Former landlord charging us $630 for cleaning?! Help please!

[Gypsy]

It's high no question, but so you can be prepared for why it might be so high here are some thoughts.

Is the landlord a standalone or a community? If it is a standalone (like you are renting from an individual who owns just the one property) or a small stand alone community then they likely had to call a cleaning service that they don't have 'standard' flat fees established with the cleaning company. Most larger properties will have flat fees for standard move out cleanings (around the rates you stated) and the cleaning company gets that fee per apartment regardless of whether they are there for 5 hours or 1, absent anything unusual. So this brings the price of the cleaning down (or raises it if you are a clean freak), and standardizes the rates.

The 18 hours (that's a lot!!!!) of cleaning is probably like 4 workers for 4.5 hours. That's still REALLY FREAKING HIGH but that's probably what happened.

Regardless... if you didn't sign off on it and didn't have cat pee and mud on every services, 18 hours (no matter how many people were in there) sounds ridiculously high. I was working really long hours just before the holidays (and we were hosting) one year and decided to call a service for a ' holiday deep cleaning'... there were 4 of them and they cleaned everything including the phones and the soap dishes and did so VERY SLOWLY just to LINGER at our place for 4 hours (DH was home but had no experience with cleaning services) and it STILL only cost about 500 (which still gave me a heart attack as I normally pay between 50-75 dollars for a full cleaning).


This isn't legal advice either. Just a some random thoughts.

 

[arjunajane]

Back when I was renting I had a total B***h of a LL too.
We had been moved out for over a month and she just refused to return my bond (no cleaning fee required as me and my mum cleaned it).
She just wouldn''t take my calls, even hung up on me

Was clearly trying to intimidate and run a scam on me.

As soon as I sent her an email about going to the local governing body for real estate (I''m not sure what it would be called where you live), she immediately contacted me about giving it all back, and even gave back an *extra* weeks rent.!

I hope your email works sunny, I''m sure it will. But before you look at court, perhaps you can look at the option if there is a government or mediating body?
I feel for you !

 

[vespergirl]

I don''t know how big the townhouse you were renting was, but I used to be a landlord, and the cleaning bill that I had to send some of my former tenants for the single-family house they rented from me was around $450. I used a professional service (Merry Maids I think) and they charge more than a neighborhood cleaning lady.

Also, they do a special "move-out cleaning," which does everything from scrubbing walls and light switches to cleaning ceiling fans, etc., not things that are done at a regular cleaning. Plus, you mentioned that you had a cat - it can be a lot of work to get pet smells and stains out of a house, especially when you''re preparing a place for new tenants to come in.

Still, over $600 sounds high to me, especially for a townhouse. I hope that this gets cleared up when you receive your itemized list.

 

[Elmorton]

If you do a search around here, you can find when I was in the same situation and NF helped me out with some excellent advice.

Your letter looks perfect, and any LL worth his beans should back down. Ours did the second he saw that we''d printed out every statute he violated.

P.S. in your offer to pay for the blinds, make sure they submit receipts - in college, I was charged $25 or $50 per window they had to replace, which is ridiculous because standard mini-blinds are ohhh $3 each.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/16/2009 10:31:15 PM
Author: Elmorton
If you do a search around here, you can find when I was in the same situation and NF helped me out with some excellent advice.


Your letter looks perfect, and any LL worth his beans should back down. Ours did the second he saw that we''d printed out every statute he violated.


P.S. in your offer to pay for the blinds, make sure they submit receipts - in college, I was charged $25 or $50 per window they had to replace, which is ridiculous because standard mini-blinds are ohhh $3 each.

Glad I could help! And good advice yourself about the receipts for the blinds.

Sunny: Almost always the LL will back down as soon as you put to paper everything they have violated.

 

[sunnyd]

Date: 11/16/2009 10:27:05 PM
Author: vespergirl
I don''t know how big the townhouse you were renting was, but I used to be a landlord, and the cleaning bill that I had to send some of my former tenants for the single-family house they rented from me was around $450. I used a professional service (Merry Maids I think) and they charge more than a neighborhood cleaning lady.

