HRW Realty Corp

HRW Realty charged me for "damages" that are normal wear & tear not included on the move out form. They are billing me & not refunding my deposit.I rented a home from HRW. My lease expired on 6/30/14. I was present for a walk through after vacating the house so that the realty company & I could agree on what damages were to be charged against my deposit. [redacted], an owner of HRW, had me sign the move out form, but never gave me a copy of it. On 8/4/14, I received a move out statement listing numerous additional "damages" that were not listed on the move out form at the time of the walk through. Also, I notified HRW on 5/10/14 of the master shower door coming out of the wall & a leak into the kitchen below. Ms. [redacted] wanted to come out & see it before having it repaired. She came & immediately started implying that my son & I must have done something to cause the door to come off & she said that must have caused the shower to start leaking. She removed the door and leaned it against the wall in the master bedroom. She said she would get back to me about the repair. She never contacted me again about it. I suspected at that time her plan was to never have it repaired & take it out of my deposit. I hired a licensed contractor myself to do the repairs; he stated that the leak was not due to the shower door being off; the leak is down inside the drain & this is a common problem with that type of shower. The floor outside the shower was neither soft nor wet, as it would have been if that's where the water was coming from. He also stated that the shower door was not installed properly, which is why it came off the wall. I also had informed HRW that the icemaker was not working & they never repaired that either. I sent HRW a statement from the contractor advising them that I wanted $275, the expense I incurred for repairing the shower door & kitchen ceiling, added to whatever amount of deposit refund I would be receiving. The lease stipulates that if the realtor suspects a tenant of causing damage & expects them to pay for it, they must give written notice to the tenant. I received no such notice. The move out statement did not itemize the charges; there were no invoices or documentation included; just 3 lump sum amounts listed. Out of a $1295 deposit, HRW claims to have used all of that and I owe them $45.58! I had a washer & dryer that was still in the house on 6/30; Ms. [redacted] verbally told me that if I could get it removed that day to let her know & I could do that. When I called later that day to arrange that, I was told that once keys are returned, I could not get back in the house. I feel that HRW also owes me for the washer & dryer, which was disposed of by the homeowner. All the additional damages listed on the move out statement are normal wear & tear, for which the lease states the tenant does not have to pay. HRW was negligent not to repair the shower door, the ceiling & the icemaker. The lease states that the landlord is obligated to comply with all building & housing codes & to make all repairs to the premises as necessary to keep them in fit & habitable condition; HRW did not do that. They deliberately did not do the repairs so that they could keep as much of my deposit as possible.Desired SettlementI would like a copy of the ORIGINAL walk out form that I signed in [redacted]' presence, although she could have added items to it after I signed it since I never got a copy. I would like my deposit of $1295, less the damages on the form that I signed, which included a large red stain on the downstairs carpet, several light bulbs that needed replacing & one HVAC filter that I did not replace. I also want copies of the invoices proving how much was spent on those items. Added to that should be $275 for the amount paid to the contractor who repaired the shower door & ceiling (for which I have already provided a copy of his statement to HRW); and $150 for the used washer & dryer that I was not allowed to remove from the house, even though my lease did not expire until midnight 6/30/14 & I wanted to remove it that same day. Thank you.Business Response At the February inspection when I saw the large holes in 2 doors and the large hole in the side of the kitchen island, [redacted] mentioned these were caused by her husband's (ex-husband?)son who we were told was no longer living in the home. If he caused the damage and was no longer living in the home, I assumed there was a low risk of addtional damage. This is why I offered to help her with another rental in [redacted]. After the May inspection and additional damage, I changed my mind. Because I was informed water was pouring through the kitchen ceiling when the master shower was used, it was necessary to inspect the house to determine the extent of damage and also possible cause. Although [redacted] may not have been using the master bath shower, her son led me to believe he was still using it.