Meridian did not return my security deposit as Meridian claimed cleaning and painting charges are incurred hence it was taken out of the deposit.
When I moved out a MOVE OUT inspection was performed with a member of their management staff, the INSPECTION was clear and no deficiency was noted. Since no deficiency was noted I did not asked for a signature to prove the clean inspection (my mistake as I thought I was dealing with a reputable company).
After 21 days to my horror, instead of receiving a refund I received a due to owner statement to be paid within 10 days. Needless to say, the statement showed charges due for painting, cleaning etc. We were in the apartment barely a year and we didn't even sleep there half of the time as we own a home that was being remodeled. At the most, if there was any deficieny, it would be fall under normal wear and tear (an accepted deficiency as noted in the Lease Contract).
I wrote Meridian a letter, Meridian did not respond-so I sued. I won the suit in small claims court and small claims court granted me an additional $1,000.00 for bad faith of Meridian. To my horror (again), Meridian refused to pay and they appealled the judgment which I fought. Meridian brought their attorney, the manager, the assistant manager and the maintenance against me (only me). As the attorney knows more legal maneuver than me and by his intimidation tactic, he tried to discredit my bad faith claim.
After all the blah blah, I still won my claim for my security deposit but the judge took away my previous bad faith judgment.
This proved that Meridian ran by Manager Cheryl Vigil and assistant Dolores Davis witheld my deposit illegally. Beware all!!!
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