Questions and Answers for Landlords and Tenants
Question 1
Does Youcheckcredit.com have an application form available?
Answer 1
A state specific application form is available from the member home page of Youcheckcredit.com after clicking “Forms by State” under the “Landlord Legal Forms” link. The MS Word version of the form can be customized by the landlord to meets the needs of a particular type of property. A landlord must, however, be careful to not include items that violate federal, state, or local fair housing laws when modifying or creating any document.
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Question 2
Do you have a standard letter that I can send to a tenant where I can list the reasons that they will not be getting their security deposit back?
Answer 2
We have a “Landlord Tenant Closing Statement” form available for most states. It is found by clicking “Forms by State” on the “Member Home Page” and then selecting the desired state.
However, there is no set form required by law in most states and certain situations might require different formats – e.g., it might vary with the type of property. Some states may have minimum basic standards, so you need to research your state’s landlord-tenant statutes regarding the matter.
The most important issues regarding return of security deposits and/or accounting for amounts not returned are basically as follows.
Many states require that the accounting for “amounts not being returned” must be fairly detailed and/or that the accounting include for each item charged either an invoice for work completed or a quote from a vendor when the work hasn’t yet been completed. Some states require advance notice of deductions that the landlord plans to make.
Most states have a deadline for when the accounting and any amount being returned must be mailed to the former tenant, most states specifying fewer than 30 days. Failure to meet the deadline can result in significant financial penalties, including in some states (1) prohibition of deduction from the deposit (could probably still file a lawsuit for the amounts) and/or (2) the landlord becoming liable to the tenant for damages, in some states specifying up to treble the amount of deposit that was not returned.
For states that require payment of interest on deposits being held, the interest amount must be stated in the accounting and included with the return of any part of the deposit being returned.
Because of the differences among state requirements, landlords must be certain to understand the laws of their particular states.
When the landlord does the work for items being deducted, the amount charged should be reasonable and related to the type of work being done. For example, the hourly rate for cleaning windows should be significantly less than the hourly rate for drywall repair that includes texturing and painting. Also, the cost of a task that might often be performed by a skilled licensed contractor should not exceed the amount a licensed contractor would have charged when the landlord spent a lot longer doing the work than would have a licensed contractor because it was the first time the landlord had tried such work.
An accounting should not be required when the full amount is being returned.
In all cases, I recommend that the accounting and/or check be sent with a “Certificate of Mailing” (not Certified Mail) in order to prove that it was mailed and that it was mailed in a timely manner. When the tenant has not provided a forwarding address, the mail should be addressed to the address where the tenant had lived. The tenant likely provided a forwarding address to the Post Office. If not or if an incorrect address was provided to the landlord upon the tenant’s departure, the mail should be returned the landlord and the returned mail should be retained unopened as proof of attempting to comply with the law.
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Question 3
How much should I charge for late fees on payment of rent? I live in Massachusetts.
Answer 3
From what I can determine, it appears that MA has no limit on the amount of a late fee that can be charged. However, an important fact is that MA statutes prohibit assessment of a late fee until the rent is at least 30 days late. Courts in most, perhaps all states require that the any late fee be adequately defined in the signed lease agreement.
Even though there may be no statutory limit on the amount of late fee that can be charged after 30 days of delinquency, you must understand that judges, when ruling on issues that are not specifically defined in statutes or have not been ruled on by a court of higher jurisdiction, will often limit landlord charges to what they consider to be reasonable and fair. Unreasonable charges, whether for late charges or other issues, can result in the judge slanting decisions in favor of the tenant.