Need help Tenant is suing

[scottblair]

I gave my tenant in California a few extra days to move out of my condo. I instructed her to leave the key under the mat and I would retrieve it on July 4th (lease ended June 30). The carpet in one room was ruined by pet urine and some walls were damaged, so I deducted 795.00 from her $3050 deposit and returned the rest on July 24. Now her attorney stepfather is threatening to sue for twice the deposit amount because I did not return her deposit within 21 days. She had returned to the condo on the 24th to retrieve a key to access her locked mail box.

Also her stepfather is threatening to sue for his lawyer fees. Doesn't he have to prove that he is actually billing his stepdaughter in order to sue for fees? Can I countersue for time and expense should this go to court?

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

It is 21 days after the tenant vacates the premises, not 21 days after you pick up the keys:

http://www.caltenantlaw.com/Deposit.htm

And so yes, it is possible that you could be sued for double the security deposit. However, a judge will often overlook a deposit that is late by a couple of days (this, of course, is highly dependent on the judge).

In most lawsuits court costs are claimed. Again, whether a judge will grant this is open to debate.

What time and expense fees are you claiming you have?

Gail

 

[scottblair]

Thank you for the quick response. My costs would be the trip down there (300 miles) and loss of income since I could work while I'm doing this. I was trying to be nice by giving her more time to move out, now it's going to bite me I guess. I have no way of knowing when she actually moved out. The carpets were still very wet from the shampooing she did when I arrived on the 4th.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

A judge is not going to honor your request for travel and lost wages to attend this hearing.

Did she clean the carpet herself or hire someone to do this? If she hired someone perhaps you could get information from them on the date this carpet was cleaned.

In addition, if she does continue with the lawsuit I'd simply be honest at the hearing and explain that you did give her several extra days to move out and your assumption was that she would be leaving on July 4th.

Gail