$1100 taken out only after 8 months stay HELP!! (Los Angeles: apartment, rental)

[mooza]

I moved to this apartment on february this year. Within the stay until the end of September, I had found mold twice. The first one was at the kitchen and it had already spread out to the living room!! I called the management and they took care of it pretty quick. After couple weeks, then I found another mold in the bedroom closet and this time, I requested to the mgt to be moved into other unit, which they did on october.

For the moving, the management had charged $1100 for cleaning, painting & carpet and $60 on the mini blind. i left the previous unit in a clean condition without any damages and that what was also stated on the list where the manager and I did the walk-through.

I am so confused
It's an enormous amount of money for 8 months stay and furthermore, i moved because of the structure of the previous unit that was so bad that there was always a leakage.


Any advises? please help
thank you

[Snort]

I'm not sure I understand. They're charging you for the mold damage? They must provide you with a healthy environment. Tenants aren't likely to bring in mold on their own.

[osuzana]

Have you heard of small claims court? If you can't settle this with the landlord you can take her to small claims court near where you live for up to $5000 and no lawyers are used. Try and get the money you paid from her and find another place to live. Mold is a good enough issue to leave and is very toxic to inhale.

[mooza]

@ snort
they didn't charge me for the mold damages but for cleaning, painting & carpeting, which was absurd because the carpet & the wall were fine and it was stated on the walk-through list with the apt manager.

Right now, I have to pay another full security deposit on the new unit, which mean that i will be charged again when I move out.

@osuzana
I wanted to argue with the mngt/landlord. However, is there any rental law that I can refer to?
I moved out because of the mold and I felt that I am not supposed to be charged for it but I don't know how to argue for it =(

[HB2HSV]

Read your rental agreement carefully, somewhere in there has a statement on how much cleaning they can charge you *legally* upto your full amount of deposit and maybe more.

Did you take pictures of the unit when you vacate? How would you prove otherwise? It will be your word against theirs? It's a hard sell even in a small claims court.

I would say it's better to negotiate with your landlord to see how much they can reduce on those cleaning fees. They still have the interest to keep you as a tenant. If they are not willing to reduce the fees, I'd consider finding another place to live.

Make sure you take plenty of picture of the "new" place when you move out this time.

[osuzana]

I'd take pictures of when I move in too. If you did a walk thru with the manager and she didn't check off any damages then you shouldn't have to pay for it and get your deposit back or just transfer it to the new place. Personally, I would not stay there. You have already had bad experiences there and just because you can't see mold doesn't mean it isn't there. If you haven't moved into a new place there, don't. Let her take you to small claims court or if she doesn't return your deposit you can take her. Nothing to lose except the cost to serve her and your time. I had a landlord that didn't want to give my deposit back because of how pictures on a wall keep the color lighter where they were hung. I always clean and patch all holes and did take pictures upon leaving. Took him to court and got my money returned.

[Beth56]

Do you have a breakdown of expenses? Did they charge the full amount for the carpet and painting to you or was it prorated?

[Snort]

Small claims court!

[HarryKerry]

Check to see if your apartment is in a rent controlled city. Los Angeles and some cities on the west side are rent controlled. These cities have an office to review such situations are yours to see if the management had the legal right to do what they did. If they did not, that city will take action. And if the management does anything that can be seen as "retribution" because of your reporting them, they face further action by the city.

My aunt had a similar problem when her apartment owners demanded payment for something that should never have charged for. She didn't want to pay it, but I told her not to upset the owners and get into any arguments and to just pay it for now. Then we went to the city's rent board, and the city fixed it. Within 2 weeks, my aunt received a check in the amount she had paid along with a letter of effusive apology, and the management didn't dare to make trouble for her after that because of the anti-retribution laws. She continued to live in that apartment for over 15 years.

If you city doesn't have rent control, then see if there is some office that handles such disputes, and see what they say.

However, it is very important that you not challenge your management and give them reason to start kicking you out now. Say nothing to the management and get help from the city on this, and if the management is wrong, they will handle everything from that point and you don't become directly involved. Good luck.