How should I handle my withheld security deposit issue?

I moved out of my apartment on 11/30/06. Landlord showed up 45 minutes late for the walkthrough at which point I had to be at work so a friend stayed behind to wait for him. When he came he said he'd do it later and he'd call about the security deposit. No one called, so I did and my new address and phone number was taken all of the 6 times I called (all the way through the new year). No one called back so I wrote a letter asking for my deposit. I received a letter that said that they already sent me one on dec. 14th which says that I owe money. The Dec. 14th letter has an additional $1448.48 added for carpet replacement. The copy of the receipt for this is dated 12/27 AFTER the letter was written. The carpet was damaged, but the landlord never returned my calls, and I never received a letter, or I would have stopped calling. How should I proceed? I have no problem paying the extra $$ if what he did was legal...BTW, the law in HI says they have 14 days to return a deposit.|||Don't let a legal aid society predispose a judgment . Go to small claims court and explain the issue. The landlord will have to prove he is due the full amount of the carpet replacement (instead of a depreciated value or simply the cost of a repair)|||You need to sue him in small claims court. But make sure you have his letter with the late date on it and a copy of your lease. It sounds like your basis is not whether or not the carpet was damaged, but whether or not he complied with the law. If you're certain the law says 14 days and your lease doesn't say otherwise, it sounds like you have a good case. Call the court clerk and ask how you file a lawsuit. You won't need an attorney, but you should spend a little time getting info online. Maybe sit in on a case or two to see how things are run. Good luck.|||According to HI law if the landlord does not return the deposit, or a written accounting of the deposit, within 14 days then the landlord is required to return the full amount of the deposit.





File a lawsuit in small claims court. If the court determines that the landlord wrongfully withheld your security deposit then the court could award you up to 3 times the amount that was wrongfully withheld.





Go to http://www.hawaii.gov/dcca/areas/ocp/lan鈥?/a> and click on the link for the Residential Landlord-Tenant Handbook.|||You need an attorney. I am going through the same crap. There needs to be a background check for landlords. Good luck to you.|||You don't get the security deposit back. We used to get itemized lists or some show from the landlord about why they can't give it back, but these days its just understood and nobody expects it.