State Specific Question About: VIRGINIA (VA)

My former landlord is attempting to withhold my entire SD ($1,100) and charge me an additional $68.

Background: I am a federal employee who was recently transferred out of state. I broke my lease and follow all of the requirements to do so in accordance with a clause included in our lease. The LL was very upset that I broke his lease and tried to fight me on that point however relented when presented with the fact that I had followed clause requirements included in his lease. He has now resorted to this tactic as a way to "punish" us and get as much money as he possibly can in retribution.

He is attempting to charge me $800 in "Landlord's Discretion: Lease Non-Compliance Fees" as well as $84/hr for his labor which he computed based upon his salary as a senior government official.

It is my understanding that in VA, he is precluded from charging for his labor.

Additionally, I believe that he is unable to charge "discretionary fees" which are in reality penalties for not complying with his lease as none of these fees were in the lease. From what I can read of the law, 55-248.15:1, he is limited to seeking compensation for actual damages and cannot assess subjective penalties which have no basis of legal determination.

Could someone please provide some feedback on this? Am I correct in my thinking here? Also, any actual legal citations would be great.

We are in a spot with this guy and now our family is in Texas and he knows that he can try to take advantage of that fact, as well as knowing that the cost of a lawyer far exceeds the amount we could get back.

V/R,

I forgot to add that we are Landlords in California, he does not fall under the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (VRLTA) and we left the house spotless.

He had no complaints with the condition of his home and was actually quite happy how well we had cared for his home. As being LLs ourselves, we are very aware of how it can go with bad tenants so we are always very sensitive and go to extra lengths to ensure we leave our places nicer than we entered them.

His "discretionary non-compliance fees" were addressing the fact that I failed to change the house's air filter each month and that I had Verizon FIOS installed without his permission.

The air filters were my fault since I thought they needed to be changed quarterly but he had indeed put it in the lease that he wanted them changed monthly and the Verizon FIOS could go either way.. there was no impact to his home however technically he did have it stated where I had to seek his permission to install "equipment."

Either way, no where in the lease were there any non-compliance fees outlined.

Thank you in advance,

Get an attorney and take him to court. As long as he has your deposit the court is the only way to get it released.

If you code section is from VRLTA, a single landlord would not be subject to it and the lease rules.

"the Verizon FIOS could go either way.. there was no impact to his home however technically he did have it stated where I had to seek his permission to install 'equipment.'"

So you like to call him out on technicalities (the furnace filter issue), but then want to TECHNICALLY say you aren't obliged to seek permission to install equipment?

Regardless, you've already answered your own question. Without paying a lawyer, or going to court in state (two trips minimum, one to file and one for court) you will not get your deposit back. And since that's too expensive to do, according to you, I say forget it and move on.

And next time, read your lease and change those filters per the specified schedule, and try not to do stuff that technically could get you in trouble.

Actually, I would not let discretionary charges go. I would send him a letter, indicating what Lease provisions and statutes apply, and request those charges be reversed, as they have no substantial basis. You may be sued though. You have to decide if it is worth your time and cost.

A LL may only charge the prevailing wage, not 84.99 an hour.