I live in a 10 year old townhome with a roommate, who is also the landlord. About 6 months ago while I was at work a water line going to the washing machine(which is on the second floor) began leaking into the ceiling for the first floor. It flooded half of the living room ceiling so the landlord had it repaired, ceiling torn out and dried then replaced. Her home owners insurance covered almost all of the repairs, but now she is trying to take part of them out of my security deposit! Is this legal? I did not directly cause the damage, I wasnt even home. Isnt it her job to perform repairs and maintain the property? My security deposit was $600, she is trying to charge me for half the cost of repairs which is $1500...and she believed the washing machine was faulty so upon replacing that she wants to deduct $200 out of my sec deposit for that too. She lives in the house and wants to deduct the cost of home repairs from my security deposit..can she do this and what action should I take when I move out in a month?
Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 07/09/2011 - 05:18

Security Deposit
No, the landlord cannot do that. Please see numerous posts on this Forum re getting your security deposit back.