 Legal Fees (by Pamela Logan [CA]) Oct 11, 2018 3:57 PM
 Legal Fees (by rentON [PA]) Oct 11, 2018 4:07 PM
Legal Fees (by Pamela Logan [CA]) Oct 11, 2018 5:00 PM
Legal Fees (by Robert J [CA]) Oct 11, 2018 5:18 PM
Legal Fees (by Barb [MO]) Oct 11, 2018 5:23 PM
Legal Fees (by Ken [NY]) Oct 11, 2018 5:38 PM
Legal Fees (by fred [CA]) Oct 11, 2018 5:44 PM
Legal Fees (by Salernitana [CA]) Oct 11, 2018 9:05 PM
Legal Fees (by RB [MI]) Oct 12, 2018 3:53 AM
Legal Fees (by Still Learning [NH]) Oct 12, 2018 6:17 AM
Legal Fees (by Moshe [CA]) Oct 12, 2018 9:16 AM
Legal Fees (by CGB [MI]) Oct 13, 2018 6:53 AM
Legal Fees (by Moshe [CA]) Oct 13, 2018 9:02 AM
Legal Fees (by Pamela Logan [CA]) Posted on: Oct 11, 2018 3:57 PM
Message:
Hello! I want to thank all of you who helped with a dead beat tenant. Thank goodness her lease was up last month and she's history. Back in April, I had to file a Unlawful Detainer because she didn't pay rent and was two weeks late. She did finally pay however, she became a chronic rent payer for months May, July, August and September.
My question is can I deduct my legal fees from the security deposit?
--67.174.xxx.xxx |
Legal Fees (by rentON [PA]) Posted on: Oct 11, 2018 4:07 PM
Message:
What does your lease say? Why didn't you collect the legal fees in April when you incurred the expense? --67.165.xx.xx |
Legal Fees (by Pamela Logan [CA]) Posted on: Oct 11, 2018 5:00 PM
Message:
The tenant did not include the late fee for those months. The late fees shall be held over. My lease does state the I am entitled to legal fees being covered. --166.216.xxx.xx |
Legal Fees (by Robert J [CA]) Posted on: Oct 11, 2018 5:18 PM
Message:
Unless your tenant agreed that you could deduct those legal fee's and you accepted her rent, thus throwing out your unlawful detainer action, you would be out of luck.
I had once such tenant who signed an agreement that if I dropped the eviction case against her and accepted her rent, she would pay off my legal fee's over a six month period. This was a promise by her and not actionable in eviction court or that I could deduct from her deposit. I had to sue her in small claims court over my legal fee's, $500. This is only my opinion. Others may chime in. --47.156.xx.xx |
Legal Fees (by Barb [MO]) Posted on: Oct 11, 2018 5:23 PM
Message:
I would deduct all fees, including unpaid legal and late, plus any early lease termination and cleaning/disposal, before sending the accounting to the executor --64.251.xxx.xxx |
Legal Fees (by Ken [NY]) Posted on: Oct 11, 2018 5:38 PM
Message:
I would deduct it,if she doesn't like it she can sue you in small claims court --72.231.xxx.xxx |
Legal Fees (by fred [CA]) Posted on: Oct 11, 2018 5:44 PM
Message:
"My lease does state the I am entitled to legal fees being covered. "
This is the key statement here. You can collect from the security deposit and will win if the T takes you to small claims. --99.59.x.xxx |
Legal Fees (by Salernitana [CA]) Posted on: Oct 11, 2018 9:05 PM
Message:
I believe that your lease would hold the answer, and please share what you have written to see if the wording is bulletproof?
I am so happy that your tenant is gone, and I could understand too well the many months of late rent. It's a great time to rerent your place with rents still pretty high and the weather very nice. For your next tenant, what kind of new screening process would you implement to avoid another chronically late-paying deadbeat tenant? Best of luck. --107.3.xxx.xxx |
Legal Fees (by RB [MI]) Posted on: Oct 12, 2018 3:53 AM
Message:
A payment history report,
from (past) Landlord / PM. --184.53.x.xx |
Legal Fees (by Still Learning [NH]) Posted on: Oct 12, 2018 6:17 AM
Message:
It’s my understanding CA is very tenant friendly. Ask your lawyer or read CA laws. Does CA have a law that if you do not follow security deposit laws correctly, the judge will have to award additional damages? --24.61.xxx.xx |
Legal Fees (by Moshe [CA]) Posted on: Oct 12, 2018 9:16 AM
Message:
" can I deduct my legal fees from the security deposit? "
NO!
Attorney fees need to be awarded by the court, and usually that goes to the prevailing party.
Without the court award, you are not entitled to attorney fees and thus cannot deduct them from the deposit, regardless of what your lease may say.
Your lease must say: THE PREVAILING PARTY may recover legal fees ...
--47.139.xx.xxx |
Legal Fees (by CGB [MI]) Posted on: Oct 13, 2018 6:53 AM
Message:
Moeshe comment is why I specifically have in my lease that legal fees will be paid by each individual party. Sounds ironic doesn't it? The clause in the lease cannot specify only the landlord can recover. To be fair, and thus a legal clause, it also has to state the tenant can recover legal fees as well. I want a lawyer to look at my lease, look at a deadbeat tenant (which hopefully I will never have thanks to the information on this site), and think, there is no way this person will pay me, "no I will not take your case." --67.149.xxx.xx |
Legal Fees (by Moshe [CA]) Posted on: Oct 13, 2018 9:02 AM
Message:
Moreover, if your lease specifies that landlord can recover legal fees, then the court will interpret that to mean that EITHER party can recover legal fees, including the tenant, even if your lease doesn't say that, or even if the lease forbids it. The court will then award legal fees to the PREVAILING part, regardless of whether it is landlord or tenant.
--47.139.xx.xxx |
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