Hawaii - rental house security deposit unfairly seized--recourse?

Hi everyone,
Here is my situation: I rented a house in Oahu for a week in mid-March. The house rental fee was $2800 for the week with a $1000 security deposit. The house was advertised as a three bedroom house.

When we arrived, it was actually a much larger house with many more bedrooms. We were told by the property manager to choose three to use, and we did. The bedrooms were on two levels, and my friend chose to use a bedroom on the lower level that had twin beds for herself and her young daughter. Since it did not include a bathroom, she used a bathroom located in another bedroom on that level, but no one slept in the bed or stayed in the room.

We are now being told that the owner is keeping the entire $1000 security deposit because we "used" more than three bedrooms. This seems outrageous. I already paid a $275 cleaning fee with the rental and you cannot tell me that it cost $1000 to clean this bathroom.

The entire amount was initially charged to my credit card, so I guess I can dispute the $1000, but if that doesn't work is there anything else I can do? I have rented at least 30 houses in the last 10 years and I have never had any part of a security deposit withheld. I should also add that the unit had two flaws--inconsistent internet access (which the property manager admitted he knew about, but the house was advertised with it anyway, causing me to be unable to work) and a rusty and dirty grill that was unusable.

Thanks for reading and for your help.

Was this penalty stipulated in the contract?
I'd file a dispute ASAP if you weren't made aware of the room situation/penalty in advance.

Is this of the sort of question that a resonable reader of FT would be able to answer?

Is this of the sort of question that a resonable reader of FT would be able to answer?

I would think that someone with knowledge of local law in Hawaii regarding rentals would indeed be able to shed some light. People with general knowledge could also be of help.

And if it doesn't work out to your satisfaction, please give us the site with the house on it.;)

You are lucky that you charged the rent and security deposit to your credit card; I would document the emails or calls with the manager and the fact that they are refusing to return the security deposit. I would immediately call your credit card company and initiate a dispute. Let them do some of the fighting for you.
Do you have pictures of the property when you left? just to make sure they don't say you destroyed something.
I find that American Express and some of the higher end Visa/MC cards are very helpful and will work with you.
I would not start posting the name and address of the property yet. You want your money back first and then you can decide what you want to do.

Thank you everyone! This has been resolved. I sent two emails outlining why this was ridiculous and how various aspects of the rental were subpar. The mention of a small claims court suit appears to have done it; I am getting a refund. Thanks again!

Only just now joining the party, and happy to see the issue was resolved to your satisfaction. Did the lease you presumeably signed before getting to Hawaii specifically mention the three-bedroom rule, or did it state "123 Elm Street", well, it is Hawaii, 123 Banyan St :p? You did enter into the agreement that you were rentimg the whole house, correct? If so, I would have personally slept in every bed, and used every toilet in the joint.


Was their agreememt to refund the security deposit in writing? I hope so. Give them 1 week to see the charge refunded back to your card. If its not back to you in that time frame, dispute the charge, and let the bank fight for you.

Depending on your credit card, if you carry a balance, you may want to just dispute the charge now. This way you'll get the money back, plus any interest which may,have accrued. When and if the credit from the house people finally hits, the credit, less the interest will fall off your account, but you still will keep the interest credit.