The purpose of such a deposit is to cover any act that violates the writings of the lease. Moving out early is one. Intentional intefearance in the family affairs of the landlord to the extent of creating a flagrant disruption in the relationship between man and wife, could be considered another. The brandishing of a firearm, if loaded might also be considered a naughty. I could go on and on. That is why the sum of money is given at the beginning of the lease. To cover a damage to the Landlord by any deviation from the terms of the agreement.
I believe there are state-specific laws regarding when you can keep a security deposit. I know here in MD we can only keep the deposit (or portion thereof) that constitutes the cost of re-renting the property (advertising, any repairs/cleaning, time of vacancy, etc.).
We've had this situation happen 2 times in the last couple years. If, by chance, you have a hard time re-renting the property and it sits vacant for, lets say, 2 months, then the tenant can be held liable for any rental amounts above the deposit. They are legally liable to the end of their lease period. Of course getting the money out of them is another issue entirely, probably entailing court dates and judgements.
When they moved out did they give you a forwarding address? If not, then there's no place you can send it to. If they did, send them a letter telling them that you'll be happy to return their security deposit (minus repairs, cleaning, etc.) just as soon as they fulfill their obligations under the lease and pay you for the remainder of the lease. I'm willing to bet that you'll never hear from them again.
PS - Double check with your lawyer to make sure this is within the framwork of Ohio law.
When I was a young man I worked for a while managing property for a guy whose initials were LR and who shall remain otherwise nameless here to protect the guilty.
So Mr. R had this system for property management which was quite the state of the art in a day when all accountants wore green eye shades and used quill pens (I'm not quite as old as Lucius and did not therefore fight inthe Punic wars). This system required you to copy over by hand the entire delequency list every day after the 10th of the month. No, you could not simply keep a list and check off the names.
So I take over this building and I am copying over the list and asking the very elderly lady whom I am replacing the status of each of these late payers. We come to a particular tenant and I ask, so why has he not paid his rent.
"Because he's dead" I am told. This seems to me a reasonable excuse. "what you have to do is call the law firm where he was a partner and they will send over a check". "And do we do it this way every month?" I ask. "yes, we have so far" I am told.
So I pick up the phone and I call the senior partner at the law firm who is acting as executor for the estate. I explain who I am and why I am calling, "Oh, yes, I will have someone cut a check and mail it out." I am told. "Wait just a moment," I say. "Look, this conversation is costing you money every month and I really don't like writing this list every day.So why don't we do this? The apartment in question is in a furnished apartment hotel. How much stuff could the guy have here, some books and some clothes. If you get them out I will split the rest of the lease. Send a check for 4 months rent and forfeit the security deposit and we'll call it even"
The law partner is delighted with this solution, sends over a couple of clerks with the check and boxes to clear out the apartment. I re-rent the space that afternoon and double collect rent for 5 months.
So, if being dead is not sufficient reason to break the lease and get back his security deposit when he was represented by one of the top lawyers in Chicago what makes you think you need to refund it to these folks who took it on the lamb early?
The purpose of such a deposit is to cover any act that violates the writings of the lease. Moving out early is one. Intentional intefearance in the family affairs of the landlord to the extent of creating a flagrant disruption in the relationship between man and wife, could be considered another. The brandishing of a firearm, if loaded might also be considered a naughty. I could go on and on. That is why the sum of money is given at the beginning of the lease. To cover a damage to the Landlord by any deviation from the terms of the agreement.
Lucius
I believe there are state-specific laws regarding when you can keep a security deposit. I know here in MD we can only keep the deposit (or portion thereof) that constitutes the cost of re-renting the property (advertising, any repairs/cleaning, time of vacancy, etc.).
We've had this situation happen 2 times in the last couple years. If, by chance, you have a hard time re-renting the property and it sits vacant for, lets say, 2 months, then the tenant can be held liable for any rental amounts above the deposit. They are legally liable to the end of their lease period. Of course getting the money out of them is another issue entirely, probably entailing court dates and judgements.
When they moved out did they give you a forwarding address? If not, then there's no place you can send it to. If they did, send them a letter telling them that you'll be happy to return their security deposit (minus repairs, cleaning, etc.) just as soon as they fulfill their obligations under the lease and pay you for the remainder of the lease. I'm willing to bet that you'll never hear from them again.
PS - Double check with your lawyer to make sure this is within the framwork of Ohio law.
Good luck.
[addsig]
So here's a story worthy of Lucius.
When I was a young man I worked for a while managing property for a guy whose initials were LR and who shall remain otherwise nameless here to protect the guilty.
So Mr. R had this system for property management which was quite the state of the art in a day when all accountants wore green eye shades and used quill pens (I'm not quite as old as Lucius and did not therefore fight inthe Punic wars). This system required you to copy over by hand the entire delequency list every day after the 10th of the month. No, you could not simply keep a list and check off the names.
So I take over this building and I am copying over the list and asking the very elderly lady whom I am replacing the status of each of these late payers. We come to a particular tenant and I ask, so why has he not paid his rent.
"Because he's dead" I am told. This seems to me a reasonable excuse. "what you have to do is call the law firm where he was a partner and they will send over a check". "And do we do it this way every month?" I ask. "yes, we have so far" I am told.
So I pick up the phone and I call the senior partner at the law firm who is acting as executor for the estate. I explain who I am and why I am calling, "Oh, yes, I will have someone cut a check and mail it out." I am told. "Wait just a moment," I say. "Look, this conversation is costing you money every month and I really don't like writing this list every day.So why don't we do this? The apartment in question is in a furnished apartment hotel. How much stuff could the guy have here, some books and some clothes. If you get them out I will split the rest of the lease. Send a check for 4 months rent and forfeit the security deposit and we'll call it even"
The law partner is delighted with this solution, sends over a couple of clerks with the check and boxes to clear out the apartment. I re-rent the space that afternoon and double collect rent for 5 months.
So, if being dead is not sufficient reason to break the lease and get back his security deposit when he was represented by one of the top lawyers in Chicago what makes you think you need to refund it to these folks who took it on the lamb early?
very helpfull! thanks to all!