By Nicholas Oteen
Senior Miracle Correspondent
When Stew Dent opened the unmarked envelope from his landlord upon completion of his residency, he was hardly prepared for what was inside.
“I was fully expecting a long list of the damage I’d done to the apartment,” he said. “I was sure I somehow owed him more money, even though I’d put in new flooring and repainted the place myself.”
Instead, Dent found a check made out to him — for the full amount of his security deposit.
“When it happened, I thought, ‘Why, of all people, me? What did I do that makes me worthy of this?’” he exclaimed, pulling out the framed check. “You never think something like this could ever happen to you … and then when it does, you begin to think something like this could happen to you.”
Dent ultimately decided not to cash the check, citing fear that no one would believe him.
“A landlord returning a full security deposit? That’s some Tolkien stuff right there,” he said, extinguishing a “marijuana cigarette” he had been smoking during the interview.
“Be cool, man,” he added.
It turns out Dent wasn’t alone in his disbelief — when Athens City Council President Emma Roid initially heard the news, she dismissed it as a rumor. Yet after Dent approached her personally, she pushed through a resolution to observe a citywide holiday.
“This can’t be ignored,” she said firmly. “There are moments in history when you feel social change coming; this is one of those moments.”
The landlord in question refused to comment and asked The Pest not to print his name.
“I don’t want people thinking that just because they followed the lease guidelines and kept the place clean means they deserve that money back,” he said. “To be honest, and we’re talking off the record here, it was an accident. But you know, he never cashed the check, so I had no idea.”
A date has not yet been set for Miracle Security Deposit Return Day, but Roid said the festivities would include a parade, as well as a “Guess the Refund” booth, where revelers will be given the opportunity to guess how small of a refund a tenant will receive.
