Stiffing landlord on last month's rent. Good idea?
Subject: Stiffing landlord on last month's rent. Good idea?
We're entering the last month of our lease and one of my roommates wants to stiff our landlord on the last month's rent. he wants to do this so we can avoid being potentially screwed out of our security deposit. i don't want to do it because i don't want to give the landlord a reason to come after us for breaking the lease or late fees, and i want him to be willing to vouch for me if necessary for my next apartment. The apartment is not damaged, and the landlord hasn't tried to screw us out of money before.what should we do?
Comments
-
Pay the rent. If your roommate is concerned about the security depost, have the discussion with the landlord and figure out when the deposit will be returned, how much, and under what conditions.
-
give notice (30+ days) that you are not going to renew the lease and pay the rent. If your apartment is not damaged, they can't keep the deposit. Take pictures when you leave of everything (clean floors, empty closet, empty fridge, etc). If they don't give you the deposit back, go to court......I did and I got the whole thing back. Landlord was an asshole and I knew he'd try to screw me (he went to court and lied his butt off saying I did all kinds of damage........he had NO proof (of course, because it wasn't true).. I pulled out pictures....end of story).
It was a pain in the ass, but I knew that at least *I* did the right thing and the court agreed. Don't let your roommate make the "first strike" when there doesn't need to be one...especially with your name on the lease too -
can my credit be affected in any way?
-
Never a good idea, especially if you need that reference. Sounds like your roommate might cause more trouble for you then the landlord. Be honest and make sure there is a lot of communication between you and the landlord. Take pictures too, but most of all show that you are a dependable renter and unless the guy/gal is an asshole, I can't see why they wouldn't give you back a deposit -minus cleaning fees or such (unless you do all that yourself)
Did your apt-mate cause any damage or plans to leave a mess to warrant being worried about that?
Not sure about the credit thing, but if he takes you to a collections agency, then absolutely (But I have no idea how one does that) -
What your roommate is suggesting is illegal, but people do it all the time.
The last time I moved, I was afraid that my landlord would just never get around to refunding my deposit, so I gave him 30 days notice in writing that I was leaving, and said I would like to use my security deposit as last months rent. I thought this was kind of like asking if it would be ok, because had he challenged it, I would have paid him, but he didn't, so I thought it was cool.
I may have screwed myself though, because they are supposed to refund your deposit with interest, so if you use it as last months rent you won't receive the interest. -
^ I believe the rule about interest-bearing accounts depends on the number of units in your building. I don't think it applies to smaller rental properties, but I may be incorrect.......regardless, the interest would not be a lot of money unless it was a large deposit and you stayed there for a number of years.
-
We dipped out of our lease early, and our landord is giving us grief about our security deposit now. She took off $300 because a 100 year old door hinge gave up the ghost, and is being very slow in actually getting our check back. So yea it all comes down to how bad you need that reference. I don't think I needed one for this place I moved into....
-
buildings with 6 or more rental units are required to put deposits in interest-bearing accounts. they are also entitled to charge a 1% fee per year on the deposit for administrative costs. for the last couple of years the interest rate in this type of landlord account has been below 1%, which means you wouldn't actually make anything.
-
Yeah -- it's all about the reference... what is "legal" is really a minor point here. By the way, by reference I really mean nothing more than getting your former landlord to admit you lived there. If you piss him off, you're not gonna get that easily... never mind "He/she was a loverly tenant."
I suppose he could also report this to a credit agency if he was motivated enough.
Try to get you landlord to say *when* he'll pay the security back... NYC law only says it much be returned in "reasonable time." With NO definition of what that means.... so effing annoying. (Sometimes you're lucky and it's defined in your lease itself, but not often) -
mr. met wrote: can my credit be affected in any way?
hell yeah.
however, tell your roommate this.
If you dont get your security deposit back, you can take your LL to court. And if he is found guilty of wrongfully withholding your security deposit, he can be forced to pay up to 5x the amount you gave him.
I would suggest taking pictures of the apartment before you leave.
I have pictures of my apartment when i moved in, after i finished decorating and i will have them before i leave (when everything is moved out again)
I also have renters insurance, so the pictures help for that too. -
Mr. Met - Your landlord can take you to housing court and that would seriously put a damper on your ability to rent another apartment.
Once a tenant has been to housing court most landlords would avoid that potential tenant. even if you went to court against your landlord and you were in the right!
I know its not fair but part of the credit report that landlords and brokers run for a potential tenant is housing court history....if ANY history of housing court shows up....your black listed. -
Why all the hating? Sounds like your roommate is very immature - I assume you aren't rooming with him the future?
-
Last time I was ending a lease I wrote a letter to my landlord saying for them to please use my security deposit as the last months rent. I said I would be happy to do a walk through to show them that there were no damages, and if they had any problem with this to let me know. They ended up saying that it was fine. I would suggest writing a letter or calling...the worst they can do is say no.
-
Pay the rent. Your roommate is giving you foolish advice.
Flip the script. If you were the landlord, and someone did this to you,
HOW WOULD YOU REACT?
(from your neighbor, a landlord, around the corner) -
Its not just the reference. We didn't pay for a few months at the end because there was major water damage from the apartment upstairs, and the landlord wouldn't fix it. The bathroom was missing half the ceiling and water was dripping into our apartment.
But its been several years and we are still dealing with the legal issues. They sued us for those few months rent and we got sucked into lengthy court battles. We'll be paying as much in legal fees as we would have paid in rent. -
landlords sometimes are dicks. Assuming your landlord is a dick and treating him as such just on a hunch?
Bad idea. Thread over. -
we paid the rent
-
i have done this twice, but with the permission of the landlord. have him/her do a quick look around your apartment a month before you leave just to prove that there isn't any damage. a lot of landlords i have had were cool with it (assuming you didn't damage the place)
-
We moved out of our place on May 15th, our landlord hasn't got us our security deposit back
What the FUCK man.
Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
- 40K All Categories
- 27.1K Neighborhoods
- 5.1K Crown Heights/Prospect Lefferts Gardens
- 7.1K Prospect Heights
- 2.3K Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy
- 8K Park Slope
- 549 Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick
- 442 Flatbush/Midwood/Ditmas Park
- 657 BoCoCa (Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens)
- 151 Red Hook
- 104 Gowanus
- 304 Bay Ridge/Bensonhurst
- 130 Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay
- 270 Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO and Downtown
- 598 Windsor Terrace / Kensington
- 673 Greenwood Heights and Sunset Park
- 749 Brooklyn and Beyond
- 6.3K Stuff
- 86 Brooklyn Back When
- 1.2K Brooklyn Pets
- 257 Brooklyn Kids
- 241 Brooklyn Eats
- 51 Brooklyn Booze
- 3.6K The Lounge / Random Stuff
- 611 Brooklyn Politics
- 122 Brooklyn Sports and Fitness
- 111 Brooklyn Photos
- 339 Site Issues
- 8 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- 6.2K Listings
- 1.1K APARTMENTS and REAL ESTATE
- 1.3K Sales Openings Events
- 2.3K The Classifieds