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Can our landlord make us pay for professional cleaning services between tenants?
12:49 PM 10/10/2012
After moving into a new apartment, I received a notice that my previous landlord had decided to keep nearly a third of the security deposit for cleaning and repairs. According to our lease, the house was to be left in "broom-clean condition, free of debris and trash" - which it was. There is also a provision saying that the deposit can be used to restore the premises to good condition if we were not in compliance. However, the cleaning services were scheduled by landlord before an inspection or before we had vacted the space. Both the carpet cleaning and other services took place before our lease had technically ended. In short, these services were going to be completed regardless of the condition of the home.
After writing him an email, he responded saying that this is to ensure that we are returing the house in the same condition in which we received it.
It seems to me that cleaning between tenants should be something that the landlord covers. Or at the very least, tells us that we will be responsible for so that we might have the opportunity to shop around and compare prices. Am I crazy? Has anyone else been in a similar situation?
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DC
Tell the landlord he needs to return the security deposit or you're going to take him to small claims court. Did you take pictures?
1:17 PM 10/10/2012 | 1 Votes
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Did you take pictures (or, even better, video), is they key question. If you did, do as dat says --- you're 100% in the right and this is an unjustified use of your deposit. If you did not, you're probably SOL. You might contrive an argument based on the timing, but it'd be a tough row to hoe.IANAL, but even better than just the threat of small claims court is to send a nasty-gram letter with the threat of pursing double or triple damages (whatever DC law allows). Do send the letter certified regular mail. Also, go read the DC tenant's handbook or survival guide. Available on a Georgetown website somewhere.
3:27 PM 10/10/2012
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My post should have said "send the letter certified AND regular mail." I've done this with landlords who refused the certified letter. But got the other one and then paid up in pretty much the exact same circumstance, albeit in another jurisdiction.
3:29 PM 10/10/2012
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This is a no-brainer. Send via certified and uncertified. Tell him you will be filing suit as of XX/XX/2012 if he does not return the remainder of your deposit. Tell him you will be seeking double or triple damages. This should get you a check. If it doesn't follow through and sue him. I know it is a pain, but a pain is worth it to not let someone screw you over. Don't just let him win.
11:06 AM 10/11/2012 | -1 Votes
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DC, DC
This sounds a bit sketchy to me. Check your lease; I think most if not all leases allow for normal wear and tear of the property. So unless you really soiled the carpets or drew on the walls with markers, I'm fairly sure the landlord can't use your money to clean them up.
11:41 AM 10/11/2012 | -1 Votes
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There's also a general rule about who has to pay for what, and after how long. I've been told by landlords that when someone's been in an apartment 3 years, repainting/recarpeting is expected, so they don't charge tenants. Less than that and they can prorate the cost. (It's usually stipulated in the lease.) For general cleaning fees, a walk-through with a landlord when you move out is the only way to ensure you're not going to get any surprises, and any charges that come up can be negotiated on the spot. People think this is a pain to do, but trying to recover a withheld security deposit seems like a larger pain.
3:47 PM 10/11/2012 | 1 Votes
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