How to Handle my Landlord? (lease, tenant, rental, deposit)

[SamCTentant]

I've lived in this house for a year now, and my lease is up the 31st. My landlord has given me quite the list of tasks in order for me to receive my deposit back. So I've made an account here so I can ask a community their opinion on the matter. I'm just not real sure what is considered reasonable here. I've had three other rentals since I've moved to Louisiana, and I've always had the majority of my deposit returned to me each time I've moved. However, I've never been asked to complete quite a list like I've been given with this property.

Can this landlord expect me to power wash the entire house? For one, he knows I don't even own a power washer, and wants me to go buy/rent one from somewhere in order to get this job done. Also, after cleaning the interior of the home, he wants me to come through and bleach everything down, including the walls?? I've never had a problem cleaning a property but this deep clean is nothing that's been requested of me before. I've always seen the landlord themselves come in and do these things.

There are a number of things he never completed once we signed the lease and moved in, there is massive termite damage at the rear of the house, which was part of the deal to be fixed once we moved in, as well as multiple broken door frames. There were several building codes that are broken in the home, (well, I can only imagine that these things cannot be legal) For instance, the vent for the dryer... Can anyone provide regulations for how this is supposed to be built?

In my case, the dryer's vent hose comes out the back of it, and is supposed to attach to a VERTICAL PVC pipe that extends into the ceiling. Which then goes out the back of the house through the second story. Due to the fact that it runs vertical, lint and debris constantly got clogged inside of it. I've cleaned it many many times, (very very tediously) to get the same MASSIVE pile of wet, nasty lint. It was so bad, in fact, that the dryer was unable to vent to the point of nearly catching on fire. I would begin to smell my clothes "cooking" believe it or not, and after a short time my dryer broke completely. After removing my dryer, I taped a plastic bag over the bottom of the PVC pipe just to keep draft, critters, lint, etc from escaping. I noticed it was full of water the other day?!? So none of this can be safe, solely relating to the MASSIVE FIRE HAZARD.

Another issue I wanted to ask about is the fact that he expected me to "return the flower beds to their original state" that are along the porch. The only issue here is that when we moved in, there were no flower beds. They already had grassing growing over and he had pulled up the bricks that denoted the flower bed area and moves them to the rear of the house. So how can I be expected to create a flower bed again now that I'm leaving, if I never had flower bed upon moving in?

Mod note: Moved from Louisiana forum

[rgathrights]

The game is all about the Burden Of Proof for anything that you or the landlord disagree about. Your Landlord is betting that you did nothing to document the state of the house and property on the day you arrived. For anyone outside this dispute, we all wish you the best but there is little we can do if you do not have evidence.

LANDLORD:
Q: Was tenant late on rent?
A: Of course your Landlord documents these situations fully.

TENANT:
Q: Do I have to return flowerbeds to original state?
A: If you have a photo of the flowerbeds the day you moved in then NO you only have to restore them to that point.

[Alicia64]

Nobody ever has to power wash a rental -- that's ridiculous. And bleach down the walls?? No way. (He's playing the See-What-I-Can-Get-Away-With game.)

If you didn't take photos before -- or as -- you moved in, tell him/her that you have photos and are happy to show them to a judge to determine your costs.

Small claims courts are used to landlords who are trying to take advantage of tenants left and right. The judge knows the scoop. If the landlord can bully you out of the deposit, he/she will. That's how they make extra money.

Also, do you have any emails where you asked him to fix things? That's something you'd show to the judge as proof that you complained and he didn't take care of the property.

And go back to your original contract. Even if it says you have to power wash and bleach, that won't hold up in court. (Look at it this way: the contract could also say that you agree to bake a cake every week for a year. Again, that won't hold up in court -- even if you signed the cake-contract.)

Here's the scam: these landlords don't want to go to Small Claims Court. They'll push on you until the very day of court and then "decide" to settle.

It's how the scam works.

From now on, take a zillion pictures when you first move in.

Hang tough. Don't get pushed around.

Alley