Also, they do a special ''move-out cleaning,'' which does everything from scrubbing walls and light switches to cleaning ceiling fans, etc., not things that are done at a regular cleaning. Plus, you mentioned that you had a cat - it can be a lot of work to get pet smells and stains out of a house, especially when you''re preparing a place for new tenants to come in.

Still, over $600 sounds high to me, especially for a townhouse. I hope that this gets cleared up when you receive your itemized list.

Thanks Vesper. It''s a 1150 sqft townhouse, and it has pergo floors throughout. So we swept out the cat hair and mopped. There were no stains or smells. We even replaced all the switchplates when we moved in because theirs were covered in paint and discolored from being 20 years old...

She hasn''t responded yet, hopefully she does today. I don''t want to drag this out.

To the former landlords, did you get an estimate for cleaning or just charge the tenants for it after the fact? I''d think that I''d let someone know before spending half of their deposit. It''s essentially our money, and I doubt the LL herself would have spent $600 to clean it up.

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 11/17/2009 11:27:09 AM
Author: sunnyd

Date: 11/16/2009 10:27:05 PM

Author: vespergirl

I don't know how big the townhouse you were renting was, but I used to be a landlord, and the cleaning bill that I had to send some of my former tenants for the single-family house they rented from me was around $450. I used a professional service (Merry Maids I think) and they charge more than a neighborhood cleaning lady.

Also, they do a special 'move-out cleaning,' which does everything from scrubbing walls and light switches to cleaning ceiling fans, etc., not things that are done at a regular cleaning. Plus, you mentioned that you had a cat - it can be a lot of work to get pet smells and stains out of a house, especially when you're preparing a place for new tenants to come in.

Still, over $600 sounds high to me, especially for a townhouse. I hope that this gets cleared up when you receive your itemized list.

Thanks Vesper. It's a 1150 sqft townhouse, and it has pergo floors throughout. So we swept out the cat hair and mopped. There were no stains or smells. We even replaced all the switchplates when we moved in because theirs were covered in paint and discolored from being 20 years old...

She hasn't responded yet, hopefully she does today. I don't want to drag this out.

To the former landlords, did you get an estimate for cleaning or just charge the tenants for it after the fact? I'd think that I'd let someone know before spending half of their deposit. It's essentially our money, and I doubt the LL herself would have spent $600 to clean it up.

The bottom line is you shouldn't be responsible for a special move out cleaning. Tenants aren't responsible for normal wear and tear, which to me includes things like dirty switch plates and dusty walls. If you left the place clean you should get all your $ back.

Landlords always try to screw people out of their deposits-I'm not sure why. Mine tried to charge me for all kinds of BS when I moved out. I wouldn't back down and ended up getting almost my entire deposit back. I left the apartment in very good condition and I had lived there for 4 years and paid rent on time every single month.

 

[tlh]

I had a landlord who tried to not refund our deposit we were entitled to. She made a lot of hooey - and what not, because she wanted to keep our deposit. Turns out, a year + later the place was in forclosure.

Some people are not good landlords, and pocket the deposit money and go about their business, and do not have it readily available to return in the event the place was returned minus normal wear and tear.. and try very hard to prove you did something wrong in order to keep it. (Inflated cleaning costs.. etc.) 18+ hours is A LOT and sounds ridiculously high for a PROFESSIONAL cleaning.

I hope your letter works. Best wishes!

 

[kama_s]

Date: 11/16/2009 10:27:05 PM
Author: vespergirl
I don''t know how big the townhouse you were renting was, but I used to be a landlord, and the cleaning bill that I had to send some of my former tenants for the single-family house they rented from me was around $450. I used a professional service (Merry Maids I think) and they charge more than a neighborhood cleaning lady.

