While some students are just starting the legal process involving alleged security deposit fraud, one Penn State student recently won a case against her landlord.

Monica Antonazzo, a recent graduate of Penn State, won the case against Centre Property Management.

"I'm under the impression it's very rare for students to win these types of cases. I didn't have a lawyer, so it was very nerve-racking," Antonazzo said.

She was renting an apartment on Barnard Street, and her lease ended the third week of July 2003. She said after moving out, she anticipated receiving about $500 of her $1,200 security deposit.

Instead, she got a bill.

The landlord charged her $654 beyond her initial security deposit, she said. "I thought it was a mistake. I called for a week and didn't hear from my landlord," Antonazzo said.

The landlord eventually informed her that the bill was not a mistake, and Antonazzo was told that major repairs were needed in the apartment.

In a faxed response, Maggie Patt Biddle, a representative from Centre Property Management, said she felt disheartened to hear that tenants profess an entitlement to be destructive.

"In this specific case, which you are asking about, one of the tenants told me that I should have expected this kind of damage from them 'because we are students,' " Biddle said.

After consulting an attorney, Biddle said they billed the tenants for repairs to damages within the timeframe permitted. She also said the situation was handled as a legal matter and has since been resolved. Antonazzo, who received helped from Jose Texidor, a professor and Penn State student body lawyer who gives free legal advice to students, wrote a certified letter to her landlord.

"[The landlord] never picked up the letter from the post office, so I tried to hand-deliver it myself, and she still didn't do anything," Antonazzo said.

Antonazzo then paid to have the letter delivered by a sheriff and took her landlord to court. She said her landlord filed a counter-suit asking for the $654.

Texidor said tenants should make sure landlords return security deposits.

"Security deposits should be returned unless damage was done to the apartment or rent is owed," Texidor said.

When Antonazzo won the case, her initial reaction was surprise.

Antonazzo said students should take necessary precautions when entering a lease. "Look for all damages in the apartment, talk to current tenants, get receipts for everything you pay for and do not take anything for granted," Antonazzo said.

She added that she doesn't understand why realtors think they can get away with security deposit fraud.

"Realty companies should understand they are renting to students, and there will probably be some damages, but they shouldn't take advantage of them," Antonazzo said.

Texidor said cases like Antonazzo's are rarely brought to court. "If the case is strong, and there is fraud there, you have to take it to court. The law is on your side," Texidor said.