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We'll be moving out of our rental soon. I haven't heard any good move-out stories since moving here. Lots of nickel & dime charges, lots of trying to keep security deposits that shouldn't have been kept. I hope that's not actually the norm. We've been here almost 4 years & I'd like to get my security deposit back. Many years renting in the Chicago area & I always had the entire thing returned, even the time I broke the lease 2 months after signing, due to job loss. I still cleaned it to better than I received it.
Some items I wonder about:
There wasn't a transition between the carpet & tile by the front door & the carpet is a little ragged there. I wish I had just bought & installed the transition myself, but I didn't.
The walls are painted with a cheap flat paint. When I clean the walls (I have kids) some of the paint kinda fades. You can tell if the light hits it a certain way, but only then.
What about grout? I've never lived with a grouted tile kitchen counter before. With already cracked tiles & cracked & stained grout. Next time I'll know to have someone come in and clean/seal it. Constantly cleaning that grout has driven me crazy!
Also, caulk. All of the non carpet floors are caulked all the way around. And shoddily done if you ask me. Many areas are coming apart from the wall they are caulked to. The grout around the shower stall is just a big clumpy mess, always has been.
We like the owners (maybe not the management company so much) and have taken good care of their house. Gone out of our way to fix & clean things ourselves that tenants wouldn't normally bother with (AC fan for example). Added solar screens, stuff like that. But I don't know if I'll have the time or money to go above & beyond in the next couple of months. I'd like to get my security deposit back.
Although you might not want to hear it, I will give you a response to your question from a Landlord's point of view. I can't speak to the Property Management's involvement which often neither the Landlord or Tenant is happy with.
First off, you say that you have kids and the owner knew that going in of course. That being the case, the owner should take that into account. Do you have pet's, and if so what kind and how many? Do you or does anyone in your home smoke? Those items can have a marked negative effect on your security deposit. If neither of those apply to you that is in your favor.
Since you have been there 4 years obviously the owner was happy you were there and apparently you were on speaking terms. I will now address the items you listed as being concerned about.
First yes, you should have had the threshold taken care of as soon as you saw it. Not by you, but by the owner. It is the tenant's responsibility to notify the owner promptly of damage and repairs. You did not. Had this been done on the front end you would have much better standing. Since you didn't, I suspect you will be held liable for letting the damage get worse.
You stated the walls faded somewhat due to you cleaning them. Again, you should have asked for the owner to either repaint or if you are handy ask for the EXACT brand, type and paint color and tell them you would do it yourself. Since the walls faded due to your cleaning spots you might be on the hook for that since the walls fading gradually over time would have faded evenly.
Once again regarding the grout and stains that should have been brought up and repaired long ago. Assuming the grout color is white there are many methods to get them fairly clean even now. Clorox makes a brightener and Home Depot has one too. You should try to work on that now. A cheap small handheld steam cleaner and a grout brush might also be of help. They have the steam cleaner's at Fry's. As far as the cracked tiles hopefully you brought that up at the time you did the first walkthrough. If not you likely will be charged.
I would pull out your rental contract and walkthrough paperwork check the fine print. This may help you. The contract may say you are required to clean the carpets. If so get someone who knows what they are doing to clean them rather than go to the grocery store and renting a machine and making a mess.
Assuming your owner was a decent person to start with I would suspect he said something like "let me know if anything needs fixing" when you first rented. It doesn't sound like you let him know during the course of the lease and now plan on springing it all on him when you move out. This doesn't give you a strong position especially with a go between like a property management company.
Anyway I do hope that it turns out well for you and if it doesn't you certainly can go to small claims court and there are many well informed people who can help you with that on this site. Be aware though that the owner can counter sue in small claims court too although I suspect that is very rare.
Hopefully though if you do rent again you will consider notifying the owner more promptly regarding repairs or upkeep so as to not let the items get worse.
First, many thanks! I was very much hoping to hear from the landlord's point of view.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Packrat1
Although you might not want to hear it, I will give you a response to your question from a Landlord's point of view. I can't speak to the Property Management's involvement which often neither the Landlord or Tenant is happy with.
First off, you say that you have kids and the owner knew that going in of course. That being the case, the owner should take that into account. Do you have pet's, and if so what kind and how many? Do you or does anyone in your home smoke? Those items can have a marked negative effect on your security deposit. If neither of those apply to you that is in your favor.
We do have 2 dogs and paid a double, supposedly refundable, pet deposit for them. At times when they are unsupervised they are crated. To be honest, my son has damaged the house more than they have (hence the wall cleaning). Absolutely no smoking allowed, ever. Even my mother went down closer to the street to smoke when she visited to avoid the front door or windows retaining the smell.
Since you have been there 4 years obviously the owner was happy you were there and apparently you were on speaking terms. I will now address the items you listed as being concerned about.
Yes, very much so I would actually stay here if we weren't buying.
First yes, you should have had the threshold taken care of as soon as you saw it. Not by you, but by the owner. It is the tenant's responsibility to notify the owner promptly of damage and repairs. You did not. Had this been done on the front end you would have much better standing. Since you didn't, I suspect you will be held liable for letting the damage get worse.