Also, they do a special ''move-out cleaning,'' which does everything from scrubbing walls and light switches to cleaning ceiling fans, etc., not things that are done at a regular cleaning. Plus, you mentioned that you had a cat - it can be a lot of work to get pet smells and stains out of a house, especially when you''re preparing a place for new tenants to come in.

Still, over $600 sounds high to me, especially for a townhouse. I hope that this gets cleared up when you receive your itemized list.

I''m curious, Vesper, but was this mentioned in the contract that the tenant would be paying for a thorough move-out clean? I was under the impression this is a cost that LL''s have to bear, being in such a profession. I don''t think we were ever made to pay for cleaning out our condo - we always left ours in fatastic condition, save for regular wear and tear.

Sunny: I live in a 1200sq feet condo, and it DEFINITELY does NOT take 18 hours to clean it up. When we moved in, I did a thorough cleaning and it didn''t take me longer than 6-8 hours to clean every little nook and cranny. Your LL better do the right thing and return your deposit. NeatFreak has such amazing insight, so great to have someone like her on PS!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 11/17/2009 12:53:53 PM
Author: kama_s

Date: 11/16/2009 10:27:05 PM

Author: vespergirl

I don''t know how big the townhouse you were renting was, but I used to be a landlord, and the cleaning bill that I had to send some of my former tenants for the single-family house they rented from me was around $450. I used a professional service (Merry Maids I think) and they charge more than a neighborhood cleaning lady.


Also, they do a special ''move-out cleaning,'' which does everything from scrubbing walls and light switches to cleaning ceiling fans, etc., not things that are done at a regular cleaning. Plus, you mentioned that you had a cat - it can be a lot of work to get pet smells and stains out of a house, especially when you''re preparing a place for new tenants to come in.


Still, over $600 sounds high to me, especially for a townhouse. I hope that this gets cleared up when you receive your itemized list.

I''m curious, Vesper, but was this mentioned in the contract that the tenant would be paying for a thorough move-out clean? I was under the impression this is a cost that LL''s have to bear, being in such a profession. I don''t think we were ever made to pay for cleaning out our condo - we always left ours in fatastic condition, save for regular wear and tear.


Sunny: I live in a 1200sq feet condo, and it DEFINITELY does NOT take 18 hours to clean it up. When we moved in, I did a thorough cleaning and it didn''t take me longer than 6-8 hours to clean every little nook and cranny. Your LL better do the right thing and return your deposit. NeatFreak has such amazing insight, so great to have someone like her on PS!

In many states by law you can''t deposit a SD in a standard checking account for use. You have to put it in an escrow account and pay the tenant the interest every year.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Follow up to Kama''s last post. DH and I live in a 2k sq ft town house and the tenant before us didn''t clean other than to sweep out the HW floors, vaccum and put blue junk in the toilets. My mother and I spent 4 hours cleaning it top to bottom-windows, walls, door casings, etc. Two of us, 4 hours 8 hours total with 30 minutes and $80 to have the carpets professionally steamed. I don''t see how they could have accrued that amount of $$ and time to do this. Something sounds fishy. Either your LL got screwed or she''s screwing you.

Please let us know how things go, good luck!!

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/17/2009 11:27:09 AM
Author: sunnyd

Date: 11/16/2009 10:27:05 PM

Author: vespergirl

I don''t know how big the townhouse you were renting was, but I used to be a landlord, and the cleaning bill that I had to send some of my former tenants for the single-family house they rented from me was around $450. I used a professional service (Merry Maids I think) and they charge more than a neighborhood cleaning lady.


Also, they do a special ''move-out cleaning,'' which does everything from scrubbing walls and light switches to cleaning ceiling fans, etc., not things that are done at a regular cleaning. Plus, you mentioned that you had a cat - it can be a lot of work to get pet smells and stains out of a house, especially when you''re preparing a place for new tenants to come in.


Still, over $600 sounds high to me, especially for a townhouse. I hope that this gets cleared up when you receive your itemized list.

