A. Upon termination of a furniture rental agreement, the lessor or agent of the lessor shall not remove the furniture from the possession or dwelling place of the lessee unless the lessee or an agent of the lessee is present. Such furniture shall be marked with either an identifying number or in some other distinguishable manner prior to removal. Before the furniture is removed, the lessor or his agent shall inspect the furniture and advise the lessee or the agent of the lessee of each specific item of damage. If furniture is removed when such person is not present or if the furniture is not inspected before removal, the entire amount of any security deposit held by the lessor shall be returned to the lessee.

B. If the lessor complies with the provisions of subsection A of this section and recovers damaged furniture, any security deposit held by the lessor may be applied to the amount of damages which the lessor has suffered due to the fault of the lessee if the lessor provides to the lessee a written itemized statement of damage delivered by mail, to be by return receipt requested and to be signed for by any person of statutory service age at such address. The lessor shall allow the lessee an opportunity to reinspect the furniture in question before any security deposit may be retained or any additional damage charge made.

C. In the case of undamaged furniture, the lessor shall return any security deposit without interest to the lessee within thirty (30) days of the termination of the rental agreement. If the returned furniture is damaged, the lessor shall return the balance of any security deposit above the cost of damage, without interest, to the lessee within thirty (30) days of the inspection of the furniture by the lessee. If the lessee chooses not to inspect the furniture, the balance of the security deposit shall be returned to the lessee within thirty (30) days of the mailing of the written itemized statement of damage.

Added by Laws 1982, c. 76, § 1.