Who can I sue - property or property plus manager? Please help!

[shelley22]

My roommate and I recently moved out of our apartment due to a slab leak underneath our apartment that basically soaked my bedroom and half of the living room floors, smelled terrible and I had mold on shoes and bags that had been on the floor. The property manager told us we would not be held responsible for the damages and they allowed us to move out early.

We recently received the itemized list of our security deposit return and they charged us for carpet replacement!!! We went in and they claimed the replacement was because of pet damage - that there was too much pet odor and they saw pet damage. They didn't tell us this at all during the move-out inspection (which was right after the water damage) - they did it after we had been long and gone from the place. As a side note, my dog is AMAZING, he has never had any accidents...they're crazy!

We are suing them for the wrongful charges they deducted from our security deposit so my question is:

Do we sue the property manager along with the property or just the property by itself? We dealt with her throughout this ordeal and she signed off on all the charges against us so I didn't know if it was appropriate to include her on the forms or just go after the property.

I will greatly appreciate any advice!!

Sincerly,
Frustrated Shelley22

 

[presutin]

You are filing a claim against the property company. Let me ask you this - was a pet deposit included in your security deposit? Also, did you get in writing the statement by the property manager that you would not be held responsible for the damages from the slab leak such as carpet damage? That would be critical for your case. Good Luck!

 

[shelley22]

Yes, a pet deposit was apart of the total deposit made for the apartment - and also pet rent was paid monthly. Unfortunately we do not have anything in writing about not being held responsible although on the move-out inspection form, they don't make any notes of pet damage and and just says (I think, hard to read) "carpet, need cleaning". Never have I been charged for carpet replacement because of my pet...it is usually the property's decision to replace after a pet has been living there but I thought that's what pet rent was supposed to cover?!

According to maintenance, they get calls about this type of leak 2 times a month. They probably know how to screw tenants! I hope we have some what of a case.

Thanks so much!