He Moved Out of a House Rented From a 91-Year-Old Landlord a Month Ago—But His Security Deposit Is Still Missing, and He’s Torn Between Pursuing It Legally or Letting an Elderly Man Off the Hook
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When you move out of a rental property, you should receive your security deposit back unless there were any damages to the property beyond normal wear and tear.
What would you do if you moved out a month ago but still didn’t have your security deposit back? Would you let it go or contact the landlord?
In this story, one man is in this situation, and he reaches out to his landlord. The situation gets even more stressful when the landlord’s son steps in to try to handle the situation.
Now, the tenant is wondering if he is actually a bully just for wanting his money back.
Let’s read all about it.
AITA for “bullying” my 91 year old landlord?
My landlord is 91. Her son took over as manager last year. We moved out a month ago.
Last week I texted and ask when can I expect the deposit back.
He didn’t respond.
4 days later I texted and said, can you please respond to my previous text, thank you.
He decided to text his landlord instead of her son.
No response.
So I contacted my landlord. This is my exact text.
– Hi Mary. Sorry to bother you. I have text Nate a couple times regarding our deposit and still have not heard from him. It has been a month now since we left and the last text I did receive from him was not very nice. Can you please speak with him when you have time to see when he plans to return some or all of our deposit. If I don’t hear from him soon I will contact fair housing act. By Ohio law a deposit with an itemized list of deductions should be returned within 30 days. Sorry Mary but I thought I’d contact you first before taking action. Thank you.
Yikes! The son sounds like a nightmare!
The son texted me right away with this –
I feel that I have been very conscientious in responding in a timely manner to your many requests and queries. Now I feel you are harassing me about your deposit. When I have the total of all damages I will either send you a check for the balance left or let you know the overage. (He proceeded to tell me all the damages I had done, which were grossly over-exaggerated)
He ended with – I believe I have been understanding with you and your demands, but that has come to an end. You’ll get a check if you are owed money. You won’t get a check if you aren’t. There is no reason for you to contact me. And threatening a 91 yo is beyond the pale.
OP responded and explained his perspective again.
My response was – You never responded to my text so I reached out to my actual landlord. There is no harassment. You never responded! It has been almost 30 days and by law, it’s 30 days to return the deposit. Hence contacting Mary as I did not hear from you. I haven’t demanded anything, just a response about my deposit that is legally owed an explanation and return in 30 days. There was no threatening of any kind to Mary. Please send any deposit back with the next two days with an itemized list of any deductions, hence required by the fair housing act.
His response – But you go ahead and contact anybody at anytime you feel necessary. We have ample documentation as to the condition of the house as you left it. I too like the idea of contacting your landlord. Bullying a 91 yo is sad.
I said I would keep all his texted and did not know that saying please, sorry to bother you and thank you was bullying.
Now, OP is wondering if he really was a bully.
His response – Threatening to report a 91 yo woman to the housing bureau with faulty information to bully her into sending you a refund you may or may not be due is a fact.
So did I really threaten her and am I a bully and a jerk here?
I would texted and apologize to her but I think he will just continue to be a jerk about it and I don’t want to stir anything else up.
The landlord’s son is just trying to get out of paying the security deposit. OP is not a bully. Let’s see if Reddit agrees.
This person reassures OP that he’s not a bully.
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Another person thinks arguing isn’t going to help.
It’s pretty obvious what the landlord’s son is trying to do.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man who is confronted by his high school bully and decides to steal his Nintendo DS.
Nobody thinks OP was a bully.
I really do hope he took pictures or videos of the condition of the rental property before he moved in and after he moved out. The landlord’s son seems determined to try to keep the security deposit no matter what it takes.
I feel bad for the landlord. Her son sounds awful.
The tenant wasn’t bullying the landlord. The landlord’s son was bullying the tenant.
He’s going to need to fight to get his security deposit back.
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