If you live in Iowa, here is your state's landlord/tenant code. Actually, they spell things out rather nicely. Not a lot of rambling legalese. 562A.10 of your code addresses no written lease. Basically if you took possession, he took your $, 'without reservation' on either party's part it gives your verbal agreement the same weight as if it had been written. I read through your post twice. Quite a bit jumped out at me. If you pursue it, it might be wise to anticipate some things coming up. Not taking sides, just pointing out observations based on what you said. You're putting heavy emphasis on how the money was handled and saying he doesn't have it based on what a neighbor said. Neighbor is a source of information to you but in the end it's just a neighbor talking and not worth anything more than that. Where the money at is the last duck in the row. First it has to be established you're entitled to any/all of SD back. About the damage. Crumbling ceilings and holes in walls are hard to miss on an initial viewing. You can argue you lived in a dump that was never repaired, but you rented the place in that condition. And you've got to be realistic. Even in the nicest of places walls get dings, that's a nothing issue. Holes would be different. Big difference between hairline crack in ceiling (settling will do that in an old house) to plaster chunks falling down. If it was really bad, unless it was the last place possible for you to rent to get a roof over your head, why did you opt to take it? And if a LL promises to fix something major, it should always be gotten in writing before moving in. I'm not condoning a LL let his place fall apart and be a hazard, nor is it legal. But tenants have options. So taking a unit in that condition, being long-suffering, then trying to use that as leverage later to get SD back doesn't make sense. The faucet deal was not handled well by him, but it was fixed so isn't relevant now. The harassing entry situation. Don't see it. That leak certainly constitutes an emergency entry - no notice required by law. (That type of leak is major tho, not minor.) You said you were in the shower and your daughter was sleeping when you heard loud banging and he rushed in. Is there a chance neither of you heard him knocking at a normal level before that? At that point all he knew was water was going where it shouldn't, needed to be stopped at the source, and he has no idea if anyone is home, not home, ignoring him, didn't hear him, sound asleep. He is allowed to protect the integrity of the structure, hopefully swiftly. (Had you attempted to delay his entry purposely that could really backfire.) As far as ranting, maybe he could have been more diplomatic, but LLs are human, too. You've just purchased a house yourself. What frame of mind would you be in to discover a leak like that a week after your purchase? The landlord is never home either he is an over the road trucker so he is rarely around. This winter, the property was not adequately maintained. The sidewalks were dangerously icy and snow covered. Never once were we told that we needed to take care of any of the snow shoveling. Uh, might be wise to leave that one alone. Did you ask if your rent payment included snow removal service? If only other building occupant is away all the time for work, & your rent didn't specifically include the cost of providing a service like that, it can be reasonable concluded without being told that if it snows, you might have to grab a shovel and toss down some de-icer and clear a path for yourselves and car. I also found some vague things about since we never received keys to the actual dwelling, he technically never surrendered the dwelling to us. But he did surrender possession of the premises to you. You lived there. And as far as a key goes, you're absolutely entitled to one from the start. Why would you live there the entire time without the ability to lock your door? You had the option of requesting (preferably in writing) and if he still failed to comply immediately, call a locksmith, have a new lock installed, keep your keys, give LL a copy key and the bill. It's at a date now where you don't have legal possession or access to the place anymore. You say the place is spotless. But yet you've not cleaned the carpet yet - it's still on your to-do list (tho your tenancy is done). But then you say you shouldn't have to pay for cleaning of the place on move out when you weren't shown the same courtesy when you moved in. I'm confused - spotless or it needs to be cleaned? I didn't read through the laws on it, but if your state law says you need to give 30 days notice, it means 30 days. Your letter only gives 28. If it only requires "a month" you're OK. Also, if he's got 30 days to respond from date of your notice, that gives him till 3/2 because Feb only had 28 days. So maybe it's en route to you now via postal service. Guess next couple days will tell.

To Cavimum, A further point brought up in your original post in this thread concerns the failure of bearings in front load machines. Now I have reservations concerning the adequacy of the bearing arrangement(s) but I believe that subject is outside the scope of this thread. There is however, I believe, a link between the corrosion of the spiders and some of the recorded bearing failures. The principal product of corrosion of the aluminium spider is aluminium oxide (Al2O3). This compound is barely soluble in water, adheres very strongly to the donor metal, in this case the aluminium alloy spider, and is extremely hard and abrasive, in fact if your look on the back of 'sandpaper' you are very likely to find that the 'grit' on the 'sandpaper' is aluminium oxide. Now although aluminium oxide is barely soluble in water if you go to the link below you will see the pictorial record of the efforts of one person to repair an LG machine with a corroded spider and failed bearings. There is no need to read all of the descriptive matter, unless of course you are interested. 'Replies' 60-63 inclusive and 70-76 inclusive show the corrosion of the spider. 'Replies' 75-77 inclusive show the deposits of aluminium oxide that did not remain adhering to the spider but where carried in suspension in the 'water' of the washing/rinsing processes. This abrasive solution will be in contact with the soft lips of the shaft seal, how long do you think that seal will last before it fails and allows water into the bearings? This water will then destroy the bearings in two ways, the 'normal' corrosion of steel in water and the lapping/grinding action of the aluminium oxide. A very large proportion of the reports 'on the web' note the double failure of the corroded spider, perhaps not to catastrophic failure, together with the failed/seal and bearings. In view of my earlier comment I hardly need add that I believe the 'repairer' in the thread mentioned is wasting his time trying to electrically insulate the stainless steel drum from the spider. Here is a link that might be useful: LG washer attempted repair

It really depends on the market and what is normal. Where I live a downpayment is 5 or 10% of the purchase price. Of couse you do not pay it until you are in contract and have had it inspected and worked out any problems. When the offer is first accepted you send 500 to show you are serious. However, it sounds like there are markets where the ernest money is 1000 total. So what is yours? Also how is the market, is it a complete buyers market so that your house will sit? If that is the case I might accept it (maybe run a credit check on the purchaser, get a FICO score first?) and put a very strict time is of the essence clause? Still does not sit well with me because he is tying up your house (not just for the month but until the contract is either completed or the contract is voided) and he is risking nothing. For you as an indiviudual to enforce the note would be impossible and expensive. While it is true that most sellers never get earnest money, if the contract falls through there is at least an incentive for buyers to release the seller and get their money back

A contract requires consideration to be valid. It can be as small as the $1 or $10 often used in deeds receipt of which is acknowledged in the deed. "I Joe Blah-blah hereby grant and convey to Frank Wats-his-name for $10 (receipt of which is hereby acknowledged) and other valuable considerations the land identified as ..." Has title to the land been conveyed to you? You should find a local RE attorney to look over everything and advise you. Builder's contracts are usually written by the builder's attorney to protect the builder, not the purchaser.