Thanks Vesper. It''s a 1150 sqft townhouse, and it has pergo floors throughout. So we swept out the cat hair and mopped. There were no stains or smells. We even replaced all the switchplates when we moved in because theirs were covered in paint and discolored from being 20 years old...


She hasn''t responded yet, hopefully she does today. I don''t want to drag this out.


To the former landlords, did you get an estimate for cleaning or just charge the tenants for it after the fact? I''d think that I''d let someone know before spending half of their deposit. It''s essentially our money, and I doubt the LL herself would have spent $600 to clean it up.

To add to this: I just had an estimate from a cleaning company to come do a very through cleaning of my house. We live in the Bay Area (i.e., SUPER expensive), have a 1500 square foot house, and they only wanted $150. No way $600 is legit especially if there are no carpets to clean.

 

[Clairitek]

I used to work for a professional cleaning service cleaning very very large homes (6-7 bedrooms) top to bottom. Even giving one of those a deep clean did we never take 18 man-hours total to clean. I really hope you can get to the bottom of this. I''m so angry for you!

 

[sunnyd]

Thank you everyone for sharing your stories! It''s really making me feel more confident that she''s trying to pull something...

If necessary I can use your stories as "proof" that 18 hours is completely unheard of. Unless they were licking the place clean.

As for the deposit, in WA they have to put it in a trust account.

 

[lilyfoot]

sunny, I''m watching this thread with hawk eyes waiting for you to update with a response from your landlord!

 

[kas baby]

wow.

I would have to agree that something sounds fishy. Here''s to hoping this gets resolved quickly and with little fuss

 

[Kay]

I live in San Diego and used Merry Maids (not cheap) to clean our 2100 square foot house after we had some remodelling done. There was drywall dust everywhere from the remodelling, and they still charged us less than $300. $630 for a townhouse is outrageous.

 

[vespergirl]

Date: 11/17/2009 12:53:53 PM
Author: kama_s

Date: 11/16/2009 10:27:05 PM
Author: vespergirl
I don''t know how big the townhouse you were renting was, but I used to be a landlord, and the cleaning bill that I had to send some of my former tenants for the single-family house they rented from me was around $450. I used a professional service (Merry Maids I think) and they charge more than a neighborhood cleaning lady.

Also, they do a special ''move-out cleaning,'' which does everything from scrubbing walls and light switches to cleaning ceiling fans, etc., not things that are done at a regular cleaning. Plus, you mentioned that you had a cat - it can be a lot of work to get pet smells and stains out of a house, especially when you''re preparing a place for new tenants to come in.

Still, over $600 sounds high to me, especially for a townhouse. I hope that this gets cleared up when you receive your itemized list.

I''m curious, Vesper, but was this mentioned in the contract that the tenant would be paying for a thorough move-out clean? I was under the impression this is a cost that LL''s have to bear, being in such a profession. I don''t think we were ever made to pay for cleaning out our condo - we always left ours in fatastic condition, save for regular wear and tear.

Sunny: I live in a 1200sq feet condo, and it DEFINITELY does NOT take 18 hours to clean it up. When we moved in, I did a thorough cleaning and it didn''t take me longer than 6-8 hours to clean every little nook and cranny. Your LL better do the right thing and return your deposit. NeatFreak has such amazing insight, so great to have someone like her on PS!

Hi Kama, yes, it was mentioned in the contract that the house had to be in the same move-in condition that the tenants received it. Not only was it not, but my tenants had several pets that peed on the hardwoods, and it was nearly impossible to get the stains/smells out.

I wasn''t a "professional landlord" per se, but I rented my home for a few years when I moved to a new city before I decided to sell it. I rented out a house in pristine condition, and when they moved out, it looked like a crack house. I didn''t charge the tenants for repainting the whole interior of the house, which I had to do after they moved out because of filthy walls, but I did for re-sodding the backyard, because their dog tore up all of the grass in the backyard.

