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DPK, I think it was you I was testy with. Major apologies. I was very upset, although that is no excuse for taking it out on you.
I think I'll be refusing the cost of professional carpet cleaning upon move out. It is illegal for them to withhold any portion of my deposit for normal wear and tear. IMO, any good owner/property management company would realize it's time to finally replace the carpets and paint. The unit averaged a family a year (one with EIGHT children and a large dog) until we took occupancy in late 2011. I think they need to suck it up and update the place. Almost every rental unit in this neighborhood has been upgraded EXCEPT the units they manage. As you can probably guess, we've become friendly with our neighbors over the years, and you can always tell whose rental homes are managed by this company. Even the appraiser who came out in July said this unit isn't up to comps in this neighborhood due to the lack of Maintenence and upgrades.
If so, than firstly you should report the damages to your personal property to your own agent immediately. Not file a claim (yet), but do report it. Then chat with your agent about how much coverage you have, and does it extend to such like you getting a storage unit or portable container (IE: Moving 'cube') to hold personal property that might be damaged in probable and expected future leakage. Or hiring a moving company on a moments notice to pack and move your stuff to a 'safe' place.
And finally ask them: if you file a claim and they pay you, how would your insurance then go about getting compensation from the ones responsible for the damage, your landlord.
See, this is the leverage.
There are other things to consider, and I'm not a lawyer but I just have seen what motivates people who front for bureaucracies. They want to minimize their hassle, and certainly not have to tell their bosses they might be, or will be taken to small claims court
So, next contact your landlord and let them know that you have suffered damages and expect additional damages from subsequent bad weather. And that if you have to file a claim with your own homeowner's insurance policy, you expect that that firm will then sue the landlord for damages, (possibly including storage spaces, and/or moving firm to come relocate at-risk property to a safe location etc).
Note 1: About how you communicate with your landlord on a contentious issue:
My own lease has a paragraph that says that any communication between me and my landlord (also a management company) is only 'official' if delivered: By hand, By 1st Class registered Mail, or dropped in the rent slot at the office. No other form of communication is binding. So check your own lease, as voice mail and email messages may be a method they feel they can ignore. Do it via hand-delivered letter, and make sure you keep copies of all correspondence. Be polite, business-like, but also firm in giving them an impression that the longer they delay, the more hassle and compensation claims they will have to resolve.
Note 2: The above letter shouldn't actually say they are being sued, but rather a reminder that it could happen. UNLESS you actually have suffered enough damage that it's worth while to see compensation (from your own insurance if need be).
If they have the mindset that they owe you nothing, then you have to make them think that making you right is the quickest/easiest/cheapest way (from their perspective) to resolve the issue.
Thank you, I have resolved the issue well enough at this point. We only have four more days of actually living in the unit. We move out 9/10 and our lease terminates 9/30, giving us roughly 20 days to remove random items left behind and clean. This townhome has so much potential but has been basically used and abused as a rental with almost zero maintenance for a decade. We did our best with the five years we had in it, but refused to do anything more than what is required by law as a tenant, much as they only did the absolutely bare minimum required by law as an owner/management company.
Good riddance to this shoddy company and the townhome they've relentlessly milked without feeding.
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