Walk It Through: The Deposit And The Bank
A New Jersey rental, from the account notice to double the amount owed.
Signing day. The landlord takes the deposit with the first month's rent.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One deposit in one rental. Which charges a lease may allow, what counts as damage, and the exemption for owner occupied premises with few rental units are not worked through 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.
- Double damagesWhat a court awards a tenant who wins an action for the return of a deposit: double the amount owed, with full costs and, in the court's discretion, reasonable attorney's fees.
- Security depositA deposit of no more than 1 1/2 times one month's rent, which stays the tenant's property: held in trust in an interest bearing account, never mingled with the landlord's own, with the interest belonging to the tenant.