Basically, I rented to a family who I thought would take care of the house until I decided to sell it, but they left the house looking like garbage, so I happily charged them to get my house back to presentable shape so I could put it on the market. And yes, all expectations were listed in the contract.

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

Nothing useful to add, but thinking of you and waiting to hear what your lousy LL has to say. Hoping for the best, Sunny!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 11/17/2009 3:58:27 PM
Author: lilyfoot
sunny, I''m watching this thread with hawk eyes waiting for you to update with a response from your landlord!

YOU LEAVE MY EYES ALONE!!!

 

[lilyfoot]

Date: 11/18/2009 8:04:35 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk

Date: 11/17/2009 3:58:27 PM
Author: lilyfoot
sunny, I''m watching this thread with hawk eyes waiting for you to update with a response from your landlord!

YOU LEAVE MY EYES ALONE!!!

::hands eyes back:: ok sowwy

 

[dragonfly411]

Sunny
I hope everything gets squared away today. I''m watching..... but I promise not with anyone else''s eyes hehe

 

[sunnyd]

She responded!

She did the cleaning HERSELF. It took her 18 hours, and she thought she was doing us a favor by charging $30/hour instead of hiring Merry Maids, which was $40/hour. But I highly doubt it would have taken MM 18 hours!!! She did take $300 off the cleaning because of our pet deposit (which I think was only $200 to begin with, so yay).

So she''ll be returning $975 instead of $675. It''s a start I guess.

She also said that the reason she wrote up the additional move out comments is because there wasn''t enough room to write on the one that we signed. Well, that''s not really our problem, is it? Take it up with your management that you hired to take care of this!

I almost feel bad being a hardass, but this is terrible. Without yet having spoken to DH about it (

), I''m tempted to tell her to reduce the cleaning fee to $250 instead of $330 and we''ll call it good. I don''t know.

 

[DiamondsforDee]

In most states they can''t charge you for cleaning because it''s part of normal wear and tear and the LL would have to clean before another tenant moved it; so it''s just a cost shifting. Dirt is normal. Ruined hardwoods b/c of animal pee is not. Small holes from pictures is normal. Huge holes where your crackhead bf punched the wall is not. I''m also not sure on the legality of making up a price and charging you what it cost for the LL to clean the apartment. All of this being said: he who has the gold makes the rules. Your LL has your security deposit and is trying to screw you out of the money. Assuming what you said is 100% true and your apartment was in great condition, she is breaking the law and owes you all of your security deposit back. Landlords do this all the time knowing that the tenant won''t fight it because it would cost $125 to file in small claims court so at the end of the day, the tenant isn''t out that much more money than they would be just letting the LL keep the money for cleaning. There isn''t too much you can do other than continue to push for all your money back, send some copies of the relevant statutes to your LL and tell her you want all the money back, and hope she complies. GL!

 

[geckodani]

Date: 11/18/2009 10:47:11 AM
Author: sunnyd
She responded!

She did the cleaning HERSELF. It took her 18 hours, and she thought she was doing us a favor by charging $30/hour instead of hiring Merry Maids, which was $40/hour. But I highly doubt it would have taken MM 18 hours!!! She did take $300 off the cleaning because of our pet deposit (which I think was only $200 to begin with, so yay).

So she''ll be returning $975 instead of $675. It''s a start I guess.

She also said that the reason she wrote up the additional move out comments is because there wasn''t enough room to write on the one that we signed. Well, that''s not really our problem, is it? Take it up with your management that you hired to take care of this!

I almost feel bad being a hardass, but this is terrible. Without yet having spoken to DH about it (

), I''m tempted to tell her to reduce the cleaning fee to $250 instead of $330 and we''ll call it good. I don''t know.

Unfreaking believable!!! I''d keep pusing, personally, for more back.

