do something?

[dchenes]

Craigslist strikes again...I'm looking at an apartment in Somerville tonight. (Central St at Medford St). I figure it can't hurt to look, at least.

One of the problems with moving is that I can never quite afford it because the security deposit on the place I move out of is never available until I've moved out and already put another security deposit on the place I move into.

I know why I went to grad school, but I think it would have been easier, housing-wise, if I hadn't. Nepotism rules, but only when you're there to take advantage of it.

Oh well. We shall see. Worst case, I stay where I am for another year and figure out how to cut $250 a month out of my current budget, or get a second job (which is probably easier in general).

Comments

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's right near me! :)

Surely there must be someone who would lend you the security deposit if they knew they were going to get it back within a week or two.

[dchenes.livejournal.com]

It's usually more like a month for security deposits. The place you come from has 30 days to get it back to you, and they generally take at least 25 days to give you back less than what you gave them. Some day somebody's going to have to explain to me how you're supposed to live in a place for a year and not even have normal wear and tear happen.

(Sorry, minor rant there.)

[whuffle.livejournal.com]

Good luck. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Perhaps you could take up some modeling for adult ed and local art schools to make up the extra income?

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Per Massachusetts law, a landlord may not use any part of your security deposit to pay for normal wear and tear when you move out. The law requires the landlord to provide you with a "statement of condition" (SOC) within 15 days of receiving your security deposit, detailing the condition of the apartment; if, when you move out, the landlord wants to deduct money from your security deposit to pay for repairs other than normal wear and tear, the SOC can be used to prove (or disprove) that you are responsible for the problems that need fixing. The landlord is required by law to provide you with a detailed description of any repairs that s/he is paying for out of your security deposit -- including an estimate of how much each repair will cost.

The law also requires a landlord to put your security deposit in a separate interest-bearing account and then pay you the interest. Within one month of moving in, you are supposed to receive from the landlord the name of the bank and the account number. The landlord may give you the interest directly in cash/check at the end of each year, or allow you to deduct it from the first rent payment of the following year, or give it to you with your security deposit when you move out. All of this also applies to your last month's rent, if you paid that upon moving in.

ref: http://www.ago.state.ma.us/sp.cfm?pageid=1637

Many MA landlords don't know about this part of the law -- or they do but are counting on the fact that you don't. Of course, if you didn't insist on receiving a SOC when you moved in, you might have difficulty proving that any repairs they try to charge you for are your responsibility; but depending on what kind of person the landlord is, you might be able to scare him/her into giving back your whole security deposit, just by making it clear that you know the law.