My landlord tried to keep my $900 security deposit, this one sentence in the lease saved me

After moving out of my Edgewater apartment on June 1st, they claimed carpet damage that was already in the move-in photos, but quoting the line about 'normal wear and tear within 30 days of lease end' got me a full refund, so has anyone else found that buried lease clauses work better than arguing with management?

2 comments

2 Comments

fionafoster6d ago

Oh my god, the same thing happened to my cousin in Wicker Park, except hers was about a broken garbage disposal that was already janky when she moved in. She quoted the clause about "maintenance of existing fixtures" and the property manager folded so fast they offered her a $50 gift card to a local coffee shop as an apology. That being said, @wendy_henderson21 is totally right, but I also once got a full deposit back just by threatening to post a video of the mold in the bathroom on the neighborhood Facebook group. Management hates public shaming more than they hate reading their own leases, seriously.

wendy_henderson217d ago

I used to just argue with management, but reading the lease word for word changed my whole approach.