I strongly caution against renting from this woman. Her lack of integrity is appalling.
After I signed the lease but *before* I moved in, she asked me to go over to the apartment to see if the previous tenant had left the place in good condition (??). I found this unethical, and declined.
I shouldn’t have been surprised, then, by the stunt she pulled with my security deposit. The morning of my move out day, the guy we agreed should conduct the move-out inspection with me in her absence (bc she lives out of state) stated loudly and clearly in front of myself and the new tenant, “No damages.”
NY state law is crystal clear that a landlord has 14 days to return the security deposit or send an itemized list of deductions/damages. Otherwise, h/s forfeits the entire amount of the deposit.
Despite two reminders, the 10/15/21 deadline came and went. No deposit, no itemized list. Only when I threatened to sue her did she have her daughter email me the following: “We didn’t realize this was not sent. It was in our outbox." Attached to the daughter’s email was an itemized list of deductions amounting to over half my total deposit amount, and the landlord had signed her name at the bottom, beneath the words: “I, the undersigned….declare under penalty of perjury, that I served the above notice… on October 11, 2021 ... via email.” I did not receive an email on 10/11.
Furthermore, she provided no photos, no receipts to support her claims.
When I called to ask where my money was, she hung up on me (classy). My lawyer sent her a demand letter that she ignored. Only when I proceeded to sue her in small claims court did I get a text from her claiming (get this) that she didn't know why her Zelle payment of my full refund back in December didn’t go through, and if she paid me now would I drop the court proceedings. Ridiculous. BEWARE!
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This landlord's information has been viewed 271 times since 10/28/2021.
