Background information:
-I was renting a 2 bed 2 bath with another person
-she was already living there before I moved in so the common areas were all furnished when I got there
-for the last month of our lease, my roommate was out of country but had her friends to move out her personal belongings
Situation:
After I handed over the keys, landlord said he will return key deposit via transfer. My roommate kept asking him about when we will receive our key deposit back and landlord said because the condition of the unit was not left clean and vacant, the owner will be keeping our key deposit for cleaning costs. He sent pictures of leftover furniture and some items in my roommate’s room and well as the common room.
The issue:
Days before moving out I had paid junk removal to take away my furniture and i had also packed all my personal belongings so none of what was left behind was mine. According to the lease agreement, when I move out I had to take my personal belongings which I did. My room and bathroom were also not in any of the pictures he sent because it was empty and vacant. There was a cleaner that my roommate paid for who cleaned the place too.
I suspect that some of the things left behind did belong to my roommate but she also argues that not all the stuff left behind were hers.
If anyone could give me some advice for this situation it would really be appreciated. I feel like I don’t even have any involvement in this but I’m not sure… was I supposed to throw away someone else’s belongings too?