Verhaeg v. McElligott

Plaintiff filed a lawsuit alleging that the defendants violated the Security Deposit Return Act. The trial court entered judgment in favor of the defendants finding that the defendants properly deducted the costs of repairs for damages caused by the plaintiff and for payment of plaintiff’s utility charges and returned the remainder of the plaintiff’s security deposit. Plaintiff appealed and alleged that the trial court erred in applying a “subjective” bad faith standard and that the trial court incorrectly placed the burden on plaintiff to demonstrate timely, documented compliance by the landlord. The appellate court affirmed the trial court’s finding that the defendants did not fail to provide a statement and did not provide a statement in bad faith regarding the calculation of the security deposit but reversed the portion of the trial court order that found plaintiff failed to sustain their burden of proof that defendants violated the Act. (BOIE and McHANEY, concurring)