Won't tell Us How Much Is Owed

I posted about a week ago how we paid the landlords power bill for years and the amount is about $3500.00. The landlord still is stating he has to redo the flooring and carpeting and cannot give us a figure, yet states we will owe him for this. We moved out June 22nd. How much longer do we give him? I did contact the power company twice and they have stated this is between the landlord and us. We were under no obligation to pay his power bill. Like I said before he stated he "forgot" to change the address and forgot the power bill. I believe we may be responsible for the small hole in the carpet and not responsible for replacing the carpet in the whole house. Nor responsible for the flooring from the water leak. I want to get this settled and move on. Bottom line. How much time does he have to give us a figure? Since he has a bad memory I don't want to let him drag this out. This probably will land in a court which I was really hoping to avoid.
Thank you

Some states don't have a timeframe; others alow up to 30 days. (see link below) You have a right to demand an itemized bill accounting for all repairs and I'd also request proof any repairs were made. (Over and above "normal wear and tear.") I don't see any way to avoid court action at this rate; 30 days has already elapsed and you're no further ahead than when you vacated the property. Talk to an attorney if the $3500 exceeds the limit of your small claims court .. I'd suggest you talk to one even if it doesn't. Sometimes there mere presence of a lawyer works wonders. I wouldn't suggest you wait much longer if you hope to get your security refund.

http://www.legalmatch.com/law-librar...-deposits.html

Again, good luck.

Thank you: Will have to contact a lawyer. Its not the security deposit I want. Its the money I paid for that power bill. To us on a fixed income that amounts to a lot of money. We never had to put down a security deposit. We lived at another residence before this and he knew our former landlord. He knew we always paid ontime and offered us one of his rentals when the place we were living in was going to be sold. We live in Maricopa County-Phoenix AZ.
Thank you so much for your imput. My husband has severe congested heart disease and really wanted to stay out of court with the stress it causes. But if I want my money back I guess that is what we will have to do

I have previously wrote how we paid the landlords power bills for years. The amount is over $3500. To clarify we did not have any security deposit. I am just trying to get back what is owed to us, or at least part of the power bill. While we did contact the ex landlord again he once again stated he doesn't have a figure yet on his repairs. We moved out around June 21st. Remember there was a water leak (which he did nothing about) a hole in the carpet from our dog, and he's stating he has to repaint the house. We lived there over 4 years. Contacted the power company but they say its between us and the ex landlord. I made an appointment to see a lawyer but before that could happen my husband had a heart attack and was in the hospital for 7 days. This was really stressing my husband out and took its toll. I'm afraid any court battle would only do more harm with the stress. My question is does the landlord have unlimited time to figure out a cost? The landlord said normal wear and tear does not include painting, replacing the house with new carpet, and fixing the water damage. We actully left the house really clean. I did look up the Arizona tenant law but saw nothing that states how long the landlord has to come up with any figures. All we want is our money back for his paying his power bill.

The Arizona Residential Tenant-Landlord Act does in fact require a landlord to provide an itemized list of repairs within 14 days excluding holidays and I believe weekends. I believe this can be applied to your situation, regardless of whether a security deposit was collected, as you are due other monies refunded as a result of your tenancy. See page 8, Article 2 paragraph D on http://www.azsos.gov/public_services...esidential.pdf. You may also find this link, paragraph D interesting in regards to your complaints about the utility bill as well. The Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. More information is available on the Arizona Secretary of State's webpage at The Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.

Yes, I still believe you have recourse here. I still believe you should contact that attorney you mentioned if you still want to recoup your monies. You have a choice as I see it: either file legal action or drop the matter entirely; obviously the choice is yours to make. At the very least, you'll at least know whether or not you could possibly prevail, citing the statutes posted above.

Hope your husband is faring better these days. Good luck.