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 11/18/2009 11:03:04 AM
Author: DiamondsforDee
In most states they can't charge you for cleaning because it's part of normal wear and tear and the LL would have to clean before another tenant moved it; so it's just a cost shifting. Dirt is normal. Ruined hardwoods b/c of animal pee is not. Small holes from pictures is normal. Huge holes where your crackhead bf punched the wall is not. I'm also not sure on the legality of making up a price and charging you what it cost for the LL to clean the apartment. All of this being said: he who has the gold makes the rules. Your LL has your security deposit and is trying to screw you out of the money. Assuming what you said is 100% true and your apartment was in great condition, she is breaking the law and owes you all of your security deposit back. Landlords do this all the time knowing that the tenant won't fight it because it would cost $125 to file in small claims court so at the end of the day, the tenant isn't out that much more money than they would be just letting the LL keep the money for cleaning. There isn't too much you can do other than continue to push for all your money back, send some copies of the relevant statutes to your LL and tell her you want all the money back, and hope she complies. GL!

Ditto. I wouldn't give in at all and I definitely wouldn't accept a cleaning fee of $250. (It's her fault she cleaned it herself, not yours.) If the law says she had 14 days to give you your $ and she didn't, make her give it all back to you.

This is ridiculous!

 

[sunnyd]

Date: 11/18/2009 11:08:48 AM
Author: thing2of2

Date: 11/18/2009 11:03:04 AM
Author: DiamondsforDee
In most states they can''t charge you for cleaning because it''s part of normal wear and tear and the LL would have to clean before another tenant moved it; so it''s just a cost shifting. Dirt is normal. Ruined hardwoods b/c of animal pee is not. Small holes from pictures is normal. Huge holes where your crackhead bf punched the wall is not. I''m also not sure on the legality of making up a price and charging you what it cost for the LL to clean the apartment. All of this being said: he who has the gold makes the rules. Your LL has your security deposit and is trying to screw you out of the money. Assuming what you said is 100% true and your apartment was in great condition, she is breaking the law and owes you all of your security deposit back. Landlords do this all the time knowing that the tenant won''t fight it because it would cost $125 to file in small claims court so at the end of the day, the tenant isn''t out that much more money than they would be just letting the LL keep the money for cleaning. There isn''t too much you can do other than continue to push for all your money back, send some copies of the relevant statutes to your LL and tell her you want all the money back, and hope she complies. GL!

Ditto. I wouldn''t give in at all and I definitely wouldn''t accept a cleaning fee of $250. (It''s her fault she cleaned it herself, not yours.) If the law says she had 14 days to give you your $ and she didn''t, make her give it all back to you.

This is ridiculous!

I did some more looking into the law, and it''s 14 days if she had a forwarding address, which she didn''t...another reason it was a bad idea to move 1 week before the wedding! Too much going on to remember!

 

[jet2ks]

Date: 11/18/2009 11:08:48 AM
Author: thing2of2

Date: 11/18/2009 11:03:04 AM
Author: DiamondsforDee
In most states they can't charge you for cleaning because it's part of normal wear and tear and the LL would have to clean before another tenant moved it; so it's just a cost shifting. Dirt is normal. Ruined hardwoods b/c of animal pee is not. Small holes from pictures is normal. Huge holes where your crackhead bf punched the wall is not. I'm also not sure on the legality of making up a price and charging you what it cost for the LL to clean the apartment. All of this being said: he who has the gold makes the rules. Your LL has your security deposit and is trying to screw you out of the money. Assuming what you said is 100% true and your apartment was in great condition, she is breaking the law and owes you all of your security deposit back. Landlords do this all the time knowing that the tenant won't fight it because it would cost $125 to file in small claims court so at the end of the day, the tenant isn't out that much more money than they would be just letting the LL keep the money for cleaning. There isn't too much you can do other than continue to push for all your money back, send some copies of the relevant statutes to your LL and tell her you want all the money back, and hope she complies. GL!

Ditto. I wouldn't give in at all and I definitely wouldn't accept a cleaning fee of $250. (It's her fault she cleaned it herself, not yours.) If the law says she had 14 days to give you your $ and she didn't, make her give it all back to you.

