Flooring Question

[Daseal]

Reviving this thread for another round of advice. Been discussing this with a few people, but I like to get a broad range of opinions. Thanks to everyone who has helped me through some of the difficult parts of this... adventure (JR, TMC, GMAN).

TL;DR: We asked for some critical details such as pictures, names, etc and were sent an ambiguous e-mail that did not respond to a single question. Not sure of my next step!

Now that I've given a synopsis, they've offered us a lot of one-sided 'deals' to which we've fought back. We asked for them to provide the following:

• Pictures of damage before/after.
• Current hardwood in apartment
• Name of company and contractor who gave the quote
• Copy of the quote
• Type of hardwood going into the apartment in quote
• Ability to have a contractor, of our choose, assess the situation

We talked to multiple contractors that said patching would be no issue at all. However, all of them wanted to see anything before saying anything official. Their response was as follows:

We received your email and understand that you do not want to accept or consider the original offer, which of course is fine.
Therefore, we are further looking into the matter and handling it in a fair manner.

You will hear from us and/or our representative by the deadline that we have according to VA Law which we have looked into, 45 days from when we received the keys to provide a written statement regarding the deposit. Please note that when there are repairs to be made, an additional 15 days is allowed according to VA Law.

You will receive a written statement including a detailed list of any deductions along with any remaining deposit if this applies.
After that point, you may decide to proceed as you wish.

Their response seems to fail to answer any of our questions or portray really anything. We're not sure how to proceed. I believe the landlord has also moved. We're thinking of sending an e-mail asking them to please collect our requested information and provide their address. At that point, I believe we will file a claim to mediation, and if nothing comes of that we will have to 'lawyer up' and go to court. I'd rather avoid the 250/hr if possible, but it may not be possible. I hope we can recover our lawyers' fees if we end up winning.

We also found the following clause in the VA tenant landlord act:

3. Permit a tenant or his authorized agent or attorney to inspect such tenant's records of deductions at any time during normal business hours.

C. Upon request by the landlord to a tenant to vacate, or within five days after receipt of notice by the landlord of the tenant's intent to vacate, the landlord shall make reasonable efforts to advise the tenant of the tenant's right to be present at the landlord's inspection of the dwelling unit for the purpose of determining the amount of security deposit to be returned. If the tenant desires to be present when the landlord makes the inspection, he shall so advise the landlord in writing who, in turn, shall notify the tenant of the time and date of the inspection, which must be made within 72 hours of delivery of possession. Upon completion of the inspection attended by the tenant, the landlord shall furnish the tenant with an itemized list of damages to the dwelling unit known to exist at the time of the inspection.

Which we read as their responsibility to make us aware of any damage to the apartment, in writing, at time of the walk through. Considering they claim that there was substantial floor damage, in a heavily travelled hallway, there is no excuse not to mention it during the walkthrough. During the walkthrough they only talked about painting the apartment, which we had already discussed, in writing, prior to the walkthrough.

Thanks in advance for the advice. It's been quite stressful lately.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by Daseal

Reviving this thread for another round of advice. Been discussing this with a few people, but I like to get a broad range of opinions. Thanks to everyone who has helped me through some of the difficult parts of this... adventure (JR, TMC, GMAN).

TL;DR: We asked for some critical details such as pictures, names, etc and were sent an ambiguous e-mail that did not respond to a single question. Not sure of my next step!



Now that I've given a synopsis, they've offered us a lot of one-sided 'deals' to which we've fought back. We asked for them to provide the following:

• Pictures of damage before/after.
• Current hardwood in apartment
• Name of company and contractor who gave the quote
• Copy of the quote
• Type of hardwood going into the apartment in quote
• Ability to have a contractor, of our choose, assess the situation

We talked to multiple contractors that said patching would be no issue at all. However, all of them wanted to see anything before saying anything official. Their response was as follows:


Their response seems to fail to answer any of our questions or portray really anything. We're not sure how to proceed. I believe the landlord has also moved. We're thinking of sending an e-mail asking them to please collect our requested information and provide their address. At that point, I believe we will file a claim to mediation, and if nothing comes of that we will have to 'lawyer up' and go to court. I'd rather avoid the 250/hr if possible, but it may not be possible. I hope we can recover our lawyers' fees if we end up winning.

We also found the following clause in the VA tenant landlord act:


Which we read as their responsibility to make us aware of any damage to the apartment, in writing, at time of the walk through. Considering they claim that there was substantial floor damage, in a heavily travelled hallway, there is no excuse not to mention it during the walkthrough. During the walkthrough they only talked about painting the apartment, which we had already discussed, in writing, prior to the walkthrough.

Thanks in advance for the advice. It's been quite stressful lately.

Send them a certified letter with those questions and concerns you have so you have record of them receiving the request. They are stringing you along and hoping your just give up.

Funny thing is I'm now waiting for our deposit from the lady we rented from while waiting for our house to be built. The home was beat to hell so we took loads of pictures which the wife loaded on our computer that crashed and pics lost.