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Housing issues / eviction

Can a LL charge a DV victim for damages to the apartment?

In general, when someone rents an apartment, the tenant is responsible to the landlord for any damages caused in the apartment. If there are damages done, a landlord can deduct the costs from the security deposit and sue the tenant if the damages exceed the amount of the security deposit. If someone other than the tenant who signed the lease is the person who caused the damage, the tenant may decide to sue the person who caused the damage in small claims court to get reimbursed for any money that the tenant lost due to the other person’s damages. In general, although I cannot speak to your specific situation, a landlord isn’t required to figure out who caused the damages and go after that specific person for the damages instead of the tenant. We have information on suing an abuser in small claims court in STATE on our website here:LINK

You mentioned that there was a situation where an abusive partner caused damage and the victim of the abuse if being sued for the damages (or has to pay for them in some manner). Do you know if the abuser was arrested for the crime of property damage or a related domestic violence crime? In general, if someone was arrested for damaging property, the victim may want to talk to the prosecutor about asking for the defendant to have to pay restitution for the damages to the victim. Another possible way in which a victim of abuse may be able to ask for money damages is through an order of protection. In some situations, if a victim alleges in the petition that the respondent destroyed property, s/he can ask for the respondent to have to pay damages to her as part of a final order. Again, I can’t say what is commonly done in this regard in STATE but you can read about the STATE law on this here: LINK TO HOW CAN AN RO HELP ME? QUESTION And here is more information on orders of protection in case it is useful:LINK

Lastly, it is often helpful to get legal advice from a legal assistance organization to make sure that a person’s rights are protected in a specific situation. Here is a link for legal referrals:LINK

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