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Were renting a house in Alabama, and when we moved in there where holes in the walls, and in one of the closet doors in our spare rooms, and the ceiling vent in the master bath, along with the ceiling imediately around the vent it just hanging there, carpet separating. My question is when we moved in, the landlord (realty company) never did a walk through with us, and never did any kind of documentation reguarding the condition of the house prior to move in. The only thing that was documented and signed was our lease. Can we be charged for the damage to the house such as those holes? We have always been good tenants, my husband is military so we have lived in many rentals.
The time to do something was on day one. You should have notified the realtor about the conditions. If you accepted the property in that condition, you can be charged for the damages. How long have you been in the property? If it's not too long, notify the realtor about the conditions and document them with pictures and a CERTIFIED REYRN RECEIPT letter. Keep copies of the pictures and the letter. In the letter request repairs.
If you do nothing, you can well be charged as doing the damage yourself.
...when we moved in there where holes in the walls, and in one of the closet doorsand the ceiling vent in the master bath, along with the ceiling imediately around the vent it just hanging there, carpet separating.
Can we be charged for the damage to the house such as those holes?
Can you prove that the house wasn't in *perfect* condition when you moved in?
If not... then you can be charged for the damage that is there now.
I failed to report a small tear in the cheap shear curtains on move in. On move out they used it as an excuse to keep my whole deposit! Yep you can be blamed!
When we first looked at the house before we signed the lease, the entire house was covered in mold and no hot water. they came in and cleaned up the mold and we moved in the next day. So they have it on record it wasnt in perfect condition because of the mold, but nothing was noted about the holes in the wall because I never really thought about it. We've always lived in apartments, so this is our first house we've rented, so we really didnt think about it until recently.
Nowadays with cheap digital cameras and camcorders everyone (landlord/tenant) should be spending a few minutes to document the condition of the property at move in time. It solves a lot of problems for the future that can come up.
So if I just take pictures of all the holes and such, it should be okay? We've already been here 5 months into our lease. Im already anticipating our security deposit being with held.
It was your responsibility to document and photograph the entire place before you started to unload you belongings and move in. Now it will e your word against theirs as you have no proof the damage was there before you moved in. Photograph everything and contact the landlord in writing and hope for the best. There may be some resources from the military that can help you as well.
BTW, thank you for your family's service. All the best to Your husband and your family that supports him from home.
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