OT: Issues with former landlord

[coralGoodie]

My former apartment wants to get paid for the following:

1) cleaning of the unit
2) painting of the unit.
3) Replacement of carpet

Are these valid charges?

 

[Bebo77]

nope... my old landlord tried to stick me with those charges as well... When i told him i was going to get an attorney they dropped the charges...

 

[coralGoodie]

My previosu apartment is run by a corporation. They threatened to smudge my good credit report. Bebo77, what happened next? Did they ruin your credit?

 

[sharkdude]

it depends on how long you have been in the apartment.
I seem to recall that over 2 years and they can't charge you for paint and carpet.

I had a dispute many years ago and found a lot of info on the web. Try searching for california renter rights or similar.

Document your dispute in writing to the landlord and site pertinent sections of Cal renter law.

 

[sharkdude]

http://www.caltenantlaw.com/Deposit.htm

 

[SteveOhh]

Depends on your lease/rental agreement and the condition of the unit when you moved in. Check your lease to see what the "life" of a paint job is. I've seen leases say the paint job should last anywhere from one to five years.

Carpet................depends on if the carpet was new when you moved in & is it cleanable now.

Cleaning charge...............tenant always gets charged to clean the unit. If it isn't in the exact same cleanliness condition when you turn the keys in, you will pay to have the unit cleaned. When I say clean, I mean clean...........windows, screens, inside all cabinets, etc. Most residents don't clean thier unit good enough & if I have to call out the cleaners for anything, you get charged.

This goes out to all renters...........You can request a Pre-Move Out walk thru w/ your landlord/management company. Both of you will walk the unit & the landlord/PM rep will tell you exactly what you have to do to get your deposit back. It is a very good idea to request this, so you can be told exactly what needs to be done. Also, you should have a Move In Checklist that you filled out when you moved in showing the condition of everything in the unit. This checklist will hold up in court should anything ever go that far.

I'm sure Gina will chime in w/ additional information. I run the maintenance division of a PM company, but she deals more w/ the legal measures.

HTH

Steve

Edit...................don't believe everything you read in the above link............i.e. nail holes..............it's says you can't be charged for them..............total b.s. .......................if there were no nail holes in the unit when you took possession, you can be charged for any nail holes you left. The idea is to leave the unit in the EXACT same condition it was when you moved in. RARELY, and I mean rarely, do I ever see anyone get thier ENTIRE deposit back...........

 

[xtm]

When I moved out five years ago, me and the slumlord walked around "my" apartment and she told me verbatim that I will get my FULL deposit, since I REALLY took care of the property (no nail holes, paint looks new, very clean, etc). When I got the check, they deducted $200 for painting the unit. I was busy moving into my new house so I didn't get the chance to contest it............ However, the lesson I learned is that everytime you get some agreement that involves money (or anything in that regard) you need to get something in writing. No exceptions.

 

[OC CJ]

yeah, i lived in a complex and when we moved we did the whole walk through thing with the maintenance guy. he checked everything out and said everything would be fine. then he got to the carpet and said "it looks good to me but the manager will have to approve". i thought it was strange that he could review everything else but that.

Then a week later they tried to stick us with paying for new carpet. We brought up the walk through thing and how they said they change the carpet every 5 years. I asked when was the last time they changed the carpet and they said they would call me back. I told them i wasn't paying for it. 2 weeks later we received our deposit, no carpet payment was deducted.

 

[Bebo77]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11318865#post11318865 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by coralGoodie
My previosu apartment is run by a corporation. They threatened to smudge my good credit report. Bebo77, what happened next? Did they ruin your credit?

no but then again.. it was not run by a company.. just some little old lady,...

 

[jjirsa78]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11320442#post11320442 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by OC CJ
yeah, i lived in a complex and when we moved we did the whole walk through thing with the maintenance guy. he checked everything out and said everything would be fine. then he got to the carpet and said "it looks good to me but the manager will have to approve". i thought it was strange that he could review everything else but that.

There's a few factors -

1) Some companies will pay for professional cleaning for legal reasons (they dont want to get sued if the next tenant comes down with some mystery illness and blames the carpet)
2) Sometimes, damage is visible under the carpet, such as wet/damaged pad (that must be replaced), or stained/damaged subfloor (that usually requires resealing). Those issues aren't visible without removing the carpet in many cases, so they can be missed on the first walkthrough.

 

[coralGoodie]

Ho about nail holes cause by wall frames and pictures? Are these considered damages? or part of wear and tear?

 

[SteveOhh]

If you put the nail holes in the wall, you are responsible for them. Remember you need to return the unit to the condition that it was when you moved in.

 

[bromion]

What property manager is involved?

Cleaning is a standard deduction that you should expect. Painting is a maybe which depends on the condition. The carpet you really should only have to pay for if you damaged a relative new carpet. If it can be cleaned, it should be cleaned, and they can charge you for that.

I once moved out of a place and they tried to charge us for an entirely new carpet because of some stains. Those stains were caused by a ceiling leak, which I told the manager about 3 times and was never fixed (it was leaking from the winter rains, but we were on floor 2 of a 3 floor building!). After some telephone and written haggling, they agreed to drop the carpet charge, which was somewhere in the ballpark of $1600.

 

[GinaSofia]

Because every property management company is different this may not help you but these are our guidelines:

The life of our carpets when new is 5 years,we do not charge for a regular carpet cleaning but we do if it needs EXTRA cleaning..if you've left stains or worse,cigarette burns,be prepared to pay UNLESS the carpet is 5 years or older when you leave.

Our paint is brand new when you move in and should look the same for up to 3 years..we pro-rate the cost it costs us to re-paint if you only stay a year or two and do not charge for regular nail holes since our vendors don't charge us.

You're unit should at least be broom-swept when you leave and then we will not charge you but if your bathtub looks like you have been accumulating mold as a hobby,we will charge you a cleaning fee.

We'll also charge you $70 hauling fee if you decide to leave junk behind or in front of any of our buildings.

If you do not give 30 days notice,say good-bye to your deposit.We are honest but many managers are not so make sure to put your notice in writing and send it with PROOF of sending it(ie:tracking #)

TAKE PICTURES of your unit on the day you leave it with a date stamp.

Like Steve said,move-in and move-out sheets will save your rear.

Be very careful when doing the initial move-in inspection so that you don't get charged for a cigarette burn on the countertop that a previous resident may have left.

I know it all sounds like such a hassle but imagine if it was your millions that bought a complex and little by little over the years you have to pay for repairs created by renters that don't have pride of ownership and treat the rental like a party house.The owners have to cover their ***-ets as well.