A man successfully sued his landlord over a deposit money dispute - with the help of ChatGPT.
Chris Maloney, 23, and his girlfriend Nadia Syed, 22, moved out of their apartment in Amherst, New York, in July.
Following the move, their landlord deducted £770 ($1k) from their deposit for cleaning and repair costs.
As tenants, Chris and Nadia already had a negative experience when their landlord took months to replace a window.
So, when money was deducted from their deposit, Chris decided to fight back.
He ran their tenancy agreement thought ChatGPT and the AI tool found that in New York, deposits cannot exceed one month's rent while the couple had paid a month and a half.
Without representation, Chris decided to take his landlord to court and used ChatGPT to build his case.
Both parties presented their case before a judge on Oct 17 and last week Chris received the judgement in his favour - awarding him £993 ($1,180).
Chris Maloney, 23, and his girlfriend Nadia Syed, 22, moved out of their apartment in Amherst, New York, in July.
Following the move, their landlord deducted £770 ($1k) from their deposit for cleaning and repair costs.
As tenants, Chris and Nadia already had a negative experience when their landlord took months to replace a window.
So, when money was deducted from their deposit, Chris decided to fight back.
He ran their tenancy agreement thought ChatGPT and the AI tool found that in New York, deposits cannot exceed one month's rent while the couple had paid a month and a half.
Without representation, Chris decided to take his landlord to court and used ChatGPT to build his case.
Both parties presented their case before a judge on Oct 17 and last week Chris received the judgement in his favour - awarding him £993 ($1,180).
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FunTranscript
00:00Hi, my name is Christopher Maloney.
00:05I'm 23 years old and I currently live in New York and work in tech.
00:10I recently took my landlord, former landlord, to small claims court over an illegally collected
00:15deposit and I successfully used Chats GPT to help me navigate the legal process and
00:21prepare my case.
00:22After I moved out, I wasn't even considering legal action.
00:26However, when my landlord sent an email accusing my partner and me of being filthy and then
00:33made excessive and questionable deductions from our deposit, I felt compelled to investigate
00:38further.
00:39Recovering the deposit money felt like an uphill battle, so I decided to run the lease
00:44agreement through Chats GPT to see if it could find anything concrete to build a case on.
00:51That's when I discovered that the deposit itself had been collected in violation of
00:55New York's tenant protection laws.
00:57These laws state that you cannot charge more than one month's rent as a security deposit.
01:03So from there, I realized I had the tools to fight back.
01:07I'd never been in a courtroom before.
01:10I had no idea how it really worked.
01:11I had a half-decent idea from the internet and Chats GPT of what to expect.
01:16I presented evidence that the deposit had been illegally collected, outlined how the
01:21delayed repair created unlivable conditions during the winter.
01:25Despite a spirited but ultimately baseless argument from my landlord that I owed significant
01:32amounts of money, the judge ultimately ruled in my favor, awarding me $1,180 and dismissing
01:40the landlord's counterclaim in its entirety.
01:43Of course, it's not a substitute for legal representation, but it's a powerful tool to
01:49help people get started and navigate complex systems with more confidence.
01:54I just hope that my story inspires others to explore how technology like this can help
01:59them fight for justice.