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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    2

    Default Security Deposit and Excessive Charges By Landlord

    We recently vacated an apartment, after our lease expired. We gave 20 days notice, cleaned the place very well (to the point that I was on my hands and knees with a magic eraser to clean the floors) and left it in great condition. For a point of reference, my husband and I have never had a security deposit kept for cleaning or damages and the last apartment we lived in was rented the next day, because it was in move-in condition when we left.

    I got a "statement" yesterday, asking for nearly $900 in additional charges, none of which we should owe, for various reasons.

    Pursuant to the lease, we paid a $200 cleaning and repair fee, prior to moving in, that's supposed to cover cleaning the carpets, patching nail holes in the walls and general cleaning. The statement is charging us nearly $350 for carpet cleaning and "cleaning." The statement isn't detailed at all, so we have no idea what they're claiming was damaged or what they feel they need to charge this money for, considering that we've already paid a $200 fee that was intended to cover these things.

    We're also being asked for over $900 in rent for February. The amount that they're asking for is odd, as it doesn't correspond to our previous rent payments, the renewal rent rate or the month to month rent rate. We have no idea how they came up with it. We also don't understand how they can charge us for this, as we gave 20 days notice, in writing. They're apparently claiming that they didn't receive notice until 5 days later, when they entered the notice into their computer, because the notice date on this statement is listed as 5 days later. In addition, they also want us to pay water, sewer and trash for February, which I don't believe we should owe, as we're not in possession of the premises.

    I read the lease, in regard to this notice and found that they're using a law that doesn't apply to term leases. Right afterward, it states that management will not supersede state law under any circumstances. There's a law that states that, for term leases, no notice is required and that the lease terminates at the end of the term. So, I don't know what to think about this.

    The only paperwork that we've received from them is a very general and brief accounting. Like "Cleaning- $75" We haven't received a completed copy of the inventory checklist that was filled out when we moved in, nor any details of exactly what was damaged. Is this enough to satisfy the law? I know that they were supposed to have us sign the checklist when we moved in and give us a copy, although neither happened. We finally got a copy of the lease and all of the addendums when we hassled them for a week last month.

    Finally, they never mentioned or credited us for the $200 pet deposit that we paid, which is mentioned in the lease.

    Can they do this? From what I've read, they can't charge us for wear and tear, which I believe they're doing, they can't charge for cleaning if we've paid a cleaning fee and, of course, they have to credit us for all of our deposits. But, I'm not an attorney, so I don't really know. Any advice would be appreciated. I have a feeling that we really shouldn't have to pay for this.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    5,437

    Default Re: Security deposit and excessive charges- WA state

    Tell them to take you to small claims court and let the judge decide.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: Security deposit and excessive charges- WA state

    Normally, I'd have no problem with that, but there's language in the lease that makes me uncomfortable. It basically states that, if they have to sue us, we're responsible for all of their court costs and attorney fees. The exact language is:

    "In the event that the Manager is required to engage legal counsel to enforce any provision of this Lease, Resident shall pay, as additional rent, all attorneys' fees and court costs reasonably incurred thereby. In the event of any legal action of proceeding between the parties, initiated by the Resident, each party will be responsible for it's own attorney fees, regardless of which party prevails."

    In this case, would it be advisable to take the offense and just sue them and is a clause like this actually enforcable? The Washington Attorney General's site lists that as something that's not enforcable, but I don't want to shoot myself in the foot. The whole lease is really wierd, in a lot of respects.

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