Is landlord entitled to deposit, or did he forfeit it?

The situation being described is in Milwaukee, WI. My sister moved out of her apt last Aug, at the end of her lease. Being a first-time renter, she was apparently unaware to send a CERTIFIED letter to her landlord informing him that she would not be renewing her lease term, so her landlord said he didn't get the letter. (Though it was mailed with the last month's rent which he received just fine.) He did not return her deposit. What I'm trying to find out for her is if an itemized letter was still needed to state why he kept her deposit, because he's trying to say proper notice wasn't given. She surrendered the premises as stated at the end of the original term and he had the ad up to rent immediately. Or, because he's trying to get over, can karma kick him in the butt and allow her to sue for twice the amount of her deposit because he did not return it or send a statement within the required 21 days?|||Unfortunately, because your sister did not follow WI's laws on giving notice, she did put herself behind the 8 ball here. However, the law still protects her to a point. "(5) Effect of actual receipt of notice. If notice is not properly given by one of the methods specified in this section, but is actually received by the other party, the notice is deemed to be properly given; but the burden is upon the party alleging actual receipt to prove the fact by clear and convincing evidence" http://wis-law.com/tenant704.html#anchor鈥?/a> Since she can prove that the landlord got the rent check (he cashed it), she can tell a judge that she included the notice letter in that and it's up to the judge whether or not to believe her.





If she is deemed to have not given proper notice, then what it's going to come down to is what the judge sets as the day of departure. State law states that he must give an itemized list of deductions, so if he hasn't provided that and it's not 9 months later, she's probably going to be owed the maximum allowed under state law.