When they moved out of their rental they said they should have gotten their $6,000 security deposit. The landlord returned nothing. No cash, not even a phone call. So they turned to Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser. Moving from a four-bedroom house to a one-bedroom apartment would be a pain for most people. Not Kimberly. Kimberly Cooper: “I like it because I’m a minimalist. I like it.” Kimberly and her husband weren’t planning on downsizing till the property manager stopped by. Kimberly Cooper: “He looked around and you noticed there was the dog.” The lease did say no pets. Kimberly has a puppy. And that day her husband was taking care of his brother’s dog. The landlord said ‘Hit the road.’ Kimberly Cooper: “A notice on the door, saying, that you have a 30-day notice.” Their lease had expired so they were on a month-to-month deal. Instead of the normal $3,000 rent, they paid $1,500 for part of the month and started packing up. Kimberly Cooper: “There was no damages.” Kimberly took pictures before they left. Kimberly Cooper: “Everything was pristine.” She even shot a video to make sure they got their $6,000 deposit back. Kimberly Cooper: “The place was left in immaculate way.” Kimberly says the landlord also checked out the house. Kimberly Cooper: “So the guy just did the walkthrough and he said everything was good.” That was in December. Kimberly then waited for the landlord to send a letter regarding their deposit. Kimberly Cooper: “There’s no correspondence regarding the security deposit.” One month went by. Two, three months and no response from the landlord to their emails, texts and phone calls. Kimberly Cooper: “It’s like he just disappeared off the face of the earth.” A $6,000 security deposit. A lot of money to everyone. Kimberly Cooper: “I don’t think anybody go around just like take people’s hard earned money and just pocket it or whatever.” Well Howard, is Kimberly entitled to her security deposit back? Howard Finkelstein: “Yes, because if a landlord is going to keep some or all of your security deposit, by law they must notify you by certified mail within 30 days of you vacating the property. If they don’t, they must return your security deposit and by the way, leave a forwarding address to your landlord electronically so you get any notifications.” I tried to contact the property manager. He didn’t respond to many calls and emails. I contacted his boss. He then called me back. He said the owner was keeping the deposit because of the dogs, a fence Kimberly’s husband put up without a permit and a leaky roof that the landlord wasn’t told about. I told the property manager, even if all those things were true, some were not the tenants’ responsibility and the landlord still didn’t contact Kimberly about any problems within the 30-day period . I noticed Kimberly hadn’t paid enough for December, meaning they were owed $5,250. The landlord said he would tell the owner of the house to return that money and he did. Kimberly Cooper: “It means that things can be taken care of, bills, and money is the answer to all of that.” Their $5,250 security deposit back in their pockets after that call to Help Me Howard. Kimberly Cooper: “I knew that Help Me Howard was going to get the job done. Thank you, Patrick. You are greatly appreciated. Thank you so much. God bless you.” Glad we could help get those thousands back, Kimberly. Now before you move out of a rental, you know you have to clean it up and do a walkthrough to get your security deposit back. But there are things you are responsible for and things that are not your problem. The link to see those is below this article. Housing a problem? Tired of it dwelling in your life? Deposit it with us to provide the security of a solution. With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser 7News. FOR MORE INFO:LANLORD TENANT LAW IN FLORIDA Rights and Duties of Tenants and Landlords ...read more read less