Walk It Through: The Deposit That Did Not Come Back
A Michigan rental, from the move in checklist to the double damages.
Move in day. The landlord hands over the keys and two blank inventory checklists.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One deposit, one tenancy, and the dates the act sets. What counts as damage rather than ordinary wear, and how a court weighs a disputed list, are questions for the court hearing the case and are not answered here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Forwarding addressThe written notice of a new address a tenant gives the landlord within 4 days after the occupancy ends, at the address the landlord gave.
- Inventory checklistThe form used at both ends of a tenancy to record the unit's condition. The landlord gives the tenant 2 blank copies, and the tenant returns 1 within 7 days after receiving possession, unless both agree to a shorter period.
- Notice of damagesThe list a landlord mails to claim part of a deposit: each item of damage with the estimated cost of repairing it, and the difference between the damages claimed and the deposit.
- Security depositA deposit a landlord may require for a rental unit, which may not exceed one and a half months' rent.