Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Washington

Re: Deposit Refunded then asking for money

The redelivery clause is breached if when the

term ends, the premises are not in the agreed state of repair, thereby entitling the landlord to damages for the cost of repairs.

The landlord is expressly forbidden by the Act to deduct anything for ordinary wear and tear. RCW 59.18.280. Clearly these provisions were a response to complaints that landlords were

wrongfully retaining damage and security deposits, which has probably been the most frequent form of landlord-tenant dispute.

Under the Act the landlord must consider whether having a security deposit of the first or second type described above is worth the trouble of following the statutory procedures and the risk of losing costs and attorney's fees if they are not scrupulously followed. Where the premises are unusually valuable and the deposit correspondingly large, perhaps it will be worth it. With the run-of-the-mill lease it may be surer and better for the landlord to take, say, the last month's rent in advance or a modest, nonrefundable cleaning deposit or both. An argument might be made that payment of the last month's rent in advance falls within the statutory meaning of "moneys . . . paid . . . as a deposit or as a security for performance." The attorney general took this position in an opinion rendered in 1974. AGO 1974 No. 11. This is an unnatural construction because advance rent belongs absolutely to the landlord when received, is in no sense held conditionally

upon the tenant's performance, and thus is not held as "security." The statutory requirement that the leasing agreement shall specify the "terms and conditions" upon which the landlord could withhold a "deposit" cannot be applied to advance rental.

While advance rent does not perform the same function as a security deposit in theory, in practice it can often be made to serve much the same purpose.

It is likely that the landlord may have waived any claim because they signed off on and returned your security deposit. Also, if you are in King County, you should contact the King County Dispute Resolution Center at 206.443.9603 for assistance in resolving this dispute.