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Where can I go for free advice about a landlord - tenant dispute?

My family moved into an apartment in Salt Lake City, Utah in June 2006 with a contract for a one-year lease. While living there, we constantly had problems with water leaks, mold and other damages that were not fixed in a timely manner, if at all. I have all of this documented as well as I can in a journal, though no pictures or copies of written communications with the landlord/manager. I also have health issues documented, as my daughter and I have severe allergies and asthma. So we spent a lot of time at the doctor’s in the time we resided in this apartment. We terminated our contract early to move to Idaho and paid all associated fees before vacating the apartment. We moved out on April 12, 2007. While removing our furniture, we found a huge amount of water damage to the carpet and wall in the master bedroom. The complex manager did a walk-through checkout with my husband on that date. She told them that the water damage was from a foundation leak and that we were not responsible for the damage. She did not write anything on the itemized move-out condition checklist and said verbally that we would receive all or most of our deposit in the mail in about a month. On May 21st, we still had not received our deposit. I contacted the manager and she said to fax her a written request to know where the deposit was and she would pass it on to the landlord. I did so by the end of the week. On June 4th, I received my first communication from the landlord with a carbon copy of the move-out condition report. It had new writing on it that was not there when we moved out. It said due to replacing a light fixture and the carpet, we owed them $1080. In the same letter, they threatened to take us to court if we did not pay in a timely manner (remember, this is our first communication from them). The next day, June 5th, I received a photocopy of the move-out condition report. It is obviously a copy of the above one, based on my signature and date. It has more new things written on it about things needing replacement. Than states that due to carpet cleaning, replacement costs, and general cleaning, we owe nothing, but are not getting our $300 deposit back. To a family of four, where the parents are full-time students and bring in less than $2000/month in income, this is a huge amount of money we’re talking about. But fighting this is very difficult, as we are no longer in the state and don’t have the funds to travel back and forth. What do we need to do? A cannot afford a legal advisor, and our school does not have a legal department for students.

Public Comments

1. See your Legal advisor. Determine first if it is worth the fight (and legal costs) or just to move on with your life. Living in the past can cripple your future. To state it another way: When was the last time you wrote home to your parents to say you loved them? Keep Smiling!
2. I hope you have documented all this as much as you have in Answers; therefore take it all with pictures, witnesses and evidence to the legal aid, attorneys for hire for a split of action or a private attorney for hire. They usually take cases like this and will tell you immediately if you have a case against the LL or a federal case against the public housing etc.
3. I know this is going to sound harsh but under the circumstances let it go. If the landlord/manager doesn't want any more $ from you then I would just drop the whole thing. It would cost you a lot more than $300 to get your $300 back. You should have brought all of these problems up to a lawyer while you were still living in Utah you may have been able to then get all these problems fixed while living in the apartment or you may have been allowed to move out sooner with no consequences to your terminated lease, but in all reality with living in Idaho now you would spend more than what you would gain that it would not be worth it on your income it would cause you an even bigger financial burden
4. If you have a copy of the original move out inspection that had nothing written on it, then you're protected...UNLESS...there is some small print on it that states further inspections may be conducted and as a result, charges may fluctuate. I used to work at a company that had that little bit in small print, which most people didn't notice. Also check to see how long the landlord has to adjust charges. In most states it's 30 days, which sounds like your case since the agent said you would receive your deposit refund within a month. After the 30 days (in most states), the landlord can't with hold any deposit amount for ANY reason and must refund in full. Also see if Utah states interest on the deposit amount must also be refunded to you. Good luck and sorry for your troubles. Sounds like landlord is scum. As for authorities to contact, contact the National Fair Housing Counsel, and see if Utah has a Landlord/Tenant type agency. www.yellowpages.com http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/ Here is a link to a community mediation service for Utah and has experience in dealing with landlord/tenant disputes. http://www.utahdisputeresolution.org/
5. send them a letter stating that you intend to sue them in small claims court for your security deposit because you did not receive an itemized bill for charges within the mandatory 30 days! you will get 2and a half times your sec.deposit.IF THIS GOES TO COURT. SEND THIS LETTER REGISTERED MAIL. GOOD LUCK
6. I think you have a good case, but you are going to have to file it in the courts in Salt Lake City, Utah. Do you have a copy of the move-out report without the text added, this will at least prove that as of when you left they did not say anything was wrong and since you did a walk-through and the manager didn't add anything to the report at that time it suggests that they knew the condition of the property when you left and were ok with it. So, if you have this report I'd just go file againist them in small claims court for all the deposit they kept. The problems are, you do need to do this in Salt Lake City, and really no telling what the judge may do - I mean if they can prove work they had to do to get the property in good shape it will be tough for the judge to decide how much is your fault, how much is not. The judge may decide you need to pay nothing (due to the walk through being ok) or quite frankly may decide you get nothing back if the landlord can prove work they had to do - its a tough call. Anyhow, you can send threatening letters and other stuff, but its a dog with no teeth - ie probably will get you nothing. If you do decide to file in Salt Lake City courts, you may only need to take 2 trips out there - 1 to file and 1 to be in court (be sure to file with the sheriff serving them the doc's). Best luck.
7. please email me..........I can get you legal advice if you can afford less than $20.00 and no not $19.99 They can also go to court for you but you need to discuss it more in depth with them
8. SUE THEM IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IN YOUR STATE FOR WHAT HAPPENED IN SALT LAKE. OTHERRWISE, GET ON WITH YOUR LIFE. SO CALLED MOLD HAS NOTHIG TO DO WITH ASTHMA AND ALLERGIES. ARE YOU SURE YOU ARE NOT TRYING TO SCAM SOMEONE?

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