Home Forum Extra
Seattle Times business reporter Elizabeth Rhodes posts the answers to your real estate questions as they pop up during the week. Join this ongoing discussion, which also features reader reaction to real-estate articles appearing throughout The Times.
Home Forum, Seattle Times, P.O. Box 1845, Seattle, WA 98111
* Sorry, no personal replies.
E-mail | 206-464-8510 | Bio | Previous Home Forum archive |
Subscribe | Blog Home
May 14, 2008 9:00 AM
Lack of written payment record worries tenant
Posted by Elizabeth Rhodes
Q: After more than a decade I'm thinking of moving out of my apartment building, which recently was sold. However I don't have a receipt for the first/last months' rent or the damage deposit. I never had a lease so obviously there's no written record there. The only recorded information I have is in my check register; my bank cannot provide a copy of long-ago checks. Is my check register a sufficient legal document to prove to the new landlord that I paid the last month's rent and deposit?
A: "The simple answer would be no," your check register isn't sufficient, says Tacoma attorney Jay Goldstein. But your new landlord should already know what you paid, and here's why.
The law says a landlord must keep a damage deposit in a separate bank account and tell the tenant its location, including address. When a rental property changes hands, the seller must give the new owner an accounting of deposits and rent, Goldstein says. That owner likewise must keep tenant deposits in an account and let tenants know where they are.
If you haven't received that information, now would be a good time to ask about it -- and also ask if there's a written record of the move-in sums you paid. There should be.
There's more: the law doesn't allow a landlord to take a deposit unless there's also a written lease and a move-in checklist describing the property's condition. Since you didn't have a written lease your new landlord has no choice but to return your deposit. He can't decline to pay by arguing that you left the property in poor shape.
If neither you nor your new landlord has receipts to prove what you paid, you'll simply have to show this person your check register and argue your case. It's unlikely you'll be evicted if you don't pay the last month's rent because evictions are lengthy and costly.
Then once you're out, the landlord has 14 days to return your money. If you don't get it, take the landlord to Small Claims Court and show the judge your check register. Goldstein says you can greatly bolster your position by bringing along a witness or two, ideally a former neighbor who also rented years ago and can vouch that first/last and a deposit were standard practice.
May 19, 08 - 04:09 PM
Tenant violates lease; landlord in quandry
May 14, 08 - 09:00 AM
Lack of written payment record worries tenant
May 13, 08 - 02:35 PM
Overgrown easement impairs driveway access
May 9, 08 - 01:00 PM
A time of uncertainty
May 9, 08 - 12:40 PM
An expert's view of the housing crisis

Save money this summer
Get a free neighborhood deals card and take advantage of discounts at 100+ Seattle retailers now through Sept. 1. View all deals at NWsource.

- Starbucks makes it official: Washington losing 19 stores
- More spikes found in Green Lake
- Tyrone Willingham's job status could be giving UW recruits reason to stall
- Did Air Force divert terror funds to buy posh seats?
- $89k potty stirs flush of shame | Nicole Brodeur
- Rookie LaHair gets to fill Sexson's shoes with Mariners
- Starbucks identifies 600 U.S. stores it's closing
- Suspect arrested in fatal Federal Way shooting
- Sound Transit light-rail proposal may make fall ballot
- State Supreme Court narrows probable-cause grounds in pot case
- Snow still covers hiking trails in Cascades, Olympics
- The next big Think: Electric car from Norway could be coming to U.S
- Tiny Bistro Turkuaz brings elegance to Turkish home cooking | Restaurant Review
- UW wants to double enrollment at Tacoma, Bothell branches
- More spikes found in Green Lake
- Sharpened spikes at Green Lake
- Did Air Force divert terror funds to buy posh seats?
- Tyrone Willingham's job status could be giving UW recruits reason to stall
- Starbucks makes it official: Washington losing 19 stores
- $89k potty stirs flush of shame | Nicole Brodeur


