Answers to Frequently-Asked Landlord/Tenant Questions
by: Alaska Legal Services Corporation
Q.
How Do I Get My Security Deposit Back?
A.
After you leave the house or apartment you’ve been renting, your landlord is supposed to give you back your security deposit, minus any back rent you owe and any money the landlord is withholding to cover damages you’ve caused.
The landlord is supposed to mail you your money plus an itemized statement about any money withheld within 14 days (if you or the landlord have given adequate notice of terminating the tenancy) or within 30 days (if you haven’t given appropriate notice).
Make sure you give the landlord a mailing address as you move out, although if you don’t, the landlord is still supposed to try to find you.
If the landlord does not give back your deposit on time or fails to give you an adequate notice about what’s being withheld, you can sue the landlord, probably in small claims court, and ask for damages of up to twice the amount the landlord has withheld.
Q.
How Do I Get My Landlord To Make Repairs To My Apartment?
A.
To get a landlord to make repairs to your apartment, you should (a) ask, (b) give the landlord a written notice about which repairs need to be done, and if necessary (c) sue.A sample notice is included with the pamphlet, “The Landlord and Tenant Act: what it means to you.” Click on the link below to read the pamphlet online.
If the cheapest thing would be for you to arrange yourself for the repairs to be done and deduct the cost from your rent, the pamphlet also contains a sample notice about that.
If you have a written lease that runs for a period of more than a month, and the lease doesn’t have a shorter-notice termination clause, you are pretty well stuck with the lease so long as the landlord wants to hold you to it – unless the landlord himself or herself has violated his or her duties as a landlord, at which point you can give the landlord a notice demanding that the problems be fixed and terminating the tenancy if they aren’t.
If the place is up to code and you do leave early, the landlord can continue to charge you the rent that would have been due, but he or she must try to rerent the place and must deduct any new rental payments from the amount you’re being charged.
Q.
Can The Landlord Shut Off (Or Charge Me For) Water If The Lease Agreement Says Water Is Furnished?
A.
If your rental agreement is that the landlord will supply water, and the landlord later demands that you pay for it, you can either move out or put the service in your name and give the landlord a notice that you will be deducting the water charge from the rent.If the landlord then gives you an eviction notice, you can defend yourself against the eviction by showing that the landlord is retaliating against you for standing up for your rights about the water bill.
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