Re: Security deposit letter sent a day late - Landlord Forum thread 276448

Re: Security deposit letter sent a day late by Melissa (WI) on January 27, 2013 @10:51

and why exactly did you wait until the very last day (after) to mail?
next time you can be a little bit smarter and post immediately after final inspection

you will lose this in a court battle

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Re: Security deposit letter sent a day late by Clina on January 27, 2013 @18:07	[ Reply ]

Melissa, What makes you so sure I will lose this in court? Please hold the judgements. I am responding to you because you are also in WI. Are you a LL. I try to hold off sending the SD until I can get the apt cleaned up and repained. It sometimes takes me a few weeks for personal reasons I won't go in to. I want to rent it again in a spotless manner. Also when it was painted I found some damage I would not have noticed otherwise.

Re: Security deposit letter sent a day late by Al (CT) on January 27, 2013 @19:58	[ Reply ]

Clina, again, please listen to this. The law doesn't care about your 'personal reasons.' You have an obligation under the law to inspect your apartment and send the SDSS to the former tenants within 3 weeks. The 3 weeks given to you by law is not the same as the time it takes you to clean the unit for the next renters. If a tenant takes you to court and tells the judge he did not receive his SDSS within the 21 days, you will lose and have to pay the tenant triple damages. You are operating a business and need to follow the law. It can only benefit you to do this correctly.

Re: Security deposit letter sent a day late by Anonymous on January 28, 2013 @00:16	[ Reply ]

"If a tenant takes you to court and tells the judge he did not receive his SDSS within the 21 days, you will lose and have to pay the tenant triple damages." This is wrong information. It is not triple the damages. It is double the OP's state. Also, the SD has to be sent out by the 21st day, not that the tenant gets it in their hand by then. No one can guarantee that so to various circumstances well beyond the LL's control. As for the days issue, did the tenant return possession of the apartment before the last day of the lease or on the last day? If she gave you the keys before the last day, she would have needed to put that in writing according to WI statutes, otherwise the the 21 days begins at the last day of the lease. That information wasn't mentioned but good to know if it applies in this case because it will buy you some extra time. If it does end up in court, I think you can make a good argument regarding the legal holiday. Notices to tenants, late rent due dates, etc often take legal holidays into consideration. It would not be unreasonable for someone to think the same rule applies. Whether you will lose or not, is up for grabs.