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NH law states normal wear and tear is allowed when vacating a premise. In that circumstance, wouldn't requiring tenants hire a professional cleaning company go against the law? For example, a small scuff mark left on linoleum flooring is normal wear and tear, but a professional cleaning company would scrub the scuff mark off the floor. Or a worn down part of a carpet in a high traffic area (stairs, hallway, etc) is normal wear and tear but if you require a professional cleaning company to clean the carpets when a freshly shampooed carpet doesn't reflect normal wear and tear? Same for the kitchen and bathrooms... Any halfway decent professional cleaner is going to make the place look free of majority of the wear and tear in a rental when the tenants lived there 3 years.
My landlord had it written in our rental agreement that we have to have all carpeted areas, kitchen, and bathroom areas professionally cleaned upon move out. He also specified in the lease that all he needs to do is give us 2 hours notice to show our place to a prospective tenant, when the law states otherwise. We are his first ever tenants and it is quite obvious he didn't research the law when he drafted the agreement.
Section 540:28
540:28 Lease Provisions. – No lease or rental agreement, oral or written, shall contain any provision by which a tenant waives any of his rights under this chapter, and any such waiver shall be null and void.
Source. 1985, 244:9, eff. Aug. 6, 1985.
That states the law takes precedence, which makes me believe the normal wear and tear is fine and professional cleaning not required.
HOWEVER, the NH law also states that the landlord can take money out of a security deposit for cleaning services. Now i would imagine the landlord would have to prove the premise was dirty enough to warrant cleaning services. We have always left every place we lived at in immaculate condition
Another odd thing- when my DH inquired about nail holes in walls being considered "damage" our landlord said we could patch them with putty ourselves. Hah! I have NEVER been told to basically patch nail holes or get charged a security deposit. What a joke. We had multiple things get damaged or broken over the years that we just replaced or repaired ourselves (always letting the landlord know) because we thought it was the courteous thing to do as good tenants.
I don't want the last couple weeks to leave a bad taste in our landlords mouth but I am pretty certain based on how the NH law is written that he cannot require us to hire a professional cleaning company.
Dirt is not normal wear and tear. If it comes off with cleaning, it is dirt and the landlord can charge for the cleaning.
What is "normal" about dirt is that decent clean people normally clean up the dirt they track into the house in an ongoing program of routine cleaning. Any dirt that is left gets cleaned by the landlord and the landlord can hire professional cleaners to clean and deduct it from the deposit.
You'll know if you left it clean or not because you'll be taking dated photos and possibly doing a walk thru with the landlord.
Dirt is not wear and tear....dirt is dirt. Don't leave a mess and you won't get charged for it. Landlords that use professional cleaning companies do it for two reasons..a) it's a time saver for them and b) they have proof of what was cleaned and how long it took. Most cleaners that do 'move outs' leave detailed billing. (a plus for the landlord if court comes up)
A scuff mark on the vinyl floor is DIRT, not wear and tear, especially when you know it can be removed with some elbow grease.
I don't think you understand the difference between damage and wear and tear.
Dirt is not normal wear and tear. If it comes off with cleaning, it is dirt and the landlord can charge for the cleaning.
What is "normal" about dirt is that decent clean people normally clean up the dirt they track into the house in an ongoing program of routine cleaning. Any dirt that is left gets cleaned by the landlord and the landlord can hire professional cleaners to clean and deduct it from the deposit.
I've never left dirt behind in an apartment. Years ago when I used to rent my landlords said that I was the cleanest tenants they'd had! I can't imagine leaving a rental dirty. That's just disgusting. I'm just not seeing why the tenant is required to hire a professional cleaner. I could easily have DH rent a shampoo machine, and we could clean just as good if not better than a cleaning company (we always do this type of thorough cleaning anyways!). So I'm just wondering how he can demand the cleaning company be hired prior to move out. If during the walk through/after move out the landlord finds significant dirt and grime then absolutely, charging the tenant is reasonable. But to make tenants that are clean pay for an expensive cleaning company is absurd IMO
You'll know if you left it clean or not because you'll be taking dated photos and possibly doing a walk thru with the landlord.
Dirt is not wear and tear....dirt is dirt. Don't leave a mess and you won't get charged for it. Landlords that use professional cleaning companies do it for two reasons..a) it's a time saver for them and b) they have proof of what was cleaned and how long it took. Most cleaners that do 'move outs' leave detailed billing. (a plus for the landlord if court comes up)
A scuff mark on the vinyl floor is DIRT, not wear and tear, especially when you know it can be removed with some elbow grease.
