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I'm happy to hear that your home is always kept spotless every single day. It must be, right? After all, OP did clean the kitchen and living room and only had clothing and paper out of place in the bedroom.
What I do in my space is irrelevant but, since you brought it up, then yes I do keep my place clean and tidy. And I have physical limitations so am even more conscious of doing a little and often so that it doesn't get to the point where a major clean has to be done which I can't do in one fell swoop without ending up flat on my back.
The OP said, "The bathroom has clothes, a lot of plastic bags/paper medicine bags from my pharmacy and a few soda cans laying around. There's no food or anything but there is definitely paper/plastic trash that has accumulated. Moreover, the toilet and sink are a little dirty as you can imagine how toilets and sinks get dirty overtime."
Accumulated paper bags and soda cans attract roaches and other bugs. In fact even accumulated piles of clothes afford hiding nooks for roaches. Toilets and sinks "get dirty over time"? I guess it's relative but it doesn't take any time at all to do a quick clean of both and keep them that way before the "over time" kicks in and they're nasty messes.
Anyone who places laundry on the floor should be live in a nursing home? WOW, we're going to need a lot more nursing homes in this country - entire college dorms will be empty!
Where on earth did I say anything about "nursing homes"?
Where on earth did I say anything about "nursing homes"?
I was wondering the same thing. You also didn't mention Spotless either. I think some people are just super sensitive to the topic of keeping a home reasonably clean.
As long as you are not creating a health hazard it is none of his business how dirty your apartment is while you are living in it. As long as you are not leaving out food to attract bugs and rodents, creating a fire hazard or damaging the apartment permanently, you should be okay. I've never heard of a lease requiring you to keep the apartment clean and sanitary. Apartments are generally filthy, it would be unreasonable to expect every tenant to have a sanitized apartment.
maybe YOUR apt is filthy but I can assure you, mine is not! I clean my bathrooms and kitchen on a daily basis. I do not leave trash, empty cans or clothes all over the unit.
Most leases will state what expected of the tenant in regards to keeping the unit clean...not cleaning your bathroom is nasty and being disabled is NOT an excuse for living in filth or clutter. You can hire someone to clean, ask a friend to help or have your mom come clean it.
There is a huge difference between messy and filthy. As a landlord I don't care if a tenant chooses to live in a messy house, as long as it is not filthy and attracting bugs, that is their business. I especially don't care about how they live when they otherwise pay the rent on time and are not damaging the place or annoying their neighbors. Those are probably most landlords priorities.
I've never posted on a forum so I thank you in advance for your patience!
I am a renter that resides in Minneapolis, MN.
I am a little anxious about what transpired during an inspection today. I'm just going to say right now I'm not the cleanest person. I have several disabilities that make cleaning more difficult than for the average person. Anyways, I cleaned the kitchen and living room to be spotless besides some clutter of my possessions on top of furniture. The hardwood floors were completely swept. There was no trash around and the sink/counter tops/oven top were all cleaned. I didn't clean the refrigerator and I will touch on that in a second. With all that being said, I wasn't able to clean the bedroom/bathroom--this is the part I'm a little embarrassed about :/. All the walking space of the bedroom is covered in clothes. The bathroom has clothes, a lot of plastic bags/paper medicine bags from my pharmacy and a few soda cans laying around. There's no food or anything but there is definitely paper/plastic trash that has accumulated. Moreover, the toilet and sink are a little dirty as you can imagine how toilets and sinks get dirty overtime. I know, as a person in my early 20s, that I should have the skills to not let the aforementioned things happen. I'm in a therapy group and seeing a therapist where I'm actively and earnestly working hard to develop the skills required to maintain the cleanliness of a living space, amongst other things.
Anyways, the landlord and two maintenance employees came in for an inspection that was stated to be for testing of the fire alarms. Thus, they came in and immediately the owner (to my surprise) opened the fridge and saw the mess and told me that I have to clean it right away, for it would "flunk" some sort of test (I didn't make out what exactly he said). I told him I would make it a priority to clean it as quickly as possible. One of his maintenance employees then asked to go into the bedroom and bathroom to check the second fire alarm. I totally spaced that there was a second fire alarm in the bedroom so my anxiety spiked knowing that he would see the mess in those two rooms (the owner did not enter the room and they were in quite a rush). Obviously he saw the state of those two rooms and I looked at the lease today and it says that one of the tenants responsibilities is to "keep the apartment clean and sanitary." I don't even know if this maintenance employee will mention to the landlord what he saw because they were making a mass inspection of all the apartment buildings' fire alarms today (making them quite busy for there are numerous apartment buildings) but nevertheless I am worried about what the consequences will be for my neglect of those two rooms.
As you can probably tell, I'm a very new renter and have only lived on my own for a short while.
Anyone will knowledge of renting, what do you think will happen next if the landlord is made of aware of the of the state of those two rooms? The ideal scenario in my mind, if anything happens at all, would be that he requests that I clean the apartment up to reasonable standards in a timely manner. Or does he have grounds for eviction? The latter is my biggest fear and I'm quite distressed about it. My rational side is telling me that he wouldn't do something that rash, but that worry persists nonetheless. Thanks for reading and for any responses! It's greatly appreciated!
Firstly, the landlord should not have been opening your fridge to check the fire alarm.
Secondly, I understand how difficult it is to maintain even an apartment with disabilities. Your therapy is probably helping you to know where to focus your efforts. This should be on the kitchen and bathroom for actual cleanliness, and then keeping the rest tidy. A place for everything, and everything in its place. Easier said than done, no?
My particular disabilities are rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, which make it impossible for me to do tasks that require me to stand or walk for more than a few minutes. I get around this by using television - I work during the commercials. Clearly defined tasks also help - "I will put five things away from the nightstand during this commercial break", for instance. And I keep a list of what needs doing, because out of sight, out of mind.
