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One thing that seems to be a very common complaint when it comes to tenants complaining about landlords is that landlords almost always seem to come up with ridiculous reasons to keep part or all of the tenant’s security deposit when they move out.

This is one reason it’s super important to take pictures and videos when you move into an apartment. That way you have proof of any damage that existed before you moved in so the landlord can’t try to claim you caused it.

In this story, one family didn’t have evidence of what the house they were renting looked like when they moved in. Instead, they had a landlord who claimed their dog did damage to the house.

The problem is that they don’t have a dog, and the damage already existed.

Instead of accepting that he was keeping part of their security deposit, they sued him.

Keep reading to see how the story plays out.

You want to follow the lease to the letter of the law? Let’s dance

So, about 10 years ago my husband and I were renting a house while we tried to buy a place.

The landlord seemed so nice, and it was a great situation.

When we found a place to buy, we gave him our forwarding information along with the keys.

It took about two months to get our deposit back, and we were shocked to say the least. He had taken $400 out.

Here’s some context about why the landlord took out the money from their deposit.

He had an enclosed porch that had screens with no glass. It had outdoor carpeting that was gross, and we bought a remnant to cover the carpet since we had little kids and it was questionable (no doubt due to the year round screens – including rain storms, etc).

It wasn’t ideal, but it was a rental.

When we left, we rolled up the carpet and threw it out.

Anyway, the landlord stated in his letter that he was taking out the $400 because we had broken the lease by having a dog – and his proof was the condition of that carpet.

But the landlord was wrong.

We did not have a dog, and that carpet was gross when we got there.

We tried to explain that, but he was having none of it and would ignore our attempts to reach out (plus, how do you prove the absence of something?).

Cue malicious compliance: you want to follow the lease so carefully as to make up animals? Well, perhaps you should read the laws a little better.

The law was on their side.

According to our state, landlords have exactly one month to send the deposit back. He took two. According to the law, you can be held liable for three times the amount (1800, in our case). So we sued.

We no longer wanted the $400 back; we wanted $5400.

While it was somewhat painful (he dodged attempts to serve him, he had out of state attorney friends try to intimidate us) he eventually had to hire an attorney, and we settled on $2000 (in addition to the $1400 we got back).

They didn’t even have to pay an attorney.

We filed with the help of a friend so we didn’t owe an attorney – just filing fees.

He ended up paying $2000 plus attorney fees instead of our $400 for a phantom dog.

Know your rights as tenants!

Yes, know your rights!

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

Being greedy can really backfire.

This would be a good band name.

This is good advice.

Another person shares a story about their first apartment.

The law was definitely on their side! I’m sure the landlord expected them to just let the issue go. After all, what’s $400 in the grand scheme of things? Is it worth going to court? Yes, in this case, it definitely was.

I hope the landlord learned to stop being so greedy, but I doubt it.