Public Mediation

Lynnewood Gardens Deposit Refund Dispute

V. S. vs. Lynnewood Gardens
2047 Mather Way, Housing Office, Lynnewwod Gardens, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 19027, United States
Amount Involved: $630.31
    • Status: In Negotiation
      This claim has posted for public comment and negotiation. It will remain posted until resolved to the claimant's satisfaction. Suggest a resolution to help these parties reach a settlement.
    • View response from: Lynnewood Gardens
    • Claimant Seeks: View.
    • Claim #: 5730837
    • Amount Involved: 630.31
    • Filed On: Jul 21, 2014
    • Posted On: Aug 11, 2014
    • Complaint(s):
      • Refusal to refund rent deposit
      • Refusal to refund cleaning deposit
      • Unreasonable Fees
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Statement of Claim
Complaints Involved (5) - View
Claimant says:
"I occupied the refurbished 2-bedroom unit of Lynnewood Gardens at 1949-B, W.Cheltenham Avenue on 31 December, 2012. Later, I was advised by former residents and members of the local community that Lynnewood Apartments management does not refund most or all of the one-month’s deposit on occupation, using false, unjustified, or spurious reasons. On January 31, 2014 I vacated my 2-bedroom apartment after taking a week to thoroughly clean the apartment, its equipment and appurtenances, walls, and carpets. I also steam-cleaned the 13-month-old light beige carpet, which was clean and well-maintained, except for a few light blue and brown spots near the edges of carpeting, covering about 1 square foot in each of three carpeted areas. I assumed this would be considered as “normal wear.” (Please see the attached explanatory booklet with details issued by the Office of Landlord-Tenant Affairs of Montgomery County: http://montgomerycountymd.gov/DHCA/housing/landlordtenant). Lynnewood Gardens did not conduct the customary joint inspection of the apartment on January 31, 2014 as required by law, even after due email notification by me.
Lynnewood Management charged me $700 for “replacing” the whole carpeting of over 800 square feet. When I protested and requested a refund of $600 (allowing for $100 to clean or replace specific carpet sections for the few spots described above), they refused, stating, “We are sticking to our position” (Email from Yitz Moller of Lynnewood Gardens management, dated 05/01/2014).
A charge of $49.44 was made for electricity by emails on January 29 & February 2, 2014, which I paid in full on February 3, 2014. Despite this, a spurious charge towards electricity of $30.31 was deducted from my deposit of $935, in addition to a deduction of $700 for “new carpeting”. Thus, $730.31 was deducted from my deposit of $935, and a check for the remaining amount of $204.69 was sent to me. The deduction of $730.31 was made in a high-handed manner by Lynnewood Gardens management, without awaiting my request for clarification. Through email correspondence, Yitz Moller from Lynnewood Gardens management stated: “The carpets are clearly damaged beyond repair while you were scrubbing them and some stains remain.” He even threatened to hire a lawyer. Instead of repairing the three small areas with stains as above, the whole carpeting was replaced for the marketing convenience of Lynnewood Gardens [The apartment remained unoccupied until June 1, 2014]!
It is noteworthy that new carpets were laid in our apartment just before our occupying it around December 31, 2012. The leasing office advised us that such new carpeting is renewed only after several years of usage by tenants. We also understand from enquiry with other apartment complexes in the Montgomery district that carpets are rarely replaced in apartments before at least 5 years of usage by tenants. I requested an inspection of the new carpeting on April 28, 2014, and found that the whole apartment was re-carpeted with a darker shade to promote marketing of the apartment at my expense.
In view of the above facts in detail, I request that Lynnewood Gardens pay me the amount withheld for unnecessary apartment-wide new carpeting $600 ($700 - $100) + $30.31 (electricity) = $630.31."
...
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Additional Communication Between Claimant and Lynnewood Gardens Hide
  • Jul 31, 2014, Claiming party added:

  • I am still awaiting the refund/dues of $630.31.

  • Jul 31, 2014, Claiming party added:

  • Yulz Moller/Heidi Blum: The referenced stains were very minor, light in color, close to the edge of the walls, localized to 3-4 very small areas, and mostly effaced by me using available cleaning agents and steam cleaning to the point of "normal wear". Any carpeting company would know how to fix this locally if necessary. Also, any subsequent tenant would have known that this is not a renovated apartment, but one following 13 months of previous occupation. You chose to lease a "renovated" apartment for a higher rent (currently leased by restaurant employees), including brand new carpeting with darker shading than before. Without any clarification or discussion with me as tenant, you took the liberty of replacing the entire 800+ square feet of floors and stairs with new carpeting, that too with a darker shade! The change of carpet was done in early March 2014--a whole month after you billed me for the entire carpet in early February 2014. Also note that there was no joint inspection of the apartment done on handover in January 2014 as is customary, legal, and reasonable. Further, no discussion explaining your intended course of action involving most of my deposit was made. The apartment was finally occupied in April 2014, after it was vacated on January 31, 2014. All these point to your lack of credibility and courtesy, and your commercialism and high-handed attitude—aggravated further by your threat to engage a lawyer when I brought the matter up to you! As most of the Lynnewood Gardens employees I dealt with during my stay were decent people, I extended the same courtesy to you, but apparently it was misplaced. You have also taken 10 days to respond to this public complaint I have lodged, following your sustained refusal to consider internal remedies.

What Claimant Wants Hide
1. Refund: Amount unfairly retained from the rental deposit of $935, plus electricity charges after final electricity payment was made as requested. Aug 05, 2014 $630.31
Cash total : $630.31
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Respondent's Counteroffer Hide
The claimant's settlement terms were rejected with the following explanation:
  • I disagree with the explanation / grounds provided

    "The carpet was stained and not cleanable, thus we had to replace it. Normal wear and tear, is dirty that is cleanable."

This claim will remain posted until resolved.

  • 0
Do you agree with the respondent’s Response?  (If you are a party to this claim, click here.)
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