Security Deposit

That's why tenants don't pay the last month's rent and use the security for that purpose. Best of luck.

Never a good idea to withhold last month rent.

Try AG office - they offer help with mediation: https://ag.ny.gov/consumer-frauds/housing-issues

Rent Security Deposits: The Office of New York State Attorney General offers, as an alternative to filing a lawsuit, a mediation service to assist tenants in recovering rent security deposits and interest. To access the Office’s mediation service, simply file a rent security complaint form with the Office of the New York State Attorney General, Bureau of Consumer Frauds and Protection at 120 Broadway, 3rd Floor, New York, New York, 10271.

"Never a good idea to withhold last month rent."

Why's that?

Because nonpayment can harm your credit rating. Because if you are planning to rent elsewhere and need a letter of rec from previous LL you're screwed. Because LL can decide to be a d*ck and take you to housing court for breaching the terms of your lease.

Hey Squid, times must have changed since I was a landlord back in the 80's and 90's. It was standard operating procedure for tenants to use security for the last month's rent. Of course if the tenant left the apartment in bad shape, then it was off to Small Claims Court if necessary.

Yeah I think a lot of people still do it...

I wonder if this is a small landlord vs big landlord thing?
Renting from big old school NY landlords, I always got the entire deposit back.. promptly... with interest added on top.

My rentals from individual owners in condos have nitpicked and kept most/all of deposit for BS like "I had to repaint" (which they do during every occupancy) or the apartment not being as spotlessly cleaned as they desired.

I got better value for the monthly rent with the smaller guys, but the deposit was basically a write-off.

The best thing you can do in NYC is find a decent deal and don't move too often.

How much of the security deposit did your landlord hold back? Are we talking about a few hundred bucks? The amount is going to determine if it is worth fighting or writing off. Did you take pictures of the empty unit to verify its condition before you left?

I recently went through this. Use the AG mediation service. If that doesn't work, go to small claims court. I don't understand the aversion to SCC.

https://therealdeal.com/2018/02/21/the-long-view-its-time-to-ditch-the-security-deposit/