After all that, I also wanted to say that if your landlord thinks that you are not within your lease, he will likely ask you to remedy it within a certain period of time. It is not reasonable to expect that someone will have freshly cleaned their fridge for a fire alarm check. However, if he does schedule an inspection for cleanliness (check your lease for what they say about that!), then expect that he will look in the fridge, oven, microwave, cabinets, and look at the bathroom. Your apartment should be clear enough of floor clutter that you are not causing a fire hazard, and that emergency crews would not have a problem getting to you if you needed rescue.
If the OP is totally incapable of keeping a living space clean because of documented disabilities then he/she should be living in a situation where there's someone to assist, either paid or unpaid. A LL has an expectation that his property will be kept clean.
Should is a matter of opinion. Almost everyone prefers to live an independent life as much as possible and many people with disabilities do not have the financial ability to pay for help to clean up for them, nor do they necessarily have family who are willing to pay the bills or provide unpaid assistance. I don't know where you expect them to get this assistance from when they do not have those resources. But that still does not negate their right to live an independent life.
As long as their lifestyle does not damage the rental property in some way, they are entitled to live their life the way they see fit.
Should is a matter of opinion. Almost everyone prefers to live an independent life as much as possible and many people with disabilities do not have the financial ability to pay for help to clean up for them, nor do they necessarily have family who are willing to pay the bills or provide unpaid assistance. I don't know where you expect them to get this assistance from when they do not have those resources. But that still does not negate their right to live an independent life.
As long as their lifestyle does not damage the rental property in some way, they are entitled to live their life the way they see fit.
What I said was, "If the OP is totally incapable of keeping a living space clean because of documented disabilities then he/she should be living in a situation where there's someone to assist, either paid or unpaid." I don't think a need for bolding or emphasis is necessary to make a simple point. And as I also said, "A LL has an expectation that his property will be kept clean." You seem to be nitpicking where no need for nitpicking exists and also apparently ascribing to me opinions about the disabled which simply don't exist.
When one is unable to perform big cleaning tasks because of disabilities, the obvious solution (as I pointed out in my own case and as poster EmeraldMaiden also noted) is to do small things often so you don't end up with big messes in the first place. Those suggestions are helpful (as was momtothree's suggestion about lidded plastic bins) and I'm sure if you have something similar to offer rather than pick holes based on semantics, the OP will probably appreciate it.
What I said was, "If the OP is totally incapable of keeping a living space clean because of documented disabilities then he/she should be living in a situation where there's someone to assist, either paid or unpaid." I don't think a need for bolding or emphasis is necessary to make a simple point. And as I also said, "A LL has an expectation that his property will be kept clean." You seem to be nitpicking where no need for nitpicking exists and also apparently ascribing to me opinions about the disabled which simply don't exist.
When one is unable to perform big cleaning tasks because of disabilities, the obvious solution (as I pointed out in my own case and as poster EmeraldMaiden also noted) is to do small things often so you don't end up with big messes in the first place. Those suggestions are helpful (as was momtothree's suggestion about lidded plastic bins) and I'm sure if you have something similar to offer rather than pick holes based on semantics, the OP will probably appreciate it.
I know exactly what you said, I quoted it above. It struck me as rude ant thoughtless. I stand by everything I wrote, it is not your place to be telling other people how they should live. I am sure the OP appreciated my standing up for her right to make that decision for herself. I have worked a lot with people with disabilities in my community and I know full well that the nature of what you wrote is offensive to them. I am not the only person who objected to your judgmental statement as well. Seems to me that you are the one quibbling over semantics and trying to justify your rude and unhelpful post. If you can't see that then perhaps you need to take more time to consider how you make other people feel before you post.
I know exactly what you said, I quoted it above. It struck me as rude ant thoughtless. I stand by everything I wrote, it is not your place to be telling other people how they should live. I am sure the OP appreciated my standing up for her right to make that decision for herself. I have worked a lot with people with disabilities in my community and I know full well that the nature of what you wrote is offensive to them. I am not the only person who objected to your judgmental statement as well. Seems to me that you are the one quibbling over semantics and trying to justify your rude and unhelpful post. If you can't see that then perhaps you need to take more time to consider how you make other people feel before you post.
Beating dead horse much? I did not tell anyone how they should live; I have also worked with disabled people; I am myself now partially disabled; and you can opine without bringing in others who allegedly objected to my "judgmental statement" and "rude and unhelpful post" (which descriptions I should add I find equally disturbing addressed to me coming from you).
If you've finished thumping your chest, what suggestions do you have for the OP in order to make his/her situation manageable?
When I lived with a roommate, I had a ton of crap going on at the time with school (finals), and nothing had gotten cleaned all month. It wasn't anything gross, just sinks etc could use a scrub and I had empty cardboard boxes (from furniture I'd just assembled) and laundry all over my room. They came to do an apartment inspection (which the roommate hid the notice for, so I didn't know there was one) and it was awkward as heck. They checked each room and (I was home that day, and present) so it was just all around very uncomfortable. It wasn't bad enough for them to say anything because it wasn't dirty, just messy, but I could totally feel the girl silently judging me lol. So yes, it happens. If you're unable to keep things sanitary within the LL's standards, could you manage hiring a friend or cleaning lady to come in and help out once a month or so? Throw the laundry in a hamper and that'll make a huge difference too, and help the place look cleaner. As for the garbage, just get a trash bag and throw stuff out as soon as you're done with it. My old roommate left soda cans lying around and we ended up with an ant infestation, so be very careful with that and just throw them away. If there's any college students in the building, he's probably seen worse.. just try to keep it hygienic and if you can't, find someone to help out.
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