Remember my landlord/deposit return issue? It's been resolved...

[WolfeMacleod]

You might remember that we moved back in November and had some issues getting our deposits back in a timely fashion.

Windermere tried to break the deposit into two payments, with a letter that basically said "you'll get more, later, but we don't know how much" Well, they can't do that under WA state law.

Eventually, they sent another check, but by that time, I'd already hired an attorney. I didn't get my second check till after he'd contacted them. 77 days after we moved out. His fees would have had to come out of that check, eating a lot of it up.

They were also charging for cleaning, etc, that was never done. See other thread. I wasn't going to stand for that, so I persisted.

A while back, my attorney sent them an offer, which included his fees, which they never responded to. Turns out, the management company ignored their attorney. I waited.

Called yesterday for an update.

Mine called theirs and got the ball rolling again.

They accepted the offer.

Initially, if they had accepted, his fees would have been only $600, and they would have had to return the $1600 still owed to me.

Instead? They're paying his fees of $4933 plus, they're returning my costs for the lawsuit filing fees.




One really crappy thing was that after all this, the owners put the house up for sale. It's sold. They completely replaced all carpeting, and a new hardwood floor. I spent a a good amount cleaning carpets and flooring when we moved out...



It's also a slight bummer to me that it didn't go to court, because I was really looking forward to taking it class action once we'd won. The "two-part" deposit settlement is standard practice for that company.

[pavulon]

Lots of people are all sorts of stupid. Unfortunately, those same people also serve as jurors. Chalk it up as a win and forget all about it.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by pavulon

Chalk it up as a win and forget all about it.

Yup and congratulations.

[Evans, Marv]

Most people don't persist like you did, so congrats on being successful. I certainly hope it makes them think the next time they try to pull that. Probably not though. I bet they've many thousands off of others over time.

[Dantilla]

Congrats, Wolfe!

Good to hear. Good to learn the laws as they apply to a situation, and follow through.
Glad you got what was due, really glad the management company has to write a big check.
Maybe that will motivate them to behave in the future.

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by WolfeMacleod

It's also a slight bummer to me that it didn't go to court, because I was really looking forward to taking it class action once we'd won. The "two-part" deposit settlement is standard practice for that company.

Yeah, it was probably in their best interest to keep it out of court. I'm not sure about WA, but in a lot of states, if you can prove negligence/fraud as it relates to real estate (as either a buyer/seller or landlord/tenant), you can be awarded treble damages (plus court costs & attorney's fees).

Either way, good on ya for sticking with it. You should send them a Christmas card every year now, lol...

[GWN7]

I love happy endings.

[LWJ]

Satisfaction. Nice.