Last year, Levi Schmidt and his roommates had trouble getting their $2,500 security deposit check refunded from their apartment.
The landlord scheduled a walk-through of the apartment with me and then never showed up for it. We moved out and that was that
said Schmidt, an Ohio University senior studying restaurant, hotel and tourism.
Security deposits, or a reason for keeping the deposit, are supposed to return to the tenants within 30 days. After 30 days, Schmidt and his roommates received nothing from their landlord.
We called and they tried to say that we had passed the deposits on to the people who had just moved in which wasn't the case at all Schmidt said. It got so bad that one of our old roommates's mom had to threaten the landlord with legal action.
Schmidt's trouble getting his security deposits is a common issue among OU students.
A significant number of the matters I see are related to security deposits
said Kristine Hayes, an attorney for OU Student Legal Services.
Hayes said that if tenants have not received their deposit within 30 days, they should write a letter demanding their security deposit back. If, after the letter, the tenant still has not received their money or an explanation they agree with, they can take the landlord to small claims court.
Students need to make sure all of their roommates are on board
otherwise we can't move forward with it
said Hayes.
To avoid having issues, Stephan Oechsle, coordinator for off-campus living, said to take pictures or video documents when getting ready to move in and do a walk through with the property owner. When moving out, clean the apartment thoroughly and document the cleaning with video or pictures.
Compare these documents at the end and see if there is any sort of discrepancy
said Oechsle.
Most importantly, leave a forwarding address so that the landlord has a place to send the security deposit.
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Alisa Caton
