Does my ex-boyfriend have a right to his half of the security deposit if I have not moved out of the apartment yet?
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Does my ex-boyfriend have a right to his half of the security deposit if I have not moved out of the apartment yet?
My ex-boyfriend moved out of our apartment about 2 1/2 months ago. Our lease only went through then but I am currently staying here alone doing a month-to-month deal. My ex-boyfriend just contacted and asked for his half of the security deposit back within the week or he is going to have his attorney sent me a subpoena. My issue is that I have not moved out of the apartment yet and do not know how much of the security deposit we are going to get back, so I don’t know how much he should actually get back. Does he have any legal grounds here, or what?
Asked on July 23, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Wisconsin
Answers:
MD, Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
He has a stronger legal ground than you. If he moved out at the end of your lease term, you and your landlord should have signed a new lease and not continued on a month to month. At this point, it may be cheaper for you and really the only thing to do is to give him half the security back. Ultimately, he should have also continued ensuring the landlord signed a new agreement with you and do the proper accounting, but then he would no longer be in privity of contract with either of you.
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