after move-out whereupon the landlord called and informed me that he would be deducting any water/mold damage from the deposit for a failure on my duty to notify. He is saying that telling his brother (who contacted me presumably on his behalf) does not fulfill my duty to inform. Essentially what I am asking is does this conversation with his brother establish a good-faith fulfillment of my duty to inform? If not, then are there any legal measures that I could take against the landlord for his disclosure of my name, telephone number, address, and the details of my lease (e.g. lease terms and conditions of the house) to his brother? His argument is that his brother is not affiliated with the property, but I would contend that if this is so then he had no business contacting me regarding its conditions or my plans for moving out. Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[mightymoose]

Your lease agreement likely provides a procedure for notifying the landlord of damages. If you did not follow the procedure in the lease then you may likely lose the argument. Most leases I have seen require notice to be in writing. If the lease does not address a particular procedure, then you might get somewhere since the brother was apparently acting on the landlord's behalf.

You have no real complaint to make regarding the use of the information.

If you do not settle things with the landlord you will have to wait until you receive your deposit with the itemized list of deductions. At that point, if you feel any deductions were not appropriate you could attempt a resolution in small claims court.

Also, the notice you gave to the brother may not be all that relevant anyway. If the damage is extensive and suggests the leak had been present for weeks or months before you notified him then you may still be on the hook- assuming that the leak was such that you clearly knew or should have known of its existence and failed to report it sooner.

 

[clubsoda]

Thanks for the reply- I will carefully look over the lease. The leak was in a small shed-like structure that was only being used for storage purposes. It was discovered while moving some of the stored items. Apparently the washer had been piped such that it drained through the same evacuation pipe that the sink in the shed did. The sink pipe was not of a large enough diameter to evacuate all of the water from the washer causing it to flood from the sink whenever the washer emptied.

 

[mightymoose]

The only way that the landlord might have a reasonable complaint in this case is if you knew of that drainage problem for some time and failed to report it sooner, allowing the damage to become more extensive.
If the deduction from your deposit is significant then you might want to consider small claims to try and recover it. If it is not a very significant amount it probably is not worth the hassle of court.
It sounds as if you actually notified the brother pretty quickly after discovery, and the landlord found out quickly anyway even though you didn't tell him directly... so I would say he has a pretty weak argument. Problem is, right or wrong, he has your money.

 

[clubsoda]

Sorry to complicate things further, but the situation is a bit beyond anything that I have experience with and your opinion would definitely help me decide what to do next. It is a little long, but the scenario is outlined below:

The landlord lives out of state from the premises and had not actually seen the property in some time (the exact amount I do not know, but it is a year at the very least. He did not make an appearance throughout the duration of the lease and neither he, nor a sibling, nor a property manager of any form was present at move-in; the old tenants simply gave us the keys and moved out. The premises were not examined prior to their deposit being returned.) After viewing the property for the first time, I contacted him with a list of things that I would have liked address prior to move-in, to which he never responded. I documented most of these with pictures and recorded email correspondences with the request for repair. Although it was admittedly foolish, the price on the property was low enough that I moved in without the requested repairs being performed. So a year later, the landlord sees the property after a time equal to or greater than a year and is none-too-happy with its condition. I talked to him about the deposit shortly after move-out and he said that he was working on a list of charges, but I have not yet heard from him. As of today, it has been an amount greater than 14 working days (the amount of time that he has to give either the deposit or an itemized list of charges therefrom) and I have decided that I am tired of waiting for a response. I have drafted but not yet sent a letter asking for the full amount of the deposit as a fulfillment of the 3x the deposit that (at least how I understand it) he now owes me under Arizona state law. Before sending the letter which threatens small claims for the full amount owed to me if the deposit is not refunded, I wanted to get an opinion on the likelihood of him counter-suing and winning in small claims for the water damage. Money is rather tight for me at the moment and therefore the deposit would be greatly appreciated. Moreover, any charges past the amount of the deposit would be a huge financial stress upon my household. Thanks again for any advice that you might have- it is sincerely appreciated!

 

[mightymoose]

Based on what you say it seems unlikely the landlord would have a strong claim against you, especially since you can document pre-existing conditions.
I would mail the letter, but make it firm and polite if you want cooperation. If it is overly threatening you are more likely end up in court.
If the landlord has missed the deadline to return your deposit you will have a good argument to make.

 

[clubsoda]

I'll muster all of the tact that I can and send the letter. Thanks again for all of your help!