Draft a security-deposit demand letter to a silent landlord with ChatGPT
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- by The Economic Times (on a Reddit post)
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Outcome
The Economic Times reports that a tenant whose landlord stopped responding after move-out used GPT-4 to draft a formal letter demanding the return of a Rs 35,000 security deposit, after lawyers wouldn't take such a small case. The AI asked for names, address, amount, length of stay, rent and past contact attempts, and wrote a letter citing consumer laws and warning of legal action. The tenant says the landlord paid within a few days, and that they cross-checked the laws themselves after others warned about made-up legal references.
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Prompt Recreated prompt
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Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Draft a formal letter demanding the return of my security deposit, with the facts and the relevant rules for where I live. Fill in before running: - My name, landlord's name and the property address: [DETAILS] - Deposit amount and date paid: [AMOUNT, DATE] - Move-in and move-out dates, rent, and condition at move-out (photos?): [DETAILS] - Every attempt to contact the landlord, with dates: [LIST] - Country/state/city: [LOCATION] Rules: - Ask for any detail that's missing before drafting. - Name the deposit rules that apply where I live only if you can point to an official source, and list them separately so I can verify each one; never invent laws or case names. - Set a clear deadline (e.g. 14 days) and the next step if it's missed (small claims or consumer forum), stated calmly. - Don't send anything; I'll send it by a method that gives proof of delivery. - If a site asks for a login, a CAPTCHA or payment details, stop and hand control back to me. - Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. Output: The letter, a list of the laws cited with source links to check, and a note on how to send it with proof. You'll know it worked when: every legal reference checks out, and the landlord pays or replies by the deadline.
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Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Draft a formal letter demanding the return of my security deposit, with the facts and the relevant rules for where I live. Fill in before running: - My name, landlord's name and the property address: [DETAILS] - Deposit amount and date paid: [AMOUNT, DATE] - Move-in and move-out dates, rent, and condition at move-out (photos?): [DETAILS] - Every attempt to contact the landlord, with dates: [LIST] - Country/state/city: [LOCATION] Rules: - Ask for any detail that's missing before drafting. - Name the deposit rules that apply where I live only if you can point to an official source, and list them separately so I can verify each one; never invent laws or case names. - Set a clear deadline (e.g. 14 days) and the next step if it's missed (small claims or consumer forum), stated calmly. - Don't send anything; I'll send it by a method that gives proof of delivery. - If a site asks for a login, a CAPTCHA or payment details, stop and hand control back to me. - Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. Output: The letter, a list of the laws cited with source links to check, and a note on how to send it with proof. You'll know it worked when: every legal reference checks out, and the landlord pays or replies by the deadline.
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5 blanks are still empty: My name, landlord's name and the property address; Deposit amount and date paid; Move-in and move-out dates, rent, and condition at move-out (photos?); Every attempt to contact the landlord, with dates; Country/state/city. They'll stay in brackets in your prompt, so the chat tool may ask you about them.
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Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.
Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Draft a formal letter demanding the return of my security deposit, with the facts and the relevant rules for where I live. Fill in before running: - My name, landlord's name and the property address: [DETAILS] - Deposit amount and date paid: [AMOUNT, DATE] - Move-in and move-out dates, rent, and condition at move-out (photos?): [DETAILS] - Every attempt to contact the landlord, with dates: [LIST] - Country/state/city: [LOCATION] Rules: - Ask for any detail that's missing before drafting. - Name the deposit rules that apply where I live only if you can point to an official source, and list them separately so I can verify each one; never invent laws or case names. - Set a clear deadline (e.g. 14 days) and the next step if it's missed (small claims or consumer forum), stated calmly. - Don't send anything; I'll send it by a method that gives proof of delivery. - If a site asks for a login, a CAPTCHA or payment details, stop and hand control back to me. - Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. - Prepare a one-page summary I could bring to small claims court if it comes to that. Output: The letter, a list of the laws cited with source links to check, and a note on how to send it with proof. You'll know it worked when: every legal reference checks out, and the landlord pays or replies by the deadline. Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.
Source
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