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A new company is aiming to get security deposits back to tenants.
Damage Deposit Funds was started by Elizabeth Vickers and Loai Jaouni when they realized deposits from tenants aren’t automatically released at the end of a lease.
“If there’s trouble or they don’t want to be bothered, or there’s an obstacle, they can call us and we would help them get it back or take steps to get it back,” said Vickers.
Tenants have to apply for deposits back from Service New Brunswick once their lease is over which means in the mayhem of moving, the money might be forgotten about.
“People are busy and if it seems too much of a hassle, and time has passed, they’re probably not going to do it,” said Vickers.
The money from these deposits is held in a fund by Service New Brunswick. The last total of that fund is roughly $30 million.
SNB spokesperson Valerie Kilfoil said there is approximately $900,000 in security deposit funds that have been identified as tenancies that have ended and funds remain.
“This means that the landlord has given approval to release the security deposit, but the eligible tenant has not applied for it,” said Kilfoil.
Elizabeth Vickers said so far about 40 people have contacted her for help regarding their security deposit. She’s in the process of helping 15 people.
“We want to get that money all returned to the current tenants,” said Vickers.
The company does not collect anything from clients if the clients don’t receive any money back.
