After my husband & I got married, I moved from my house & into his home.
I had given the landlord my thirty mornings’ notice, & recommended I get my deposit back within thirty mornings of my vacating. They sent the housing supervisor over to inspect the house before I left, & I had the paperwork that said everything was in fantastic condition! We were married for almost a year when I got a letter from that landlord. He was charging me for new carpeting for the apartment, & a new thermostat. He said he had to replace all the carpeting in the apartment, & I had broken the thermostat when trying to unaffix the lockbox. I had never been so glad to have pictures with dates. I still had the paperwork from the property supervisor. I had pictures of the floors when I moved in & when I moved out. I had pictures of a thermostat, without a lockbox, when I moved in & when I moved out, then everything was noted in pictures & in writing, that the house was in better shape when I left than when I moved in. I took the letter I gained about my paying for carpeting & the thermostat, & the lawyer laughed. He asked if I was going to school to be a lawyer, & I said no! My husband laughed when he said I missed my calling, although I didn’t need to pay for the thermostat or the carpeting. I have never been happier to be anal about keeping paper trails.