I don't think you understand the difference between damage and wear and tear.
I def plan on taking dated pics and video too. Know any good iPhone apps that'll add a time stamp to my pics?
I've never left an apartment messy or dirty- can't imagine doing so!! I think it is reasonable for the landlord to charge for a cleaning company IF the tenant leaves dirt/mess. But to require the tenant to pay for a professional cleaner when the tenant is capable of cleaning the house just as well, if not better? Well that's not reasonable IMO.
This explains how some minor scuff marks (around a door jam for example) can absolutely be considered normal wear and tear. Landlords can't deduct from your security deposit for that. A whole floor full of marks? Yeah that is just careless. But a minor scuff or two in appropriate places is normal and should be expected.
Normal Wear and Tear
Landlord-tenant law usually protects tenants from charges for normal wear and tear to a property. Landlords may use security deposits only to pay for repair of damages that aren’t considered normal wear and tear or to restore a unit to its condition before the tenant moved in. Because of this, if scuff marks are minor -- small scrapes around door jams or where furniture rubbed against a wall -- or were there when the tenant moved in, landlords can’t use security deposits to fix them.
I def plan on taking dated pics and video too. Know any good iPhone apps that'll add a time stamp to my pics?
I've never left an apartment messy or dirty- can't imagine doing so!! I think it is reasonable for the landlord to charge for a cleaning company IF the tenant leaves dirt/mess. But to require the tenant to pay for a professional cleaner when the tenant is capable of cleaning the house just as well, if not better? Well that's not reasonable IMO.
This explains how some minor scuff marks (around a door jam for example) can absolutely be considered normal wear and tear. Landlords can't deduct from your security deposit for that. A whole floor full of marks? Yeah that is just careless. But a minor scuff or two in appropriate places is normal and should be expected.
Normal Wear and Tear
Landlord-tenant law usually protects tenants from charges for normal wear and tear to a property. Landlords may use security deposits only to pay for repair of damages that aren’t considered normal wear and tear or to restore a unit to its condition before the tenant moved in. Because of this, if scuff marks are minor -- small scrapes around door jams or where furniture rubbed against a wall -- or were there when the tenant moved in, landlords can’t use security deposits to fix them.
Your link is for CA law, not NH law. NH law clearly allows the landlord to charge for a cleaning service. You agreed to pay this when you signed the lease. The time to question this fee was before your signed the lease.
Your link is for CA law, not NH law. NH law clearly allows the landlord to charge for a cleaning service. You agreed to pay this when you signed the lease. The time to question this fee was before your signed the lease.
I know the link was for CA, I was just quoting the section that talks about scuff marks (NH statute has similar wording re: normal wear and tear).
I agree we should have fought it back then BUT my landlord has put other things in the lease that are in violation of state statutes. He (admittedly) didn't know what he was doing when he drafted the rental agreement. So it may be possible he didn't consider that tenants are allowed to leave a unit with normal wear and tear. Requiring a cleaning company arbitrarily essentially prevents me from being required to leave normal wear and tear (like I stated in above comment- a cleaning company will go above and beyond and try to remove ANy signs of wear/tear. So it's like my landlord wants us to go above and beyond what we're required to do.
Like I said, I will be thoroughly cleaning. We have no stains, vacuum & dust frequently. We would never ever leave the place dirty. Leaving the place clean and with normal wear and tear is what is required per law. How can the landlord require that we go above that and hire a professional, without there being a reason to warrant so? (If (and that is a big IF) during move out walk through the landlord saw a stain and said hey I am going to need to pay a company to clean that, then that would fall within the legal parameters of the law and him being able to take that cleaning fee out of our security deposit). I'm just not understanding how the landlord can go above what is required, legally?
If it's cleanable, it isn't wear and tear. Simple as that. Only time that doesn't apply if there's something that breaks that is out of tenant's control such as a water pipe, and cleaning up from that isn't chargeable to the deposit. But if you didn't report it and allowed it to get moldy/mildew etc, then yes it's chargeable to the deposit.
As for requiring a professional cleaning upon moveout. Yes it's legal in the previous state I lived in. Is your landlord requiring a receipt of this?
NH law states normal wear and tear is allowed when vacating a premise. In that circumstance, wouldn't requiring tenants hire a professional cleaning company go against the law?
