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I just turned in my 60 day notice to vacate yesterday. I was called today to schedule an inspection. I was told the management needs to start ordering any items needed to repair for example if carpet needs to be replaced. I asked why so early as this does not give me as this does not give me a chance to have the carpets cleaned professionnally beforw deciding to replace and I was told they need time to order/schedule. I have rented many times over tge years and this is the 1st time I was told they can pre-charge without giving the resident a chance to fix or clean before move out. Is this allowed? Doesnt the resident have rights to repair/clean to avoid charges?
Thank you for your response. I understand an inspection but to move forward with ordering items they can charge me for without giving me a chance to fix it myself is where I am confused. I have always cleaned my apartment and had it move in ready before moving out and always received my deposit back, but being 2 months before move out yes there are things that need to be done before moving to avoid charges especially since I lived here for 3 years.
I've had the maintenance guys or office manager come in on many occasions before I moved out of a unit. Usually a week or two before. I would have them look for anything that might get deducted from my deposit. This gives me a chance to paint, patch up holes, or clean carpets.
Keep in mind they cannot charge you for new carpet even if you damaged it. They have to prorate the carpet based on how many years old it is as of your move out date. Carpet generally has an expected lifespan of 7-10 years. Some states have charts (for landlord tenant issues) that give lifespan of carpet. Other times it's something that's generally used in your area for lifespan and other time's it's based on original carpet's advertised lifespan at time of purchase.
Let's say it's 10 years for your, for simplicity. We already know it's at least 3 years old since you lived there 3 years. Let's say the unit was built 2 years before you move in and everything was new then at 5 years ago. So if you damaged the carpet and they bought new carpet, you only would owe 50% because half its lifespan (5 years) already passed.
But why don't you go ahead and get the carpet cleaned now rather than wait? Maybe you can schedule a carpet cleaner in the next few days, or rent a cleaner in the next few days if you want to do-it-yourself. Make sure to schedule the walkthrough for after the carpet cleaning. You can also spot clean any stains ahead of time.
There is dry carpet cleaner available. Resolve is a brand I used before with success - you sprinkle the white powder cleaner and brush it in and then vacuum it up. It worked well on stains and traffic areas.
Just schedule the walkthrough 3 or 4 or even 5 weeks from now with the complex. Don't give excuses why it's so late. If they want it sooner just say you are busy and maybe come up with a date a few days earlier to make them happy.
Once they have the scheduled date on their books I doubt they will argue with you about making it sooner. They are just office people with procedures that they must follow. So if they ask about scheduling a walkthrough, then schedule it for 5 weeks from now. See if this works for you.
Thank you everyone for the responses. Good to know even though the order stuff they can't charge me if I fix it first. That was my concern. I am already trying to at least spot clean the carpet before they inspect. Just really shocked me they want to do it 2 months in advance. Seemed weird like they might be trying to do something shady and charge me before I leave. They already are telling me my pet deposit won't go towards amy repairs which I knew it was non-refundable but thought it was because it was used just in case there was pet damage. I figured it could help cover any minor stuff I am unable to clean in time but guess not.
As far as I'm concerned the pet deposit should go toward fixing anything the pet might have damaged. If it chewed a baseboard or pooped on the floor and the carpet has to be replaced in that one room because you can't get the stain out. Otherwise exactly what is the nonrefundable pet deposit for?
As far as I'm concerned the pet deposit should go toward fixing anything the pet might have damaged. If it chewed a baseboard or pooped on the floor and the carpet has to be replaced in that one room because you can't get the stain out. Otherwise exactly what is the nonrefundable pet deposit for?
Pet deposits do go towards damage. Non-refundable pet fees do not. The non-refundable fee is only to motivate the landlord to accept your pet when he would much rather not allow any pets at all.
If you want your pet deposit to apply towards damage, you must negotiate that before you sign the lease. At the time you move out, it is too late. If no landlords will make the pet deposit refundable and applicable towards damage, then you can choose to either pay the non-refundable fee, get rid of your pet, or live in your car. It's up to you. No one will force you to pay a non-refundable pet fee.
And by the way, because you allowed your pet to chew on the baseboard, poop on and stain the carpet, that landlord probably will not allow pets in the future. So all the pet people really should be angry with you for making their lives more difficult.
That seems fairly standard. In our rental house they did an inspection two months after move-in and two months before the lease expired(before we even gave any notice of whether we would renew). We could not schedule either, they just gave advance notice of when it would happen.
Stains should be treated as they happen and carpets should be vacuumed regularly anyway.
Last edited by notnamed; 07-10-2016 at 12:42 PM..
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