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This may help you:

http://www.rentlaw.com/dep/njdeposit.htm

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I don't have any fancy codes that I can quote, only a friend who runs an NJ painting business. The landlord must repaint a unit after each tenant, therefore they can't charge you for painting.

Whoever asked about deposits, not only do they have to be in an interest bearing account, they must also be returned in a timely manner(6 weeks I believe, someone look that up), if the remainder of your deposit is not returned on time I think the law states you get extra compensation.

We had a landlord in Hoboken that gave us a crazy laundry list of things that had to be cleaned etc before we moved out. It said we had to clean the inside AND outside of the windows and under the fridge etc. I called a friend of mine who was a tenant lawyer in NYC and he wrote a letter for me as a favor and they backed off completely. Not sure if you have any lawyer friends who can help you out like this but it certainly helped. The letter said something like "the apartment will be returned in broom clean condition with normal wear and tear" etc.

They LEGALLY are not allowed to charge you normal wear and tear I would forward them these laws by mail or fax and if they still dont refund ur money I would take them to court, hope this helps I hate when people try to get over!

"Getting your security deposit back
The Rent Security Deposit Act states what a landlord must do with your security deposit when you move out, even if you move out before your lease is over. Within 30 days after you move out, the landlord must return your security deposit and interest, less any rent you owe or any charges for repairing damage that you have done to the property. If the landlord deducts any amounts for damages or rent, he or she must give you a complete list of the damages he or she claims you did to the property and the cost of repairs. The landlord must send you the list of damages by registered or certified mail, and the landlord must return to you any money left over from your security deposit. Cite: N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1.

The landlord can only charge you for property damage that is more than ordinary wear and tear. Ordinary wear and tear means damage that takes place from the normal, careful use of the property. Examples of normal wear and tear are faded paint on the walls, loose tile in the bathroom, window cracks caused by winter weather, or leaky faucets or radiators. Examples of damages that might not be ordinary wear and tear are large holes in the walls caused by nailing up decorations, cigarette burns on floors, or a broken mirror on the bathroom cabinet.

Landlords cannot charge cleaning fees to tenants who leave their apartments broom clean. Landlords often try to deduct such fees, as well as fees for painting.

There are steps you can take to prevent a landlord from charging you for ordinary wear and tear, cleaning, or painting. Before you move out, ask the landlord or superintendent to personally inspect the apartment. Then ask that person to sign a note stating that you left the apartment clean and undamaged. If you cannot get the landlord or superintendent to inspect the unit, have a friend do so. Ask your friend to take photographs, and sign and date them. If you have a friend do this, make sure the friend can go to court with you if necessary. If you end up in court, the judge will not accept a letter from your friend as evidence.


http://www.lsnjlaw.org/english/placei ... ts/chapterthree/index.cfm

How long did you live there for? If I am not mistaken rented apartments must be recarpeted and painted at the owners expense every some odd years I dont know the actual amount but im sure someone could pull it up here. And if thats the case they should not be charging you for carpeting or stains none the less.... read up on NJ renters rights everything int here coukld help you get all that money back

Yes its on 10th between Monmouth and Brunswick.

Yes they kept it in an interest bearing account.

there was $0.69 of interest for 3 years of a $3900 deposit.

MOCCO, LORRAINE A-1 PROP. MGT.

Is that (Liberty Harbor) Peter Mocco's wife?? They own a ton of buildings around town. They have their offices in that huge storage building near the ramp of the Holland Tunnel. I rented a place once that they had listed as NO FEE and then got charged a rental fee anyway. Shady.

Had a similar situation with A1 myself when I rented an apartment in Paulus Hook. They charged me $75 for a one nail hole that I had missed. They also tried to charge me $250 for a cracked tile in the bathroom, but I had proof by providing the copy of the pre-move in inspection document detailing that the damage was already present. They are complete crooks and try to charge tenant after tenant for the same damage. There were a couple of things they tried to charge me for as well but I don't recall. However, I do recall it took me several months to get most of my deposit back. I've been a renter and am now a landlord and their practices are deplorable.

Did A1 keep your deposit in a landlord-tenant account so that it could collect interest over the 3 years that they were holding your money? It is against NJ Security Deposit law not to do so.

I had a landlord try to withhold $500 from me for 6 small nail holes in the walls saying that they needed to repaint the entire apartment. I got the full deposit back when I asked them for my interest, which they didn't have.

Long time reader, sporadic poster...I thought I'd bring some good to some future jc-list reader. For three years, I lived at Morgan Lofts (144 Steuben St), great building, pretty under the radar but for the size and space you get, great deal. Yeah, their maintenance is spotty but eventually things get fixed. Anyway neither of those are the points of this post.

We moved out June 1, had a security deposit of 1.5 months rent, $3900. A1 Prop Mgmt returned us $2595 of the deposit with deductions for

$150 - Cleaning - Apparently the freezer/master bathroom/broiler/ac fan were not clean up to snuff

$55 - Pilot Light - This never worked, we put a maintenance request when we moved in and they claimed it was not fixable and told us an alternate way to light that burner.

$1,100 - Replace the entire carpet due to 8 stains. Our entire 3 bedroom apartment except for kitchen and bathrooms was carpeted. We had the carpets professional shampooed and yes there were 8 stains (all smaller than a quarter).

Needless to say, an email exchange, some phone calls, and we were refunded an additional $650. Keep in mind that all these charges were on us, although we took over the apt at the end of the previous tenants lease 30 min after they moved out and they did nothing to the place when we moved in. But seriously if you live there, be careful, they expect the place to be brand new/spotless and will charge for everything.

Another story from someone else in the building my roommate spoke to:

A guy who used to live in a four-bedroom on the ninth floor said ? A1 is trying to take $6,400 of their $6,425 deposit, and he's been in a battle with them for two and half months. Apparently there were some legitimate charges, like when he kicked the door down because he forgot his keys, but A1 claims they should've actually charged $9,000 and were giving them a discount.

After he requested all their invoices, etc., among other things he figured out they were charged three hours of labor for every spackle hole.