Couple sues landlord for $1800 after complying with parking rules and only getting half their security deposit back: 'Next time you tell someone to "park wherever you want," you'd better mean it'

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Dec 19, 2024 2:00 PM EST

Who doesn't love a story when a tenant sues a landlord over some classic landlord nonsense and wins? We're so used to being constantly manipulated and played by landlords here at FAIL Blog, so when we do come across a story where the aggrieved actually comes out on top in the end, we have to celebrate those moments.

Here, we have a couple that was specifically told by their landlord they could park their car anywhere in a statement well-documented via email. So when they received less than half of their security deposit back at the end of their lease, the couple had some questions. Evidently, the landlord thought they could get away with using that money to renovate the communal lawn by falsely claiming that the couple's parked car was the reason it needed to be remodeled. Well, the couple began to gather their receipts, and their overly confident landlord would soon see his day in small claims court.

Keep scrolling below for the full story and for the best reactions from folks in the comments section. For more stories like this, check out this post about a Karen who tried to steal a passenger's seat on a 100% full flight.

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  • 01
    A Mü
    via Unsplash+ (Yunus Tuğ)
  • 02
    Landlord Tries to Keep Security Deposit... Ummm, No
    via Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 03
    About 10 years ago, my at-the-time girlfriend (now wife) and I moved from the area we went to college to an apartment near where we planned to start our careers. I say it was an apartment, but it was really the basement of a house
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  • 04
    it was an apartment, but it was really the basement of a house that the landlord had walled off to create 2 "apartments" to rent. The place was kinda crappy, but the rent was cheap for the area, and we were close to work.
    via Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 05
    Everything was fine for a few months, but the only parking for us was on the street out front - the couple that rented the upstairs "apartment" had rights to the garage and driveway (they paid more than we did). Suddenly my car
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  • 06
    got a couple ☐ tickets for parking on the street - I'm guessing some -clown cop needed to meet their quota - and my girlfriend's car got sideswiped in a hit & run. This had to stop, so we emailed the landlord (her preferred form of communication) to ask if there's anywhere safe for us to park. She replies, "Park anywhere you want."
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  • 07
    We had noticed that our upstairs neighbors usually eschewed the driveway to park in the front yard (they were horribly lazy), so we figured that would be a good spot for us too. We parked in the front yard the rest of the year.
    via Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 08
    We figured that would be the end of it. We finished our lease, left the place in better shape than we found it, and requested our $1500 security deposit back. After a couple weeks, we got a check for $700... F!?!?!?
    via Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 09
    Since there was no explanation, we asked the landlord for one, and she replied that the deducted amount was to "re-sod the lawn", claiming that parking on it had damaged it.
    via Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 10
    Now, I was the one who cut the grass at this house while we stayed there, so I was well aware that the lawn was more weeds and bald spots than grass - picture the African savanna in mid-summer.
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  • 11
    No one had ever lifted a finger to landscape any part of the property, but the landlord wanted to sell the house once the leases were up, and she figured she could get the renters to pay for a nice, new lawn.
    via Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 12
    I complained to the landlord: didn't care. I put in a complaint with the local housing department: didn't care. I threatened to take her to court: didn't care. So, that's what I did took her to small claims court. -
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  • 13
    I had never sued anyone before, so I was going in prepared! I took pictures of the entire front yard - the area that we "damaged" was actually one of the best patches of grass, though it did have a small rut that my tires made when the yard was muddy in the summer. I
    via Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 14
    got testimonials from our upstairs and across-the-street neighbors. Most importantly, I printed out the email where the landlord told us to park anywhere.
    via Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 15
    We were suing for $1800 to cover court costs and us both missing a day of work on top of the full security deposit. In mediation we said we would settle for $1400, but she must have thought she was in the right because she refused to offer a penny more than the original $700 check, which we
    via Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 16
    never cashed. When we got in front of the judge, it was pretty clear that she had no evidence, hadn't prepared anything, and just assumed that us "kids" would fall on our faces. We did not.
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  • 17
    We put everything we had in front of the judge and made our claim (he was impressed). He stopped us when we showed him the email to ask the landlord, "Did you really tell them to park wherever they wanted?" When she said "yes", the
    via Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 18
    judge replied "Then what are we even talking about?", and that was that. Judgement in full for us, and that own had to pay to re-sod her I lawn.
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  • 19
    Next time you tell someone to "park wherever you want", you'd better mean it. Or at least don't try to someone over when they comply with what you said! If you made it this far, thanks for reading!
    via Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 20
    Disorderly_Chaos. My landlord tried to keep half our $1500 deposit because of some burn marks, a broken door, and some shades missing - all of which I had taken pictures of when we moved in. All were pre-existing.
    via Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 21
    I told her (company) that if I didn't see my entire deposit back by the 4th of the month I was legally entitled to double that amount and I had lawyers on standby if they wanted to go to court over it. They paid.
    via Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 22
    Then I printed out copies of "The Landlord Tenant Act" which she had violated on several occasions (including not giving my full deposit back) and distributed bound copies to every person living at every rental property I could find listings for. Screw crappy landlords.
    via Clintosaurus_Rex

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