This is ridiculous!

Thritto! She flat out lied about cleaning and what it cost. She could possibly be prosecuted for fraud--I doubt she wants that. I wouldn't settle for less than your whole deposit returned immediately.

(BTW, I would report this LL, but only AFTER you have the deposit in hand.)

 

[sunnyd]

Date: 11/18/2009 11:03:04 AM
Author: DiamondsforDee
In most states they can''t charge you for cleaning because it''s part of normal wear and tear and the LL would have to clean before another tenant moved it; so it''s just a cost shifting. Dirt is normal. Ruined hardwoods b/c of animal pee is not. Small holes from pictures is normal. Huge holes where your crackhead bf punched the wall is not. I''m also not sure on the legality of making up a price and charging you what it cost for the LL to clean the apartment. All of this being said: he who has the gold makes the rules. Your LL has your security deposit and is trying to screw you out of the money. Assuming what you said is 100% true and your apartment was in great condition, she is breaking the law and owes you all of your security deposit back. Landlords do this all the time knowing that the tenant won''t fight it because it would cost $125 to file in small claims court so at the end of the day, the tenant isn''t out that much more money than they would be just letting the LL keep the money for cleaning. There isn''t too much you can do other than continue to push for all your money back, send some copies of the relevant statutes to your LL and tell her you want all the money back, and hope she complies. GL!

I completely agree. I think she thought she was doing us a favor...

I think a call to the tenant union is in order tonight.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/18/2009 11:08:48 AM
Author: thing2of2

Date: 11/18/2009 11:03:04 AM

Author: DiamondsforDee

In most states they can't charge you for cleaning because it's part of normal wear and tear and the LL would have to clean before another tenant moved it; so it's just a cost shifting. Dirt is normal. Ruined hardwoods b/c of animal pee is not. Small holes from pictures is normal. Huge holes where your crackhead bf punched the wall is not. I'm also not sure on the legality of making up a price and charging you what it cost for the LL to clean the apartment. All of this being said: he who has the gold makes the rules. Your LL has your security deposit and is trying to screw you out of the money. Assuming what you said is 100% true and your apartment was in great condition, she is breaking the law and owes you all of your security deposit back. Landlords do this all the time knowing that the tenant won't fight it because it would cost $125 to file in small claims court so at the end of the day, the tenant isn't out that much more money than they would be just letting the LL keep the money for cleaning. There isn't too much you can do other than continue to push for all your money back, send some copies of the relevant statutes to your LL and tell her you want all the money back, and hope she complies. GL!

Ditto. I wouldn't give in at all and I definitely wouldn't accept a cleaning fee of $250. (It's her fault she cleaned it herself, not yours.) If the law says she had 14 days to give you your $ and she didn't, make her give it all back to you.


This is ridiculous!

Yes this! She'll back down more. YOU are in the right here. HER management did not notice anything else about it-thus there were no damages above normal wear and tear besides the little that was mentioned on the checkout form. PERIOD. If there "wasn't enough room" whoever did the checkout with your DH could have added another form, written it on a napkin, WHATEVER. Ridiculouse excuse.

Keep pushing her, find the statute in your state that says they cannot charge for normal wear and tear, bring up the deposit timeline again (she should have sent the deposit the moment she had a forwarding address and should have reached out for one before the 14 days was up), and firmly let her know that you WILL be taking this to small claims court and WILL be asking for ALL of the deposit back WITH court fees. She will back down if you cite the statutes she broke, stay firm but polite, and most importantly make sure she understands that you just want what is fair. Make sure to tell her that you are not disputing what is on the checkout form (blinds) but ARE disputing everything after AND the cleaning fee which most likely she is not allowed to charge at ALL.

And most of all the fact that she told you what it "cost" and then did the work herself-NO WAY. She lied and a judge will see that. Make sure to call her on that too.
Stay strong!!!