Thread: Please help....Suggestions needed...

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New Jersey

I am due to move out of my unit as July 31, 2009 per my lease. I have paid my rent on time for the entire stay and I have had no problems. Now that this is the last month my landlord started acting strange and complaining. This started July 1, 2009..I thought this was strange and she kept asking if I had rec'd anything from the bank regarding my security deposit. Here come to find out she placed my security deposit in an interest bearing acct per NJ Law back when I moved in August of 08, but according to the statement I rec'd from the bank. She spent my security deposit back in Sept of 2008. She didn't even let it sit for a month. The only thing left from my 1400.00 is 100.00 in this acct.I never rec'd notice of the bank and the amount she placed in it. I only have the quarterly statement from the bank. Am I legally able to send a certified letter and request to use my security deposit for August of 2009. Today she called and left a message stating that is going to start the eviction process...How can she when all my rent is paid up until July of 2009?..technically I have this unit until July 31, 2009 not to mention she spent my security. Any suggestions?


This is what I have been referring to...Do I have a leg to stand on?

Within 30 days of getting your security deposit, your landlord has to: 1) put your
security deposit in a separate bank account that pays interest; 2) must tell you in writing
the name and address of the bank where the deposit is being kept, 3) must tell you the
amount of the deposit, 4) must tell you the type of account, and 5) must tell you the
current interest rate for that account. The landlord must also give the notice not just
within 30 days of getting it from the tenant, but annually when the landlord pays the
interest to the tenant (see Interest on your security deposit). If your landlord changes
banks, then the notice must be given to the tenant within 30 days after the landlord has
moved the deposit from one bank to another, or even from one bank account to another
(except when the change takes place less than two months before the annual interest pay
out required by the statute).


Normally, it is a breach of the rental agreement for the tenants to use the security
deposit as rent. But if the landlord fails to give the tenant the proper notice regarding the
whereabouts of the security deposit, then the tenant can give a written notice to the
landlord telling the landlord to use the whole deposit (plus seven percent interest per
year) to pay the tenant's rent. If you properly inform your landlord to use the security
deposit as rent, the landlord can't require a new deposit for as long as you live there.
N.J.S.A. 46:8-19(c).

Remember also that just because there is a notice in the lease of where your
deposit is going to be kept, this does not mean that the notice is accurate. The landlord
may be using an outdated lease agreement. If the money is not where the landlord says it
is, then you can exercise your right to use the deposit at rent. Princeton Hill Associates v.
Lynch, 241 N.J. Super. 363 (App. Div. 1990).


Any Advice?

I am a landlord attorney practicing in Michigan (laws may vary elsewhere). In Michigan, if the security deposit was not appropriately put into an interest bearing checking account, it is a violation of the security deposit law. A landlord can deduct excessive damage or unpaid rent from the security deposit. Since the landlord has misappropriated your security deposit, I would do exactly what you suggest from a pragmatic (albeit it may be techincally flawed leaglly). Send a certified letter stating that your money was not appropriately placed in the security deposit account and that you will not be paying rent and will be vacating by month's end ... you will not be paying rent because apparently the security deposit account (which is the tenant's property until a landlord can claim it legally) has been misappropriated. Send the letter by regular mail for good meadure too. Best of luck, Justin L. Smith, Esq. Landlord Lawyer.

As strange and unfair as this may seem, you would be best served by paying your rent in it's entirety so there is no possible lawsuit against you and subsequently, you need to file a small claims case with your local housing authority.

Just because she breached the contract doesn't allow you the same opportunity.

Let the judge figure it out, but you don't want any lawsuits appearing on your public record... an eviction will make it near impossible to be rented to regardless of what your explanation may be to your future landlord.

Be safe.