'Totally illegal': Montreal family battling with landlord over deposit

A Montreal woman is out hundreds of dollars after she gave a prospective landlord a deposit -- a practice that, unbeknownst to her at the time, is illegal.

Earlier this summer, Carrie Thompson and her son gave landlord Kadir Abdul $500 to reserve a 6 1/2 apartment on Galt Street in Verdun. Thompson had one demand ahead of moving day: clean up the unit and remove some mould.

But Thompson claims none of it was done when she and her son returned to take possession in early August -- and things went downhill from there.

Thompson told Abdul, "we're coming later in the month, we're not paying the full month's rent because we have so much to do -- the bathroom is still not done, there's a lot of mould still, we have to paint, we have to clean," she recalled.

And the landlord's reply, according to Thompson: "it's not my fault if you're not gonna come right away.'"

The owner can claim the first month's rent when the lease is signed, but Thompson refused on account of the apartment's condition.

She decided to cancel the deal -- but the landlord reportedly refused to return her deposit.

"He was getting mad and said, 'Oh, well [I] can see you don't wanna pay and you're gonna cause me problems, so I don't want you guys anymore," said Thompson.

Reached via phone call by CTV News, Abdul argued he was justified in keeping the deposit because he lost a whole month's rent.

But while the loss to Abdul might be legitimate, housing activists say it's illegal to request or accept a deposit under any circumstances.

"Somebody makes a deposit on a place and then the landlord says 'Oh, I'm not taking you and I'm keeping the money?' No," said Arnold Bennett, who runs a housing hotline in Montreal. "Extra months of rent: illegal. Key deposits: illegal. Damage deposits: illegal."

Verdun city councillor Sterling Downey is frustrated that landlords still have to be reminded of this.

"If you're asking for a deposit to reserve an apartment, just to hold it, to give you the opportunity to have it and put you in front of the list -- it's totally illegal," he said.

Thompson and her son say they'll now go to small claims court to recoup their deposit -- and the landlord says he's just as willing to fight back.