[LymiesGirl]

We have lived in our home for 3 years in Palm Coast. Our realty mgt company gave us a vague list to do for cleaning upon move out. They did a "pre-move out" inspection once we gave in our 45 day move and I was asking questions about the cleaning. The lady told me that my best bet would be to leave the house in swept condition because more than likely they would call in a cleaning service regardless to how clean it is! She said if the house was spotless but she found one crumb in the kitchen or any dust anywhere she would have to call cleaners to reclean the entire house! She literally does the white glove! It was not THAT clean when we moved in! So I asked how much the cleaning fee was and she said she wasn't sure, anywhere from $275 on up (up to what??)! For a crumb??? And the cleaning company is owned by relatives of the mgt owner who are all from Russia. I used to clean homes for a living and told her this as I am pretty anal about cleaning and she said I could try but she may still find something and then I did all that work for nothing. I said "so basically, you are saying that there is no way to avoid a huge cleaning fee"? She just looked at me like "exactly".
Also, they refuse to do a move out inspection but will do a pre-move out?
She said if there were any nicks in the stucco on the corners of the walls/doorways they would charge to fill them in, isn't that wear and tear after 3 yrs?
We are talking about a $2300.00 deposit.
Is there anything I can do about this?

[LifeIsGood01]

Originally Posted by LymiesGirl

We have lived in our home for 3 years in Palm Coast. Our realty mgt company gave us a vague list to do for cleaning upon move out. They did a "pre-move out" inspection once we gave in our 45 day move and I was asking questions about the cleaning. The lady told me that my best bet would be to leave the house in swept condition because more than likely they would call in a cleaning service regardless to how clean it is! She said if the house was spotless but she found one crumb in the kitchen or any dust anywhere she would have to call cleaners to reclean the entire house! She literally does the white glove! It was not THAT clean when we moved in! So I asked how much the cleaning fee was and she said she wasn't sure, anywhere from $275 on up (up to what??)! For a crumb??? And the cleaning company is owned by relatives of the mgt owner who are all from Russia. I used to clean homes for a living and told her this as I am pretty anal about cleaning and she said I could try but she may still find something and then I did all that work for nothing. I said "so basically, you are saying that there is no way to avoid a huge cleaning fee"? She just looked at me like "exactly".
Also, they refuse to do a move out inspection but will do a pre-move out?
She said if there were any nicks in the stucco on the corners of the walls/doorways they would charge to fill them in, isn't that wear and tear after 3 yrs?
We are talking about a $2300.00 deposit.
Is there anything I can do about this?

Clean it yourself and take pictures of everything and videos. IF they dispute that it's clean and want to charge you tell them that you will see them in court. They can't charge you to clean something that is already clean. If they find a crumb the judge won't allow them to charge a full cleaning crew. Also it's in your favor if you can get proof for court that the cleaning crew is related to people running the show.

Also don't tell them, but they would have to have before and after pictures of what they claim is dirty and had to be recleaned. So when they get in front of the judge and start lying you show them your proof. Let them know that you can't afford to give them a gift and you will clean it yourself and clean it in court. It there is a nick in anything they would have to have before pictures to prove it wasn't there before, and you can deny having done it.

$275 is unreasonable unless the place is in bad shape. Anyone can hire a cleaner for $20 an hour or less.

I would probably clean it myself and then hire a cleaner for $50 to reclean quickly since everything is already clean and bring in the receipt to court.

I had one Super and LL tell me they wanted me to pay $150 to clean the tiny 440 sq foot apartment, I spent 4 days cleaning it and I told them if they don't return the full amount that they would have to lose a day of work to go to court and pay my filing fees when I win. That was enough for them to return the full deposit.

Let your LL know the same thing, when you win they will have to pay your filing fee and take a day off to go to court, plus find out the laws about when and how they have to return your security deposit and what they have to list as deductions.

The people you are dealing with sound like thieves who want to victimize people.

I would also leave a horrible review for this realty mgmt company to warn others.

Hopefully you took pictures when you moved in especially if there were things wrong beforehand that you may be blamed for, and also as you said it was not that clean, if you have pictures of that it's to your benefit when you go to court.

