How do you turn $100 into $29,450 ? By not refunding it.

Tenant vacated at the end of a written one year tenancy  without providing a forwarding address.  The landlord did not send a claim on tenant’s security deposit by certified mail within 30 days.   Tenant sued landlord to recover her $875 security deposit on a contingency fee basis. 

Ater a 29 minute trial,   the court found that landlord has already returned $525 to tenant and was entitled to a $250 cleaning fee, leaving a balance of $100 owed to the tenant.   The court rejected landlord’s argument that failure to provide a forwarding address relieved the landlord of his obligation to send  the claim by certified  mail within 30 days.

Thus,   with a judgment of $100, Tenant was the prevailing party and thus entitled to recover her attorneys fees from the landlord.

The court found $475/hr to be a reasonable attorney  fee  and that as the attorney was on contingency entitled to a multiplier of 2.0  for the risk of not recovering any fee.  Total  attorney fee awarded $29,450.

 MIRANDA WELKY, Plaintiff, v. MALEVER RENTAL PROPERTIES, LLC, 34 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 138a, Orange County Circuit Court 2026