The plaintiffs' claim involves issues of contract law, along with landlord/tenant related law. A contractual agreement is simply a manifestation of mutual assent, by two or more legally{**63 Misc 3d at 911} competent persons, to one another (Restatement [Second] of Contracts § 3). To establish the existence of a contract, there must be an offer, an acceptance of the offer, consideration, mutual assent, and an intent to be bound (22 NY Jur 2d, Contracts § 9).
"[I]n a security deposit case, a tenant must prove the following elements: (1) the tenant paid a security deposit to the landlord, (2) the tenant caused no damage to the apartment beyond ordinary wear and tear, (3) the tenant made a demand for the return of the security deposit, and (4) the landlord refused to return the security deposit.
"Once those elements are met, the tenant has established that the security deposit is her property. At this point, the burden shifts to the landlord. For the landlord to retain a security deposit he must prove two things: (1) the landlord must show that the tenant caused damaged to the property beyond ordinary wear and tear and (2) the landlord must prove what cost was incurred (or is estimated to incur) in order to remediate the extraordinary damage caused by the tenant." (Hamilton v Bosko, 54 Misc 3d 386, 388 [Cohoes City Ct 2016].)