I don't believe that 'requiring' you to hire a professional cleaning company would be considered enforceable and/or reasonable, if even legal, by any judge. It shouldn't matter 'who' cleans an apartment, however, it does matters 'how well' it is cleaned and whether it is sufficient enough to get your deposit back based on your state's requirements. That is the bottom line and end result is what matters most. And that part is completely subjective on whether the apartment is sufficiently cleaned. I would highly recommend that you take lots of photos for documentation on how you left the place. When it comes down to determination by a judge, photos are going to be your best defense.
For example, a small scuff mark left on linoleum flooring is normal wear and tear, but a professional cleaning company would scrub the scuff mark off the floor. Or a worn down part of a carpet in a high traffic area (stairs, hallway, etc) is normal wear and tear but if you require a professional cleaning company to clean the carpets when a freshly shampooed carpet doesn't reflect normal wear and tear? Same for the kitchen and bathrooms... Any halfway decent professional cleaner is going to make the place look free of majority of the wear and tear in a rental when the tenants lived there 3 years.
I would say forget all of this. You are overanalyzing the situation. See my comments above this one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Newenglander0000
My landlord had it written in our rental agreement that we have to have all carpeted areas, kitchen, and bathroom areas professionally cleaned upon move out. He also specified in the lease that all he needs to do is give us 2 hours notice to show our place to a prospective tenant, when the law states otherwise. We are his first ever tenants and it is quite obvious he didn't research the law when he drafted the agreement.
Section 540:28
540:28 Lease Provisions. – No lease or rental agreement, oral or written, shall contain any provision by which a tenant waives any of his rights under this chapter, and any such waiver shall be null and void.
Source. 1985, 244:9, eff. Aug. 6, 1985.
That states the law takes precedence, which makes me believe the normal wear and tear is fine and professional cleaning not required.
HOWEVER, the NH law also states that the landlord can take money out of a security deposit for cleaning services. Now i would imagine the landlord would have to prove the premise was dirty enough to warrant cleaning services. We have always left every place we lived at in immaculate condition
And this is true in any state. And it should be allowed IF, and only IF, it constitutes it and the unit was left extremely dirty beyond what is considered normal wear and tear dirt. This again, is where your detailed pictures come in as proof. Otherwise, it is next to impossible to prove to a judge that it wasn't extremely dirty and not just light dirt and/or minor stains that are considered normal wear and tear.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Newenglander0000
Another odd thing- when my DH inquired about nail holes in walls being considered "damage" our landlord said we could patch them with putty ourselves. Hah! I have NEVER been told to basically patch nail holes or get charged a security deposit. What a joke. We had multiple things get damaged or broken over the years that we just replaced or repaired ourselves (always letting the landlord know) because we thought it was the courteous thing to do as good tenants.
I think this is fairly common in most states. The walls should basically be 'paint ready' when you leave an apartment. Filling and patching with putty can be pretty time consuming so I think this is fairly common. Think about it, what if a tenant hung pictures all over every wall in every room? That would be a lot of patching so universally, this is not uncommon. There might be a few LLs out there that tell tenants not to patch the holes because they may have a special way of doing it so it matches the texture on the wall but that is more the minority.
........ How can the landlord require that we go above that and hire a professional, without there being a reason to warrant so?..........
I'm going to take a guess, and it is only a guess. Landlords get really tired of tenants who move and insist that they place is clean when all they did was maybe apply a broom to the kitchen floor and they leave the landlord with 6 or more hours of cleaning to do. Basically, a lot of tenants have a very different definition of clean than a landlord does.
More than likely, if you leave the unit really clean, the landlord will accept that you did it yourself. That means window tracks and shower door tracks cleaned, windows all cleaned, refrigerator coils dusted and the floor behind the fridge cleaned. Oven clean, drip pans clean, floor behind the oven cleaned, light switches and walls dusted, floor trim dusted, area under the washer dryer clean. Heater vents cleaned. Tops of doorways dusted, blinds cleaned, carpets professionally cleaned. All smells removed.
That's how clean a tenant expects a place to be when they move in. If it is not that clean, then the landlord has to clean it.
I do not allow my tenants to use a Rug Doctor. That soap attracts dirt and the machines only clean the surface. The soap left in the carpet causes damage to the carpet fibers. The machine doesn't remove enough water.
It's easier to require professional cleaning than it is to continuously argue with tenants who are moving and insist that spaghetti sauce on the ceiling is normal wear and tear and was already there when they moved in. If you can do a good and thorough job of cleaning, OP, and the house looks like it has been professionally cleaned, all the way deep cleaned, then I would be surprised if your landlord wouldn't accept that.
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