Am I legally responsible for the damages to the apartment?

[wattekinson86]

I rented an apartment near Springfield, Missouri. The lease was written for June 24, 2011 to July 30, 2012. In accordance to my lease, I broke the lease by paying two months rent on October 20, 2011 and I provided them with my forwarding address at that time. According to section 535.300 of the MO revised statute, the landlord has 30 days to send me an itemized list of how my security deposit was used.

Today, I received a letter postmarked on January 13, 2012 stating I owe $704.02 for carpet replacement and other damages. Does the 30 day window still apply to a legally broken lease? Do I have a right to dispute the validity of the letter considering it's beyond the 30 days required under law.

Also, in section 535.300, it states "Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the right of the landlord to recover actual damages in excess of the security deposit, or to permit a tenant to apply or deduct any portion of the security deposit at any time in lieu of payment of rent."

http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/c500-599/5350000300.htm

Any advice?

[donough]

My advice: Never sign up for a long lease unless you intend to see it out. What makes you think that breaking your lease is legal unless it is fully paid out?

[kendon19]

It depends, did you ruin the carpet? and did you do other damages? Was there mold, did you punch a hold in the wall, did you leave the oven dirty, etc? only you know. You didn't say how big your apartment was, it probably costs $400 or more to replace the rug in an efficiency apartment, however it depends on the landlord if they replace them yearly or every time a new tenant comes in. The rug should have been able to be used for the next tenant if you were there only one year, so they probably saw it was too messed up to clean so determined it had to be replaced, so the cost is yours. Wait until the itemized list arrives. Remember that you "can" dispute it in court but you'd have to have proof of what you say and even a receipt for the cleaner you hired when you left, or the supplies you bought for fixing what you messed up, etc. but if you take it to court you'd be paying the filing fees, your parking, your time off from work (if employed), copying documents, etc. So figuring that you may or may not win, would you be willing to lose an additional amount of money?

[chen12]

You will, of course, need legal counsel.

But, it sounds like your lease gives you an "out" and you took it, correct? In other words, the lease period went until 7/30/2012 but there was something in the lease that stated you could break your lease if you paid two months rent. If that's correct, and you moved out on October 20 (with written notice and all that) they had to get you your deposit accounting mailed by November 19th. They failed.

Now, the question is, did you make any inquiries during that time about where your deposit was?
You should have. That may be a factor later.

For right now, you need the advice of legal counsel and not Yahoo advisors. But, assuming you can't get legal counsel for some reason, I believe I would craft a [certified] letter and say, "Sorry, according to MO State Law, you failed to send me a written itemized list of the damages for which the security deposit or any portion thereof is withheld within thirty days. I am hereby demanding the return of my entire security deposit. within fifteen days."

Once they rant and fume over that, you might consider just allowing them to keep your deposit and call it even as a compromise. But you will definitely want to handle this. It will NOT go away.

[fyfe]

That law is telling you that nothing limits the right of the landlord to recover actual damages in excess of the security deposit.. that's pretty plain. And then it says that you cannot use your security deposit for rent. I will tell you a couple of things and I am in Texas and all state laws are different. You are liable for any damages over normal wear and tear...and it is pretty much the landlord that determines that. Actual damages are described as money spent on damages...in other words they must have a receipt for the money they spent or it is not and actual damage. They cannot charge you for anytime they spend repairing anything, only if they paid a repairman to do the work. They cannot charge you for lost rent or the like. If you broke the lease, there may be all sorts of charges you owe, check your lease for that.
I doubt that paying two months rent releases you from the lease that is for much longer unless that is stated in the lease but they seem to just be charging you for damages. I should also add that the cost of a new carpet has to be prorated...you don't pay for it all and installation. A carpet has a life of so many years and I'm not sure but it depends on the quality of the carpet and what it is made out of. If the carpet has a 10 year life and you moved in on year 5 and stayed for a year and then it wasn't suitable for rental...you would owe for 4/10s of the cost of the rug and installation at the new price. My guess would be that the letter has to be sent 30 days after you notify them in writing that you are moving and then do so. You should also submit your new address in writing too. Read your lease very carefully. It has to be as spelled out in the lease with no exception unless it isn't legal. In Texas if you don't get that letter in 30 days, you can sue for treble damages. Another hint...all the costs of going to court cost quite a bit and it turned out for me not to be worth the effort. And when all is said and done...in Texas they just don't have to pay.