Rental property Iowa?

[baigh]

Hi. i voluntarily moved out of the house i was renting and had given them 30 days notice knowing i could no longer pay rent. they kept my security deposit and now over a yr later they are asking for more than double the deposit for damages on the property. What can i do? what are the laws etc concerning this? is there a statute of limitation? I don't even know what damage he is speaking of.

[fiacre68]

I doubt they can do anything, they can try sueing you, but unless he can prove you actually caused damage and show receipts etc , they are not getting a dime. don't worry about it and just go on with your life, do not talk to them or acknowledge them in any way unless what they are doing ends up amounting to harrassment.

[weiford]

check your state's tenant's rights also find free legal aid
for info in area.

in our area your landlord would b bovine manuring u.

[emmanuil54]

If you want to press for court they have to prove you did not leave it in move in condition, with pictures and/or receipts for their expenses.

The law would be that you pay for any expense they have, including their legal fees if you did not leave it in move in condition or had any unpaid rent.

There is a statute of limitation, 5 years if you did not sign a rental agreement, 10 years if you did.

[darrick34]

They are well within any statute of limitations for IA. They might have accepted the security deposit as liquidated damages for the rent you did not pay that you were obligated to under the terms of your lease, instead of holding you to paying all the rent until they could re-lease the house. Just leaving voluntarily and giving notice does not release you from the debt obligation.

Beyond that, you are also responsible to repair or pay for repair to any damage you may have caused, excluding normal wear and tear. It is unusual that it took them this long to come after you for the damages, and that will work against them.

If they sue you (and they can), they will need to provide evidence of the damage before it was repaired (photos), and receipts for the repairs. Those receipts should be dated very closely to the time you moved out.

If it were me, I would ask them to send me copies of the photos of the damages, and copies of the date receipts for the repairs, so I can provide those to my attorney for review. That will probably be enough for them to just drop it, especially if they are trying to scam you.

If they do sue because you have decided that you did not cause any damage and left the home clean and in a rentable condition, and thus are not paying, they will have to provide this same evidence to the court and also explain why it took them this long. Hopefully it is not because you did not leave them with a forwarding address when you left, because that would be a good excuse for them.