Sharing my experience so that others may learn.

I was sued by a departing tenant for not giving her security deposit back in the 21-day timeframe required by law. When she filed, I countersued (I had been very generous in the initial accounting, not so when she took offense to it). Our case was heard by a commissioner, not a judge. It took more than an hour and a half (!!), mostly because Jane Tenant kept bringing up grudges rather than answering the commissioner’s questions.

Principles learned:

Our court requires that all documents be submitted in advance, via their online portal. I did, she did not. The judge allowed her to scroll through page after page of texts and then bring her phone up to the bench for him to look at. Same thing with pictures. The website may say one thing, but the judge makes the rules in his own courtroom.

Be prepared for a pro-tenant judge. I didn’t really want any more money from the tenant, but added everything I could to the final accounting. Boy, was I glad. The commissioner went through every line item and threw out every item he could. Examples:

--Jane had installed a toggle deadbolt on a bedroom door and someone had forced their way in, splintering the wood. This is a century home with original woodwork. No way to repair the damage or find matching old-growth wood. He told me that since I hadn’t repaired it, I couldn’t count it.

--Damaged miniblinds. Jane claimed she had bought and installed them when she moved in seven years ago. Even though I had proved that she had lied about not getting her security deposit back on time, lied about the lease going MTM, and proven every single one of my other claims with photos and itemized receipts, he chose to believe her.

--Cleaning charge of $120. I had photos of grease on the range hood so thick you could write your name on it, and tons of black mildew on the tub caulk. And a receipt from the cleaner. He chose to interpret those as “normal wear and tear.”

--ETF. She moved out mid-month and only paid for half a month. I rented out the property a month after she moved out. He granted the half-month of rent that she should have paid plus the additional two weeks that it took to rent it. His interpretation was that I had gotten paid for the vacancy time, and the ETF would have been double-dipping. I can see his point on that.

Things that I did well:

--A solid lease. The auto-renew clause, the clear language describing how water bills were paid, the description, with examples, of proper notice, her initials on every page. It was great to be able to counter Jane's statements with, "If we look at page 3 on the lease, it states that..."

--Communication limited entirely to text, which gave me documentation of conversations and dates.

--Printouts of relevant texts. I had highlighted the relevant parts, which made it easier to find what I wanted to show the judge. Even though he had everything submitted online, it was easier for him to just look at my hard copies.

--I followed the law. I sent the SD accounting, in writing, well within the time limit prescribed by law. And the revised, claim-everything version within that time limit.

--Countersuing to the full extent allowed.

--Great photos of damage/trash. A picture is worth a thousand words.

--Keeping my mouth shut. Jane talked and talked and talked, and in the process revealed that she had done exactly what I claimed she had done. In contrast, I think the commissioner appreciated my brevity.

Things I could have done better:

--I should not have sent my husband to oversee the move-out. He’s a really nice guy, helping Jane haul out a bunch of stuff and doing a lot of cleaning before she turned the keys in. She gave ZERO acknowledgment of his help. He also told her that since she had tried so hard to leave it clean, I would probably give her most of her SD back. And that I would probably give her money for her appliances. (That thunking sound is me pounding my head against the wall.) We should have waited until move-out to clean so we had the option of charging her for it.

--I probably should not have started the session by telling the commissioner that I really didn’t want any more money. (Can you tell I’m a terrible negotiator?)

--I could have provided move-in photos that showed the existing miniblinds.

--I should have created a better key for my exhibits (1: photo of trash heap by garage plus receipt from the city for trash pickup. 2: copy of lease. 3: …) to help the commissioner find supporting documentation.

I was actually pretty impressed by the commissioner. Jane talked over him, interrupted him, argued with him, interrupted me when it was my turn to talk, and kept airing grievances when asked for evidence. He had the patience of Job and treated her with respect the whole time, although I wish I had a quarter for every time he told her, “Stop. Just stop.” I was amazed that he didn’t just throw her out of the courtroom. I felt like he was pretty even-handed. He told Jane at the beginning that I had filed a counterclaim and that the judgment COULD go against her (hint, hint). When she pled ignorance of the counterclaim, he told her that everything was available online. He explained to her that no, she couldn’t go back and get the appliances she had left behind six months ago, that anything left after she returned the keys was considered abandoned property. Etc.

At the end of the day, I prevailed and was granted a $800 judgement.

Was Jane a decent tenant before she moved our or were there signs before move out?

Great write up.

Old judge in my area was pro-tenant. It was horrible at times dealing with him.

Better get control of your husband on that talking out loud problem. I would not have gone in to help with anything, even if the tenant was great. Have had tenants ask how much deposit they would get back before they were out. They also want to know when they will get it. Indiana allows 45 days. I never take that long unless the tenant started causing problems in the end.

Cool that you got an additional $800. At least you kind of got paid for your troubles.

One more thing, my court will only allow a phone if it is submitted as evidence. As in you never get it back. They started this, I hear, because during trials people would come in and take pics of the jury or witnesses.

Amazing the number of times a deadbeat says they have the proof on their phone. Why didn't you print it off? I didn't have time. They get 30 days from time of filing to get out and the damages hearing is always after that by a couple weeks or so.

No time. I have no time, the deadbeat sat on the place for over a month and couldn't snap pictures and then print them off?

Thank you, Robin, for sharing your experience on this.

Life is certainly a learning process. Even when we have done great job and a good amount of learning, we find that there is more to learn.

How were you able to go about adding the extra cost?

Good work, Robin. As LLs, we always learn during these processes.

GKARL is right, though. Some folks refuse to learn. That's why you have age 50+ tenants who have been through four marriages, have kids from six different people, and are living on social security disability because they've been fired or let go from every job under the sun and have so many money judgments against them they can only survive with non-garnisheable income.

That's a lot of great, useful information.

Sounds like a great learning moment. Thanks for sharing.

At this point, I can pretty much tell you what will be damaged at move out. For example, do blinds get broken? Do Ovens get over looked? Do sinks have drips? Yet, I find that I don't always do a good job taking a photo of the oven at move in or those set of blinds. But do I know that that light switch plate cover isn't getting wiped down?

Being from Indiana I had no idea about that case. I looked into it a little and some of it seems sensible. But some of it seems very pre-tenant.

Robin,

Sounds like you handled it like a pro.

Good description to help remind us all. Sounds like your pro-tenant mediator still covered you. Why did he add more money if he was subtracting so many things?

I just hired a new office helper. First thing to learn: ALWAYS assume we are being sued, even before we get their application. Apps, photos, leases, texts, work tickets...EVERYTHING is our only evidence to defend us in court so treat it like gold.

I take THOUSANDS of photos, at least 150-250 of each move in.

BRAD

Robin,

Sounds like you handled it like a pro.

Good description to help remind us all. Sounds like your pro-tenant mediator still covered you. Why did he add more money if he was subtracting so many things?

I just hired a new office helper. First thing to learn: ALWAYS assume we are being sued, even before we get their application. Apps, photos, leases, texts, work tickets...EVERYTHING is our only evidence to defend us in court so treat it like gold.

I take THOUSANDS of photos, at least 150-250 of each move in.

BRAD