Is it ethical for your roommate to take your security deposit?

[Anonymous]

My two roommates and I paid a total of $2,500 for our security deposit (so we each paid $833). At the end of our lease, we were supposed to get our $2,500 back, our landlord only gave us $1,150.

I thought the three of us would split the $1,150 evenly, with each of us getting $383.

We had a piano in our living room that our landlord wanted out before we moved. The piano didn’t belong to anyone in the apartment, it belonged to a previous tenant. However, one of my roommates knew that previous tenant.

So I suggested to that roommate that he get in touch with the previous tenant to see if they can have the piano removed. My roommate told me that he called the previous tenant and that they will handle the piano.

A couple weeks later, my roommate texted the two of us saying that he paid $550 to have to piano removed and that he wanted his money back out of our security deposit (the previous tenant didn’t remove it).

I thought that was unfair because he never told us that the previous tenant didn’t keep their word. I told my roommate that he should contact the previous tenant for their money back, since the piano belonged to them. But my roommate ended up taking $550 plus their $383 out of our security deposit, leaving me and my other roommate with $108.

[Anonymous]

ridiculous.

Arguably the piano does not belong to the previous tenant as it has been abandoned, it has value and could have been sold or advertised as free to collector.

The idea that you should have to pay for its removal is absurd, it is nothing what so ever to do with you.

The person who unilaterally decided to pay for its removal did so at their own risk and should not be expecting to be compensated in any way IF there had been no agreement to do so.

Unfortunately you have allowed your money to be removed from your hands and so now you will have to goto a court to get it back.

The moral of the story is keep hold of your money, if someone wants it and you dont want to part with it, it is better that they are seeking to take you to court.

If the landlord gave that person the money then you may well be able to recover your money from them.

It will really depend on the finer points of paperwork and law etc.

[Asker]

The landlord gave the money to the roommate in question

[Opinion Owner]

Well as i say you will have to check your paperwork etc

If you have paperwork supporting your deposit and a record of that etc then it seems to me that your landlord owes you your deposit still, giving it to someone else makes no sense at all.

But if the room mate in question is the person on the paperwork and it is their deposit then it would make sense.

I am not from the states and I am not a legal expert so you should do your own homework regarding the laws etc and as i say check your paperwork, assuming you even have paperwork.

[jshm2]

You got burned and burned again.

You should have told the landlord the piano was his fucking problem as you didn't put it there. He allowed the previous tenant to put it there.

As for your deposit, your roommates hustled you and they probably planned it.

As for what you can do. You can try a tenant dispute agency but it's probably not worth your time and money.

Learn the lesson to never rent or put down a cent until you 100% know what you're paying for and liable for. If splitting deposit, always have a contract.

[TheMajesticKing777]

It's not your piano tho, you should've said it's not your problem cause it was there when you arrived and it's not your job to remove the piano

[Asker]

I did mention that, but our landlord wanted it out of the house regardless of who it belonged to

[TheMajesticKing777]

Okay it's their property but it's not your piano, that's a solution they have to look for not give a random person the responsibility of the piano, if anything take the piano and sell it, it's like owning a hotel and the people before your previous client leaves a gun in a drawer and then I throw the responsibility of getting that gun out of my hotel to the people that payed money to stay in my hotel, it's my responsibility to get that gun out of my hotel not the client's that rent my rooms

[Asker]

Yeah, I see what you’re saying. Ultimately, was it legal of my roommate to take money from me and my other roommate’s security deposit?

[TheMajesticKing777]

No, if you didn't give permission, I don't think it's legal but I don't know

[Avicenna]

That sounds fishy, but it's a legal question.