landlord vs me

Hello Missy091011 I am sorry to hear of your landlord troubles. I have been a landlord for over a decade. I agree with you that you shouldn't be accountable for the painting, or for the cleaning of the aparment as long as you didn't leave it a wreck and moved out your belongings. If you left a big mess, then yes, you should be responsible for it. However, you have stated that you have cleaned the apartment. As for the carpet, unless you abused the carpet (burns, water rot, urine, etc.) you shouldn't be held responsible for it, either. Landlords should expect normal wear and tear on their properties. If you broke something, you should be responsible whether there is a Security Deposit of not. This is simply the honorable, ethical thing to do. It is sad when we have to use a contract to determine whether we will do the right thing, or not. Did you have a lease that you signed? Leases are great not only for the landlord, but also to protect the renter.

Landlords are the worst ever in my opinion when it comes to apartment renting. I can't not believe what they are trying to do to you. If they had ask for security deposit in the beginning it would have come out of that for cleaning and painting. The rug is their responsiblity in my view because it was not new when you moved in. If I were you I would not pay a dime to them. My daughter and son-in-law were renting from a horrible landlord. She was the worst ever. They paid 900 dollar deposit and after inspecting the apartment when they left she said I will send you something. Well what came was a letter stating she was keeping the 900 dollars because of a roof leaks, lawn problems, and floor problems. Meanwhile a roof is not the responsibility of the renter. When the roof began to leak they after many calls finally reached her and told her about the leaks. The roofer told her she needs a whole new roof but she settled on patch work costing 100 dollars. As for the yard work she seemed to not take care of it herself, however, it seems she wanted them to water the trees and bushes meanwhile that would be more on the water bill that they were paying not the landlord. As for the floors they were horrible when they moved in. She is a person who should never own a house. So they sent a letter back to her and are now waiting for a response. If none, they are taking her to court to get their money back. If I were you I would not give another thought about the 500 dollars, because they are only trying to make money off of you.

I am sixty years old. I have been renting apartments for over fourty years and I have never received my deposit back EVER. I have cleaned and scrubbed in the hopes of it but never have. After living in a place for four years I can see the landlord wanting to fix up the place before re-renting it but I think it is ludicrous for the landlord to charge you for it! I would re-read my lease and go by that. If it doesn't say anything about how things are to go upon your moving out then I wouldn't worry about it. If it does then I would do all of that. Did you have the rugs cleaned before you left? Did you really cause any damages like holes in the wall from picture hanging or door knobs? Did you deep clean or just what you would normally do? I would definitely read the lease and go by it. Do you have a legal aid place in your area? If so they may have a leaflet(I got one at mine) on the laws of tenant versus landlord. Read it! If you don't have one then I would check online for housing places and such that might have them or for rental laws in your area. Good luck to you!

We've been through 3 apartments in the past 12 years. The first one we were told not to worry about wall paint and carpet - that after 3 years it's just considered to be in "living condition" and I believe we got all our security deposit back. The second apartment we were told the same thing . . . not to mention the fact that manager was impressed that we had kept it all so clean considering we had 2 little ones. So all we had to pay was for cleaning - which I think was 90 dollars. Then we moved to another apartment but in the same complex - we just recently moved out. We had only stayed there a year, so it was in excellent condition. And this time we had hard wood floors and carpet only in the bedrooms. I don't know how much, but she said the cleaning charges would be taken out of our security deposit - and the rest would be sent back to us. It was a bigger apartment, so I'm assuming it will be more than 90 dollars from last year. Do you have your lease and all in writing? I can understand the cleaning charges - only because we paid the cleaning charges even though we cleaned our place too (that apartment hired people who did every nook and cranny!). Painting, I don't know - but I do remember what my manager had said about the 3 year thing (but not sure if that applies everywhere). The carpet, I don't know either, but I believe the manager said the same about that too (the 3 year rule). But $500 for all that does sound like a lot. I do remember at our 2nd apartment, the tenant before had painted the apartment peach and mint . . . and the landlord took the money out from her security deposit for painting. The woman tried to sue them, and she ultimately lost. I'd say see what the original lease says first . . . oh, I hope you won't have to pay that much!!!! Best of luck to you!

Do you have a copy of your contract with them? If so, you may review what was written on it, it might be stated in the contract the reason why they are demanding for it. But obviously, they are charging you too much. You don't need to shoulder the maintenance of the apartment if it is about repairs or improvements unless you were the one who cause the damage. If it is written in the contract that you have to pay for the damages, then you really should.

In my opinion, your landlord is just trying to force as much money as he/she can out of you. If you cleaned the apartment, then you shouldn't pay cleaning charges; likewise if you haven't abused the walls so that the paint came off or the carpet is in the same state it was before you moved in, you shouldn't pay the fee. If everything you say is true, then don't pay the fee. If the landlord takes you to court, then you already have a very good case so either way you should win.

Wow!! This is something for the Landlord-Tenant Law to be looked at, and called about. Personally if these were the same landlords the whole time, did they not do a move in assessment as I thought they were supposed to do, or at least in my state? Something here does not sound right, and I would be looking into this if I were you. Maybe they should have required a deposit and then you would be safer?

That really sucks , i knew someone who went thru a similar situation , the house was rented but the neighbors in the back had a dog that sneaked thru the fence and used to mess up the back yard , the tenants moved out and got billed for the neighbors dogs damages smh

That's bad! How can the landlord did that to you. Have you tried to explain to them that those weren't your fault? Remind them how was the condition of the room when you moved in. Hope you won't get any trouble.

Hi missy even tho the carpet was not new, if you damaged it, you may be responible for it, but if you did not damge the walls with a unacceptable paint color then I don't think you should be responsible for painting,,,thats what landlords do when someone moves... did you do a walk through with the landlord and did your agree or sign anything agreeing to pay for anything? If not I would not pay for anything but the damage for the carpet...

You owe the landlord nothing. Tell him that you have not done any damages!