[LymiesGirl]

Thank you so much, yesterday when she told me about finding a crumb and charging $275 or more to clean the whole house all over again I looked at her and asked her is that even legal?? She didn't say anything again. These people have drove us nuts every since we've been here wanting to do inspections here and wanteing to do inspections there. A week after we moved in they wanted to do an inspection I about fell out because I told them but I was still unpacking boxes. I wish we would have never moved here but unfortunately at the time rental homes were extremely hard to find. We were kind of forced into this one. And they rent most of the homes in Palm Coast Florida. Once we had black mold in the air conditioning unit and I was staying sick, pretty much still am, and I told them about it and told them they need to get a remedial person in here to clean it. They called a legitimate remedial company but didn't like the price they were charging them so they sent two men in here that only spoke Russian I could not communicate with them hardly at all except ask them if they knew about how to clean black mold. And they shook their head no but said they would clean it. They literally took a duct cleaning vacuum cleaner and sucked this mold out and called it a day! Problem is I could smell the mold all over my house something fierce and I'm pretty sure that it's still in here! They just want to keep their family working and at the cheapest cost possible!
We have been model tenants and have never been late on a single rent payment, we have never caused any trouble, we don't party, we don't get in trouble with the police, we are quiet people and my house is always extremely clean. I have been so nice to these people even though I really want to tell them what are really think!

[aewan68]

Florida law stated below shows what you have to work with, problem is many landlords will know you won't take them to court or fight $200-400 or so off of the deposit even if they don't follow the law, also if you move out of the area or state, they presume you wont' fight it because it's not logistically feasible.

"Upon the vacating of the premises for termination of the lease, if the landlord does not intend to impose a claim on the security deposit, the landlord shall have 15 days to return the security deposit together with interest if otherwise required, or the landlord shall have 30 days to give the tenant written notice by certified mail to the tenant’s last known mailing address of his or her intention to impose a claim on the deposit and the reason for imposing the claim. The notice shall contain a statement in substantially the following form:

This is a notice of my intention to impose a claim for damages in the amount of upon your security deposit, due to . It is sent to you as required by s. 83.49(3), Florida Statutes. You are hereby notified that you must object in writing to this deduction from your security deposit within 15 days from the time you receive this notice or I will be authorized to deduct my claim from your security deposit. Your objection must be sent to (landlord’s address) .

If the landlord fails to give the required notice within the 30-day period, he or she forfeits the right to impose a claim upon the security deposit and may not seek a setoff against the deposit but may file an action for damages after return of the deposit."

Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine

[bmw335xi]

No cleaner will come out for a one hour session for $20, just saying to the guy who thinks you can call a legtimate company to send a cleaner for $20.

[KPB]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

No cleaner will come out for a one hour session for $20, just saying to the guy who thinks you can call a legtimate company to send a cleaner for $20.

He said $50 which sounds about right.

[LifeIsGood01]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

No cleaner will come out for a one hour session for $20, just saying to the guy who thinks you can call a legtimate company to send a cleaner for $20.

I said $20 an hour. Maybe $50 if it's just 2 hours or a quick recleaning. There are a lot of people who are self employed on Craigslist in many parts of this country that would be thrilled to work for $20 an hour or less. A cleaning service won't because the owner and the worker have to get paid. Many people work for $8 an hour and would be trilled to work a few hours for $50 cash.

[LymiesGirl]

Thanks everyone! I am so upset over this. More like furious! They are NOT being fair and stealing my money.

[MyITGuy]

I've leased a few properties over the last few years and feel your pain! I would recommend the following:

-Get the paint code(s) from the landlord/owner so you can perform touch up work on any major blemishes that affected the wall
Note: This may not be required as most would consider 3 years an appropriate time for repainting/reasonable wear & tear, but if you end up taking it to court it could work for you to show that you made an effort to re-mediate the issue

-Hire a professional cleaner of your own who has "move out cleaning" as a specialty. They usually run through the house with 2-3 person crew over 3 hours. I've paid anywhere from $250-$400 depending on the size of the house. I've used Molly Maid in Miami and they seem to have locations all over FL.

-Hire someone like Stanley Steamer to professionally clean the carpet/tiles

In the event you do need to take it to court, having documentation that you had professional companies perform the work along with your pictures will go a long way.

Even with all that, you may find yourself getting shorted. I have a case filed against my former landlord from 2014/2015 for almost $3K that is still pending

BTW, if you're looking for a new lease - Check out Invitation Homes (No association with them other than they were my previous landlord). I had no issue with move in/move out which was a vast difference between my current and previous 2014 landlord

[Spring Hillian]

Originally Posted by LymiesGirl

Thanks everyone! I am so upset over this. More like furious! They are NOT being fair and stealing my money.

That is why we can't have nice things