Editor’s note: This is the second part in a series examining the landlord-tenant system in DeKalb.

Although many area landlords follow similar lease procedures, they differ when it comes to walk-throughs, damage charges and security deposit returns.

Joe Sosnowski, manager of Star Properties, said a manager does a walk-through at the beginning and end of the lease period. At the time of the move-out walk-through, the manager carries a checklist and can provide a dollar amount of damages. The amount is a fairly accurate estimate, he said.

Sosnowski said receipts from Star Properties are provided depending on what goes on during the walk-through. Tenants and the manager sometimes agree to damage charges during the walk-through, he said, which essentially waives Star’s obligation to provide further documentation.

“If they want invoices, they are given them,” he said.

DeKalb municipal law requires the waivers of the landlord’s security deposit obligations to be obtained separately, in writing. By obtaining consent from all tenants in a separate written form, landlords can avoid some details of the ordinance procedures.

Don Henderson, director of NIU’s Students’ Legal Assistance Office, said tenants absolutely should not agree to damages during a walk-through and should certainly not sign anything that would waive their rights to a full itemization of damages and receipts for repairs.

For a waiver to be valid, all tenants must sign it. Henderson said the legality of each waiver is determined case-by-case.

DeKalb City Attorney Norma Guess said that sometimes in a lease, there would be documentation where tenants are waiving their rights to the security deposit return procedures. But, this has to be done separately and multiple tenants each have to sign their own agreement.

In the past two years, tenants have filed four lawsuits against Star alleging security-deposit violations. Star has brought suit against hundreds of tenants for delinquent accounts.

Sosnowski said Star operates on the premise that damages should be paid for and rent be paid. He said about 10 to 15 percent of tenants are delinquent with either their rent or money owed above and beyond the security deposit. Although they try to set up a payment plan, it often does not work and they have to take other measures, including contacting a collection agency and going to court.

Ina Walk, on-site manager for College Housing Group, said they always issue receipts for charges withheld from a security deposit. She said it is simple to do and a matter of state law.

“It seems like a lot of work, but I don’t know how else you could do it and be fair,” Walk said.

College Housing Group employs out-of-state inspectors to do final walk-throughs to ensure impartiality, Walk said. Some rental properties, including College Housing Group, list standard cleaning and maintenance charges in the lease. Since 1998, no tenants have filed lawsuits against College Housing Group.

Jim Mason, owner of Mason Properties, said the company is supposed to give invoices, including time and rate, for damage repair. These rates, he said, are in Mason’s lease and therefore agreed upon by the tenant.

The DeKalb Municipal Code briefly touches on leases like these that list automatic charges for cleaning, painting and repairs.

“The enforceability of such clauses is questionable and can be tested in court,” the code states. Henderson agreed, and said because automatic cleaning charges are in the lease, does not mean it is enforceable and could be challenged in court.

Because so many aspects of leases and security deposits are not spelled out in the municipal code, it is up to the judge or jury in each case to apply the legal principle to make a decision, Henderson said.

Normal wear and tear

Although the municipal code states the landlord may not charge a tenant for normal wear and tear on the apartment, it does not define normal wear and tear.

Henderson said there can be a difference in the quality of the apartment and that does not justify damage charges. Withholding money from the security deposit must mean that this difference in quality is not attributable to normal wear and tear.

Because of this, Rachel Kleen and Lettie Robinson won a lawsuit against Mason Properties in August. The case was originally filed in February 2003.

Mason returned $230 of their $759 security deposit. Henderson, the plaintiff’s lawyer, proved the damage charges listed by Mason were not sufficient to withhold money from the security deposit and were attributable to normal wear and tear on the apartment.

“They were charged for not wiping down a fuse box,” Henderson said.

Kleen and Robinson were given a cleaning checklist near the end of their lease, and while they followed the list carefully, they were assessed charges for things that were not on the checklist.

Henderson said they had the right to assume they would get their security deposit back because they completed everything on that checklist.

The case closed in August, and the court awarded Kleen and Robinson $646, which included $537 that was withheld from their original deposit and $109 for additional costs.

Taking precautions

The Students’ Legal Assistance Office encourages students to take precautions to ensure they will receive their full security deposit.

Knowing the law and reading the lease is the first thing listed on the office’s “Eight Steps to the Full Return of Your Security Deposit.” Requesting a pre-exit inspection and taking pictures of the apartment can aid renters in getting their money back.

Pictures won Allison Miyar’s lawsuit for her. Horizon was named in the lawsuit but was not the party directly responsible.

When she moved into her apartment last year, she took pictures of things that were already damaged. She said the walls had spackle marks and hadn’t been painted, and the closet door was missing. Even after she said she cleaned the place “from top to bottom,” Horizon kept $586 of her $600 security deposit. Although Miyar never had read the tenant handbook, she said she knew the charges were unfair. She sent Horizon a letter and said if they did not respond, she would take them to court. They didn’t respond, she said.

Horizon President Susan McMaster said Miyar made baseless claims. She said they did not see Miyar’s photos until the day they went to court, two years later. McMaster said Miyar also claimed she did not have heat for two months, but that was proved untrue in court.

Miyar said she never cashed the $14 check Horizon sent. She held onto the list of charges, receipts and the check until the hearing, where she received her full $600 security deposit back plus additional court costs.

“I didn’t realize I had to write everything I possibly saw, but that’s what you have to do,” she said. “Make note of everything that is the slightest bit wrong – or you get charged for it.”

Like former Horizon tenant Maria Akhtar, Miyar said she is not the only one who landlords have taken advantage of.

“Everyone complains about it, but no one does anything about it, so they’re going to keep screwing everyone,” Miyar said. “They do it because they can get away with it.”

Tenants knowing and understanding their rights can salvage their security deposit, but most don’t take the time to do so, Henderson said.

“People don’t understand their rights because they are not motivated,” Henderson said.

But, he said, if people start to see others getting their money back, they might start to think they can and should get their money back, too.

“If they want their security deposit, they need to be prepared to assert their rights and demand their money back and not just acquiesce in a landlord’s contentions, which may not have any justification,” Henderson said.