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LandlordLaura
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| Joined: | Mon Aug 21st, 2006 |
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| Posts: | 1117 |
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Posted: Sat May 24th, 2008 07:02 pm |
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If you disagree with any charges that the Landlord is attempting to have you reimburse him/her for, be sure you dispute the charges in writing as soon as you are aware of them. Send the dispute letter to the Landlord by Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested, for example, so that you have proof that he/she received the letter and when it was received. Follow the Landlord Tenant Laws for the State/County/City where the rental property is located to find out what your responsibilities are and what the Landlord's responsibilities are.
If either you or the Landlord cannot agree on the damages/expenses, it will be up to the Judge to look at all evidence supplied in Court and rule on the amount damages that the Landlord will be able to seek reimbursement for and/or the disposition of the security deposit.
If you have documentation to prove that the well has been a problem and that you have clearly communicated the problem(s) to the Landlord over your tenancy, then you may be able to convince a Judge that the Landlord was/is responsible for the tree issue(s). If, on the other hand, you could have been able to fill the well with water from an outside agency, then the responsibility may still have been yours. The lease agreement and correspondence will be very important to the issue(s).
If the Lease agreement prohibits animals and you kept AND boarded animals on the property without the Landlord's written permission, then you will probably be responsible for any costs and/or issues that were the result of the animals being on the property.
Try to work things out with your Landlord. If you boarded other people's horses on the property without the Landlord's written permission and you benefited from the situaiton by charging rent, keep this in mind when working things out. Maybe you could offer the Landlord a portion of what he/she is attempting to charge you?
Keep copies of all communication and/or agreements made for your records. Be sure any agreements are signed by all parties. Let us know how things work out...
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heather65
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| Joined: | Tue May 20th, 2008 |
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Posted: Tue May 20th, 2008 06:08 pm |
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I just received my final check-out/reconciliation after moving out of a ranch home I rented for 6 years. Two years ago, while irrigating the trees on the property, the well ran dry and burned out the pump motor. LL replaced motor. This was the first obvious sign that the well was in trouble. I reduced the amount & frequency of irrigation so as not to strain the water supply. In March of 2007 I hand-delivered a letter to LL informing of the deteriorating health of the trees and my concern over not being able to adequately water them in the coming summer months. I ended the letter with "please advise." I received no reply. I followed up throughout 2007 with verbal statements of concern over the water supply and the trees and still received no reply. By mid-summer I had to stop all irrigation. By August I was severely rationing water just to maintain household needs. In August I requested that someone come out and inspect the well. The well was not inspected until October and it was determined to need deepening. The well was finally deepened in January 2008. LL made no provisions for a water supply during the two weeks that the crew had water shut off while they worked on the well.
When I moved in I had two horses and full permission to have horses on the property. No limits on the number of horses was indicated. By the time I moved out I had three personal horses and three horses that I boarded for friends. My rental agreement has standard language that reads "No animals shall be brought on the premises without the prior consent of the Owner." I did not ask for permission to bring the additional horses or to board horses.
The final check-out statement of charges reads: "Tenant is charged for landscaping trees dying approx 20 trees. At $250 per tree tenant is also charged for the removal of the trees at a labor cost of $50 per tree for removal. The tenant was boarding horses and ran water out of the well so they did not water the trees." They are billing me $6000 for this, and of course not refunding my $1150 deposit.
Several other wells on that street have gone dry in the last 4-7 years. It is a common problem in my area, due to drought, commercial wells nearby, and new development.
Six horses don't drink enough water to dry out a well. A far greater strain is watering 50+ trees and flower/vegetable gardens growing in sandy soil in the very dry climate of northern Nevada. Six horses drink a total average of 100 gallons per day. The average household use per person is 65 gallons per day, so the horses were the equivalent of 1.6 people living in the house.
Am I liable for the bill for the dead trees? If not, how should I proceed in order to recover my deposit? Thanks for your feedback!
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