Question

Bob leased an apartment for three years from the Steiners. He was never late on his rent in those three years, kept the apartment immaculate, and never caused a moment of trouble. He has recently purchased his first home and moved out of the apartment. As expected, Bob gave the Steiners sixty days’ notice he would be moving and left the apartment in perfect condition. It has been 45 days since he moved out and he's been watching for his security deposit refund to purchase a new sofa. When should he expect his security deposit refunded?a. if there had been no damage or cleaning required, which seemed highly unlikely in bob’s case, the landlord should have refunded his security deposit within 21 days of bob’s vacating the property.
b. if there had been no damage or cleaning required, which seemed highly unlikely in bob’s case, the landlord should have refunded his security deposit within 30 days of bob’s vacating the property.
c. if there had been no damage or cleaning required, which seemed highly unlikely in bob’s case, the landlord should have refunded his security deposit within 14 days of bob’s vacating the property.
d. none of the above.

Answer 1

Answer:

a. if there had been no damage or cleaning required, which seemed highly unlikely in bob’s case, the landlord should have refunded his security deposit within 21 days of bob’s vacating the property.

Explanation:

• According to lease termination or surrender and acceptance of the premises,  the dateline to return security deposit as provided in state's security deposit statutes is within a month or 21 days.
• In case if a lease agreement specifies a longer period of time for the return of the security deposit, the tenant must forward a demand letter, which applies in both lease termination and lease agreement, and comply with the dateline as specified in the agreement.
• However in Bob's case, if there is no case of such agreement that specifies a longer period of time for the return of security deposit. Therefore, the landlord should have refunded the security deposit within 21 days given that Bob has left the apartment in perfect condition.