I'm a newcomer to the board, looking for whatever help you can give me.

I moved into and out of an apartment on a verbal month-to-month lease this summer where I had paid an $800 deposit on behalf of myself and my roommates. The landlord is refusing to return the deposit for reasons that aren't relevant to my question here.

However, at least under Michigan law, the landlord is required to give me several things in writing or else he legally forfeits his right to keep the deposit. For instance, the law requires that landlords notify tenants in writing within 14 days of move-in what their name and address is, and which bank they will be keeping the security deposit in and inform the tenant of a few legal obligations. The landlord is required to give the tenant the move-in checklist and then, upon move-out, the landlord is required to give the tenant a list of claimed damages and is required to sue the defendant within 45 days if they intend to keep any of the deposit. The landlord didn't fulfill any of those obligations, so he legally has no right to the deposit.

Here's my question: I'm filing a court case to recover my deposit, so the burden of proof is on me. My argument is that I was never given any of the documents the landlord was required to give me and the landlord never sued me within those 45 days, as he was required. How can I go about proving in court that I didn't get a document?

Thanks so much for whatever help you can provide.

In the future, never rent on the strength of a verbal lease - creates too many problems as you are now experiencing.

Regarding you current situation, all you need to prove is that you paid the landlord $800 as a security deposit. After that, it is up to the landlord to justify his failure to return your deposit or to comply with Michigan landlord and tenant laws.

Steve @ www.buyingahouseandsavingmoney.com

In the future, never rent on the strength of a verbal lease - creates too many problems as you are now experiencing.

Yeah, and for what it's worth, I didn't intend to. We negotiated the terms of the lease and then he provided me with a written agreement to sign that didn't match what we'd agreed to and had several ridiculous clauses. I refused to sign it and he agreed that it was unreasonable (he'd just printed off a sample from online), so he said he'd get me another one later.

A few days later, he told me that he needed my rent and deposit NOW, so I paid it, trusting that we'd get the lease taken care of. Before anything was signed, however, my roommates skipped town without notice, so I couldn't afford to stay in the apartment. So technically, it was a verbal lease, although we both intended all along to get something in writing ASAP.

Regarding you current situation, all you need to prove is that you paid the landlord $800 as a security deposit. After that, it is up to the landlord to justify his failure to return your deposit or to comply with Michigan landlord and tenant laws.

That much I think I can do. I've got a copy of the check I wrote him from my bank, and it's clearly labelled "Rent + Deposit" in the memo field. And personally, I don't think he'd lie and dispute the amount of the deposit. He wasn't devious; he just had no idea what he was doing as a landlord.