Legal Question in Real Estate Law in South Carolina

Rental Deposits

I rented a 4 bedroom house and moved out August 16th, the lease was up August 1st and we made an agreement and payed rent for the entire month. When returning the keys after thoroughly cleaning the house, we left the landlord our forwarding address. We did not hear anything and called to request our deposit along with a list of repairs made. There was no repsonse until a certified letter was mailed to him. He called to inform us that he was not ignoring us and that there were fleas in the carpet. He already had new tenants in the home and said that he was going to check with them to see if any repairs we necessary. After another week, I call again to see if he had an exterminator out to the house to treat for fleas. He called me the next day and left a message saying that we were good tenants and usually he doesn't return deposits but in our case he would send us $500 if we called with our address. The security deposit was $985 plus an addition $500 for a pet deposit.

My question is whether or not we have a valid case against our ex-landlord and if we have a chance to get our money back.


Asked on 10/04/02, 2:53 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Otto Ferrene, jr. Ferrene & Associates, PA

Re: Rental Deposits

Under the landlord tenant act the landlord has 30 days to give you the written reasons why he is not returning the rental deposit. I assume he knew where to send the return deposit. Attorney's fees are recoverable by the tenant in some cases. It would be worth your while to check with a plaintiff's attorney. The small claims court is available where claims do not exceed $7,500.00. However, I would suggest that a lawyer be used for that court as well. The landlord tenant act can be tricky.

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Answered on 10/04/02, 7:33 pm


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