07-21-2009, 07:56 PM
Quote:This happened to me way back when... Although rather than just after signing, it was when I gave my notice that I was moving out that the landlord then informed me verbally that he was raising the charges for services (heat, trash, etc.) retroactively for the past six months with my net shortage being about the same as my damage deposit ($500). I'm sure he had just received the bill and had calculated that he was going to be losing money and forgot to prepare for the future very well. I think this is the case with your land lord. He figured out that the per unit price he was using for trash was $5 too low, so now he is making up a story to cover his costs. In my case, I was a student at the University, so I went to the student legal services department and consulted with a lawyer for free. I then filed a small claim (which in MN allows me to sue for my damage deposit plus two months of rent @ $1000), and he counter sued for the damage deposit and then tacked on every nick and dent in the apartment. The net result is that after we presented our two sides, the judge told us to go in the hall and talk, where he agreed to give me my $500 back. So the case was dropped, and we settled out of court.
Just a few years ago, this type of thing was making news in Columbus, going on off campus near Ohio State. Some vague lease term allows landlord to increase charges for excessively utility uses, and then the landlord doesn't say anything about it on a monthly basis and suddenly at the end of the year they want 6 or 8 months worth of increased utility fees. College kids are inexperienced tenants, and they aren't going to stay in one apartment for more than a year or two in most cases, so it is an ideal position to try to pull some shady dealings. College kids would also be a nightmare to deal with themselves, but that's another thread.
Well, if it were $500, I'd probably have talked to a lawyer already.