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Dec 2006 - Ohio: A landlord who failed to provide its tenant with an itemized accounting of deductions taken from his security deposit and the balance of his deposit within 30 days must pay him double damages and attorneys’ fees.
The tenant leased a house from his landlord for 11 months. The tenant completed the lease term and moved out. Three days later he sent his landlord a letter requesting his $1,000 security deposit.
The landlord told the tenant two weeks later that his security deposit would not be returned because he damaged the rental property.
The landlord said the tenant would receive a notice about the damages and the deductions taken from his security deposit.
But the landlord failed to provide the tenant with the written notice regarding deductions from his security deposit and the landlord failed to return any portion of the deposit.
The tenant sued his landlord for failing to account for the deductions or return his security deposit. The tenant claimed the landlord owed him the full amount of his deposit plus statutory damages under section R.C. 5321.16 of the Ohio Code.
This statute requires a landlord to provide the tenant with a written statement itemizing the deductions taken from a tenant’s security deposit. It also requires the landlord to return the balance of the security deposit along with the itemized accounting- all within 30 days after termination of the lease and delivery of possession to the landlord.
If the landlord does not take any deductions from the tenant’s security deposit, the full amount must be returned with in the 30-day period.
The statute also requires the tenant to provide the landlord with his or her new address where the landlord may send the itemized deduction or security deposit. If the tenant does not provide a forwarding address, the landlord cannot be held liable for damages but still must return the full amount of the remaining balance of the security deposit to the tenant.
Under the statute, a landlord who fails to provide the itemized accounting or the security deposit balance within the 30-day period is liable for double the amount of the security deposit wrongfully withheld plus attorneys’ fees and court costs.
After the tenant sued for damages under the statute, the landlord filed an answer and counterclaim against the tenant for damages to the property.
The small claims court heard the matter and awarded the tenant $1,000—the amount of his security deposit. The court did not award double the amount of the deposit as statutory damages and did not award the tenant his reasonable attorneys’ fees as provided for in the statute. The court denied the landlord’s request for damages. The landlord objected to the decision by the small claims court and the matter was transferred to the regular trial court for a new trial.
The trial court ruled in favor of the landlord and held that the tenant caused $300 in damages to the house during the tenancy. But the court also ruled that the landlord owed the tenant the remaining balance of this security deposit and entered judgment against the landlord for $700 but did not award double damages.
The trial court said the tenant was not entitled to statutory damages or attorneys’ fees under the statute.
The tenant appeals the trial court’s decision and the appellate court reverses and says the tenant is entitled to double damages and reasonable attorneys’ fees.
The landlord violated the statute by not providing the itemized accounting or the balance of his security deposit with the required 30-day period agrees the appellate court. According to the appellate court, the trial court must award double damages and attorneys’ fees under the statute if it finds the landlord wrongfully withheld any portion of the tenant’s security deposit.
After the trial court determined the landlord wrongfully withheld $700 of the tenant’s $1,000 security deposit, the court should have awarded the tenant double that amount—$1,400—plus reasonable attorneys’ fees. The appellate court enters judgment in favor of the tenant for $1,400 and orders the trial court to determine the amount of attorneys’ fees to award in this case.
Lesson: The landlord lost because it failed to comply with the statute by not providing an itemized accounting or the balance of the security deposit to the tenant within 30 days. The landlord now has to pay the tenant $1,400 plus attorneys’ fees which could be several thousand dollars just for failing to send an accounting and the $700 not used for repairs.
Brad Bacon, Appellant v. Atlas Home Corp., Appellee. 2005 OH App. LEXIS 6324. —Robert Harr
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