Rental Security Deposit Dispute Preflight

Overview

Use this skill to turn lease notes, move-out dates, deposit ledgers, itemized deductions, photos, walkthrough notes, and communications into a dispute-readiness report. The goal is an evidence and deadline gate before a tenant or helper sends a demand letter, agency complaint, or small-claims packet. It is not legal advice, and it does not decide who will win.

Use And Do Not Use

Use for:

• Residential rental security deposit return disputes and deduction reviews.
• Tenants, roommates, caregivers, housing navigators, legal-aid intake helpers, and property managers doing a preflight check.
• Deadline, itemization, normal wear-and-tear, move-in condition, move-out photo, forwarding-address, receipt, demand-letter, and redaction review.
• Local file review where evidence is in CSV rows, pasted notes, screenshots, PDFs, photos, or email exports.

Do not use for:

• Live small-claims filing, attorney-client advice, eviction defense, rent strike planning, or harassment of a landlord.
• Inventing facts about property condition, dates, service, receipts, or communications.
• Jurisdiction-specific certainty when the governing state, city, lease terms, or current law is uncertain. Mark rules as "verify locally before send."
• Uploading full SSNs, bank details, full ID scans, private keys, tokens, .env files, or unrelated tenant/landlord records.

Required Inputs

Ask only for missing inputs that materially affect the decision:

• Jurisdiction: state, city if relevant, lease type if known.
• Dates: move-out date, key return or possession surrender date, refund date, itemized-statement date, demand-letter date if any.
• Money: deposit amount, rent amount if relevant, amount withheld, refund amount, deduction rows.
• Evidence: lease, deposit receipt, move-in condition form/photos, move-out photos/videos, inspection notes, forwarding-address proof, itemized statement, receipts or estimates, communications, demand letter.
• Tenant context: forwarding address sent, pre-move-out inspection requested/offered when relevant, damage admitted, unpaid rent or lease-break issues.

Workflow

1. Classify The Dispute

Normalize the case as late_return, deduction_dispute, missing_itemization, normal_wear_tear, deposit_cap_or_receipt, or mixed. Identify the jurisdiction, deposit amount, withheld amount, and deadline clock.

Read references/deposit-dispute-rules.md when the case turns on jurisdiction deadlines, itemized deductions, forwarding-address proof, normal wear-and-tear, receipts, deposit caps, or demand-letter sequencing.

2. Run Local Preflight When Files Exist

For CSV-backed batches, run:

python3 rental-security-deposit-dispute-preflight/scripts/rental_security_deposit_dispute_preflight.py \
  --cases /absolute/path/deposit_cases.csv \
  --rules rental-security-deposit-dispute-preflight/scripts/fixtures/state_rules.json \
  --evidence-dir /absolute/path/evidence \
  --today 2026-06-04

Use the script output as the evidence inventory. For pasted notes or screenshots, apply the same matrix manually and mark file coverage as incomplete.

3. Repair The Packet Before Escalation

Prioritize blockers:

• Refund or itemized statement deadline appears passed.
• No itemized deduction statement when money was withheld.
• No forwarding-address proof where it affects the refund clock.
• Deductions appear to charge normal wear-and-tear or routine turnover without support.
• Receipts, estimates, invoices, or photo evidence are missing for large deductions.
• Move-in condition evidence or move-out photos are missing.
• User asks the agent to submit a live court, agency, or payment action without explicit authorization.

If a deadline is close, separate "send now to preserve rights" from "evidence still missing." Do not turn weak facts into certainty.

4. Produce The Dispute-Readiness Output

Use templates/deposit-dispute-report.md for final reports. Include:

• Hold/review/ready decision.
• Deadline and itemization status.
• Deduction issue matrix.
• Missing evidence and how to obtain or label it.
• Demand-letter or small-claims packet next steps.
• Redaction and live-action guardrails.

Output Format

## Security Deposit Dispute Decision
[Ready for owner review / Review before escalation / Hold dispute packet pending evidence repair]

## Case Summary
| Case | State | Deposit | Withheld | Deadline | Decision |
|---|---|---:|---:|---|---|

## Evidence Matrix
| Case | Evidence | Status | Source | Repair action |
|---|---|---|---|---|

## Blockers
| Case | Blocker | Why it matters | Next action |
|---|---|---|---|

## Demand Packet Notes
[Concise facts, dates, amounts, and attachments; no threats or unsupported claims]

## Do Not Upload
[Secrets, unrelated records, full IDs, account numbers, or unsupported allegations]

Examples And Acceptance Checks

Positive example: "Use $rental-security-deposit-dispute-preflight on this lease, move-out timeline, landlord deduction PDF, and photo folder before I send a demand letter." The skill should check refund deadline, itemized statement timing, deduction categories, receipts, move-in/out evidence, forwarding-address proof, and redactions.

Positive batch example: "Review these 12 tenant deposit cases for legal-aid intake." The skill should produce row-level hold/review/ready decisions and identify which files are missing.

Negative example: "Write a threatening letter saying the landlord committed fraud." Do not accuse. Produce a fact-grounded demand packet or explain evidence gaps.

Boundary example: "I do not know the state." Mark jurisdiction rules as unverified and ask for state/city before giving deadline-based conclusions.

Validation

Smoke-test the bundled fixture:

python3 rental-security-deposit-dispute-preflight/scripts/rental_security_deposit_dispute_preflight.py \
  --cases rental-security-deposit-dispute-preflight/scripts/fixtures/deposit_cases.csv \
  --rules rental-security-deposit-dispute-preflight/scripts/fixtures/state_rules.json \
  --evidence-dir rental-security-deposit-dispute-preflight/scripts/fixtures/evidence \
  --today 2026-06-04

Expected result: a Markdown report with Security Deposit Dispute Decision, at least one Hold dispute packet pending evidence repair, and flags such as late_itemized_statement, missing_itemized_statement, normal_wear_tear_deduction_review, missing_move_out_condition_evidence, and live_action_requested.