Can landlord deduct money for maintenance from security deposit
22-Jul-2023 (In Landlord/Tenant Law)
I have been staying in a rented accommodation in Bagalore for 4 years and now vacated the property. I have paid 1,40,000 towards the security deposit at the time of occupying the property. Rental agreement was for 11 months and revised every year. Now after vacating the property land lord is trying to deduct all the maintenance amount from me including the repainting and repair charges which comes around 22000. Is this legal to deduct that much amount, he could have easily earned 50K as interest of security amount. what is the best way to get my money back?
Ordinary wear and tear cannot be deducted from the deposit. Ordinary wear and tear and replacement is covered as a part of your rent and the landlord is obliged to keep the premises in livable condition.
The deposit only protects the landlord against damage not in the course of ordinary wear and tear. Usually leases should specify this clearly.
Infact, most people don't know but even painting under the Karnataka Rent Act constitutes structural repair and is the liability of the landlord to get the house repainted -unless the tenant has caused damage to it that's outside the scope of ordinary wear and tear.
We would suggest you engage a lawyer and serve him a legal notice for recovery. The notice should detail the civil and criminal action (for cheating) that you will take against him should he fail to refund the amount within a fixed period. Typically the matter should resolve at this stage.
The deposit only protects the landlord against damage not in the course of ordinary wear and tear. Usually leases should specify this clearly.
Infact, most people don't know but even painting under the Karnataka Rent Act constitutes structural repair and is the liability of the landlord to get the house repainted -unless the tenant has caused damage to it that's outside the scope of ordinary wear and tear.
We would suggest you engage a lawyer and serve him a legal notice for recovery. The notice should detail the civil and criminal action (for cheating) that you will take against him should he fail to refund the amount within a fixed period. Typically the matter should resolve at this stage.
Disclaimer: The above query and its response is NOT a legal opinion in any way whatsoever as this is based on the information shared by the person posting the query at lawrato.com and has been responded by one of the Divorce Lawyers at lawrato.com to address the specific facts and details.
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