I will let them know about this and offer to fix it.
You stated the walls faded somewhat due to you cleaning them. Again, you should have asked for the owner to either repaint or if you are handy ask for the EXACT brand, type and paint color and tell them you would do it yourself. Since the walls faded due to your cleaning spots you might be on the hook for that since the walls fading gradually over time would have faded evenly.
Makes sense. I do wish the paint was better! I was not expecting that to happen.
Once again regarding the grout and stains that should have been brought up and repaired long ago. Assuming the grout color is white there are many methods to get them fairly clean even now. Clorox makes a brightener and Home Depot has one too. You should try to work on that now. A cheap small handheld steam cleaner and a grout brush might also be of help. They have the steam cleaner's at Fry's. As far as the cracked tiles hopefully you brought that up at the time you did the first walkthrough. If not you likely will be charged.
I know it's not an acceptable excuse, but I honestly didn't realize that was something that should be/could be addressed. Just thought it was an old counter that would need replacing eventually. I've managed to keep them decent looking, it's just been a chore. Perhaps I'll ask DH to re-caulk the sink as that might be the worst part.
I would pull out your rental contract and walkthrough paperwork check the fine print. This may help you. The contract may say you are required to clean the carpets. If so get someone who knows what they are doing to clean them rather than go to the grocery store and renting a machine and making a mess.
Our contract specifically says not to,that they will.
Assuming your owner was a decent person to start with I would suspect he said something like "let me know if anything needs fixing" when you first rented. It doesn't sound like you let him know during the course of the lease and now plan on springing it all on him when you move out. This doesn't give you a strong position especially with a go between like a property management company.
They are decent people, and were happy to have tenants that were just going to take care of things for them. I did let them know when something was beyond our ability & we were going to call the management though. I didn't mean to be springing problems on them. It's more things I didn't expect/didn't realize quick enough about.
Anyway I do hope that it turns out well for you and if it doesn't you certainly can go to small claims court and there are many well informed people who can help you with that on this site. Be aware though that the owner can counter sue in small claims court too although I suspect that is very rare.
Hopefully though if you do rent again you will consider notifying the owner more promptly regarding repairs or upkeep so as to not let the items get worse.
Two dogs, that does change things. Don't plan on getting any of the pet deposits back. Not going to happen unfortunately.
Dog smell as well as pee stains on the carpet I would assume are likely. Did you have any lawn if so I suspect the dog's tore that up and that is not normal "wear and tear". All of the pot holes and paths they have made will need to be repaired. Some dirt and grass seed won't cut it. Probably will need some of the turf repaired.
Did the dogs or kids tear holes in any of the window screens? If so that will be deducted. Did the dogs scratch the front door or significantly scratch the glass sliding door if so you likely will be charged for that.
Did the drapes or blinds get damaged from the dogs jumping on them? That too is not normal wear and tear.
Remember too that this home will need to be rented to someone else and nobody wants to smell someone else's pets.
I found several products that work extremely well to get rid of pet smell and cigarette smell. One is Odoban Eucalyptus which you can get at Home Depot. The other is for the carpet. It is Arm and Hammer Pet Deodorizer. It does have a decent smell to it. You shake it on the carpet and rake it in and then vacuum it up. Be sure to vacuum it up. Might even do it several times.
You should have taken photos of the place when you moved in. Normal "wear and tear" shouldn't affect your deposit....neither should the paint condition...most new tenants will insist on fresh paint anyway! As long as there aren't holes in the walls, or filthy carpet stains, you should be good. Damage of any kind will mean a reduction of security deposit....but if you could prove that's how it was when YOU moved in, you're good!
It is too bad that you couldn't do the move out with the Owner vs the Property Mgt Co.
I would suspect that the Property Mgt Co is going to be more particular regarding items that need repair. Since the Mgt Co. has to answer to the owner they may be more apt to try to stick you with stuff especially dog damage.
Be sure to get a signed copy of the move out property condition report check list before you leave the property so they can't add more items later. And take pictures too.
On the other hand, maybe you will get lucky and have a lazy Property Mgr that will just do a cursory check and let you off the hook.
Whatever the case, be sure they get you the settlement within 30 days or you can definitely take them to small claims court.
We do have pics from move in but not of things like the kitchen counters. I just didn't realize i needed that. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
I do have to say though, when i said my son caused more damage than my dogs i wasn't kidding. Of all the things you listed the only one that needs attention is 1 screen from my son calling the big dog up to the dining room window during dinner. We will replace that one. My dogs haven't broken a single blind. Same cannot be said for my son. We'll be replacing those as well. They don't jump, scratch, pee inside, etc. They are trained & supervised. If there is 1 thing i can't stand is dogs constant destroying things & barking. I'm not a "dog person". I don't believe in "precious can do no wrong". Wish i could train my son as easily as the dogs lol Oh, the dumber dog did try to eat 1 curtain (seriously wth) but we've already bought the replacement.
The backyard is rock & the carpet gets arm & hammer with lavender essential oil shaken & vacuumed regularly. I know it's not the norm but we really do try to maintain the property.
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I would actually stay here if we weren't buying.
