Rental Move Out Questions (apartments, insurance, house) - San Diego - California (CA) - City-Data Forum

mandasand · 08-08-2016, 11:30 AM

Okay, so my landlord sent my husband a text asking if we plan on having the carpets and house cleaned before we move out. She is very difficult - I have strong words I would like to say but will not. We have only lived in the property for a year. The carpets were not cleaned when we moved in, and the house wasn't either. I paid $600 to have the place professionally cleaned when we moved in, and it still wasn't totally cleaned, I spent the next month scrubbing floors, trying to get grease stains off the kitchen cabinets and walls, not to mention scrubbing the carpets from the pet stains.

All of the previous damage (including the cleanliness) was documented in a 3-page damage report that WE had to put together because our landlord never bothered to do a walk-through with us. The place is in better condition now than before we took it, but she is insisting that we do these things. My husband is in law school and read the code but it is subjective. Should I just suck it up and pay $119 to get the carpets cleaned?

RosieSD · 08-08-2016, 12:12 PM

What does your lease say? Does it specifically say that you have to pay to have the carpets cleaned when you move out?

Home Depot rents carpet cleaning machines for $29 a day.

mandasand · 08-08-2016, 12:54 PM

Hi Rosie - the lease has the boiler-plate terminology: "all or portion of the security deposit may be used, as reasonably necessary, to: (i) cure Tenant's default in payment or rent; (ii) repair damage, excluding ordinary wear and tear, caused by tenant or guest of tenant; (iii) clean premise, if necessary, upon termination of the tenancy; and (iv) replace or return personal property or appurtenances."

I certainly don't have time to clean these myself so it's either leave them as is or pay the professionals.

Jenkay · 08-08-2016, 02:30 PM

Just out of curiosity, if it was that bad, why on earth would you move in?

Lesson learned: Most landlords will expect you to clean upon move-out. If you wanted the money and time you spent cleaning the place to have any bearing on what you would have to do when you moved out, you would have needed to have an agreement with the landlord in writing (tenant agrees to accept the property as-is on the condition that she/he is not to be required to leave the property in a cleaner state upon move-out).

Advice: find a groupon for a cleaning company and pay someone $60 to clean the house. If you did as much to it as you say you did, a "professional" cleaning shouldn't cost more than that. I can't speak to the cost of cleaning the carpets, or whether they can charge you for that after a year or not, however, having not had them for decades. Good luck!

LamarOdomsDealer · 08-08-2016, 02:38 PM

This probably won't help you, but I've always learned to expect to me out your deposit or whatever.

1AngryTaxPayer · 08-08-2016, 02:42 PM

You can always skip last month's rent if you saved the paperwork from the move in. Force them to take you to small claims.

We knew our LL was going to stiff us our deposit so we sent him a partial check. The day after we moved out he demoed it and took pics claiming we did the damage. We took video of the place the day before..

Bottom line is he "won" but got 45 bucks. He was fuming. LOL What a D*** this guy was.

mandasand · 08-08-2016, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jenkay

Just out of curiosity, if it was that bad, why on earth would you move in?

Lesson learned: Most landlords will expect you to clean upon move-out. If you wanted the money and time you spent cleaning the place to have any bearing on what you would have to do when you moved out, you would have needed to have an agreement with the landlord in writing (tenant agrees to accept the property as-is on the condition that she/he is not to be required to leave the property in a cleaner state upon move-out).

Advice: find a groupon for a cleaning company and pay someone $60 to clean the house. If you did as much to it as you say you did, a "professional" cleaning shouldn't cost more than that. I can't speak to the cost of cleaning the carpets, or whether they can charge you for that after a year or not, however, having not had them for decades. Good luck!

Jenkay - we already signed the lease and did not have time to find another place since we had to be out of our other one. Our options were limited. As many of you know, my husband is in law school and he will take her to SCC if she tries to pull anything. She is such an idiot. She isn't even a property manager, she is the owner's friend and helping him because he moved to China. We have been miserable in this place and we pay $3200 a month! I had my reservations when I toured the house, I knew it was dirty, but the owner still lived in it and they said it would be in move in condition when we got the keys. It was a nightmare - the owner left a bunch of stuff (trash/furniture) in the house, never ended up picking it up so we've had it stored in the corner of the garage - they even left their fish tank with a bunch of dead fish. I would say the owners are slums and so is the property manager. This is a very nice neighborhood with expensive homes. I understand that my level of clean may not be typical, so that is why I was willing to pay $600 to have it cleaned. I was willing to do this because I am a neat freak and I can't expect others to meet my standard of cleanliness. That being said, why she is now bothering us about getting the house in better condition than what we got it is beyond me.

Also, our deposit was $4000. We don't rent apartments but single family homes so the deposits are more. I expect to get it all back.

Cleaners cost way more than $60 since the house is 4/3 2300 sq ft. It would cost $200-300 easy. Plus the two rooms worth of carpet at $120. I plan to do some of it myself since it doesn't need to be a deep clean, I keep my place clean on a daily basis.

mandasand · 08-08-2016, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

You can always skip last month's rent if you saved the paperwork from the move in. Force them to take you to small claims.

We knew our LL was going to stiff us our deposit so we sent him a partial check. The day after we moved out he demoed it and took pics claiming we did the damage. We took video of the place the day before..

Bottom line is he "won" but got 45 bucks. He was fuming. LOL What a D*** this guy was.

You are entitled to up to 2x the amount of the deposit in small claims court (up to $10k). If the owner doesn't pay the judgment, the judge can put a lien on the house and sold in a sheriff's sale. The owner will have to pay the proceeds of the deposit from any proceeds of the sale. It can get very ugly. I don't even want to go there yet. They have 21 calendar days to get our deposit back and include an itemized list of deductions (with receipts). So I don't want to get prepared for a fight now, I'll let my husband deal with it!

1AngryTaxPayer · 08-08-2016, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mandasand

You are entitled to up to 2x the amount of the deposit in small claims court (up to $10k). If the owner doesn't pay the judgment, the judge can put a lien on the house and sold in a sheriff's sale. The owner will have to pay the proceeds of the deposit from any proceeds of the sale. It can get very ugly. I don't even want to go there yet. They have 21 calendar days to get our deposit back and include an itemized list of deductions (with receipts). So I don't want to get prepared for a fight now, I'll let my husband deal with it!

You have much more of an even keel than myself as this clown is lucky we didn't go to blows with the harassment my wife and I took from his GF. He became executor of the older guy that owned the place and thought he'd move in and make everyone else move out or pay higher rent by being an a$$.

I'd do it on principle alone

Good luck.

RosieSD · 08-08-2016, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mandasand

Also, our deposit was $4000. We don't rent apartments but single family homes so the deposits are more. I expect to get it all back.

Cleaners cost way more than $60 since the house is 4/3 2300 sq ft. It would cost $200-300 easy. Plus the two rooms worth of carpet at $120. I plan to do some of it myself since it doesn't need to be a deep clean, I keep my place clean on a daily basis.

Sorry you have to go through this. I can totally understand your frustration.

Think of the carpet cleaning as an insurance policy on getting the deposit back. $120 is nothing compared to being out $4000. Yeah, it stinks, but sometimes peace of mind is worth more than dickering for months in small claims court.