Security deposit + lead poisoning from house

[CrysNeedy]

I was renting a place, and my lease was set to expire on June 30, 2009. I was completely out of there on the 29th. Before moving in, I had paid a security deposit, plus a water deposit since the water was in the landlord's name (then he brought me the bill every month). I talked to him aorund 10 pm the night I moved out. He said I would be getting my security deposit back, he just wanted to wait until the last water bill came in so he could deduct it from the water deposit to give it all back at the same time. He said he would get back to me. The water bill usually came around the 1st or 2nd, so I waited until then to call him. I left several messages on his machine, as did my husband. This is now August 11, and he is still ignoring my calls and messages. I have drafted a letter to send out tomorrow to him, requesting my deposits back. I had several people in there before I moved in, and again after I got everything out and cleaned, and they all agreed the place looked better than when I moved in it.

Here in IL, the law doesn't give a specific time frame for him to return my deposit as long as the rental unit has fewer than 4 units, which the one I rented was a single family mobile home. The law just states he has to return it "within a reasonable amount of time." August 13 will be 45 days since I moved out. Exactly how much time is a "reasonable amount?" I think I have waited long enough.

Also, while living there, my youngest child was diagnosed with lead poisoning. The landlord swore it couldn't have been from this place (and no, I never received a lead disclosure prior to renting), was upset when I informed him the state was coming in to test everything, and had the nerve to ask How bad can lead poisoning really be? Turned out it was the mini blinds the landlord had put in there. He never even attempted to take care of them and the clean up of the areas affected. Who was responible for taking care of decontaminating the area, him or me?

Any advice on how to handle any of this

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

In states where "reasonable amount of time" is the requirement for returning a security deposit it has been argued (in court) that this means roughly a month after the lease has been terminated.

Gail

 

[CrysNeedy]

Thanks for the reply, Gail.

As an update, One of the landlords (the wife) finally called be back this morning, 43 days after moving out. I wasn't able to get to the phone in time (and she had blocked the number from showing on the caller ID I discovered when I was able to get to the phone to check who called). She left a message saying that she left me a message a few weeks ago, which she never did. She also stated the washing machine they had in there that quit working, wasn't working because it was clogged with cotton batting so I must have been washing blankets and such in there. I had told them when I first moved in that the washer wasn't working right, and I had finally just moved their's out and mine in. She also said in the message that they had to clean the carpets (which I did clean before moving out), and she also said they are having to replace the carpet and there was a hole in the living room carpet. There was no hole in the living room carpet when I left. And the carpets were filthy when I moved in, but clean when I moved out. When moving out, there were a few stains on the carpet that weren't there on move-in, but in my opinion a few stains should be expected when there are 2 adults and 3 children living in there. She also stated in the message that they didn't have my bill ready for me yet since they weren't done replacing the carpets.

So, seeing that is has been 43 days, can they still charge me? Do I really have to pay to get a washer fixed that wasn't working right in the first place?

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

The deadline for security deposit returns in Illinois only seems to cover rentals with greater than 5 units while you indicate you rented one mobile home.

Did you notify the landlord early on that their washer wasn't working and that you would be using yours? If so, did you get this in writing? Always a good thing should issues such as these come back to possibly haunt you. The same with taking pictures at move out, especially when it comes to the condition of carpets (which seems to be a BIG issue between former tenants and landlords).

Gail