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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    4

    Default Landlord Is Keeping Security Deposit And Demanding More Money

    Hi,

    We just moved out from our apt. The landlord(manager) sent me a letter saying that there was a stain and replaced the carpet. The stain was there before I moved in. He is asking me to pay $250 more than the original deposit of $450. I feel this is ridiculous. She did not send me any copies of receipts or invoices. I was there for 1 year 3 months. She just put some random prices for the things replaced due to normal wear and tear. I am planning to send a letter(any samples appreciated) to her. Any suggestions welcome.

    Thanks,
    califguy

  2. #2

    Default Re: Security Deposit - Landlord demanding $250 more than Deposit

    Quote Quoting califguy
    View Post
    The stain was there before I moved in.

    Did you make a note of the stain on your 'apartment condition checklist' when you first moved in?

    Any idea how old the carpet was? You might consider asking your former landlord...

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    4

    Default Re: Security Deposit - Landlord demanding $250 more than Deposit

    I had it on my checklist but I am not find the copy of it. But she put other things like cleaning Windows/blinds, replace AC filters, painting/touch up. Are these not due to wear and tear? I am not sure if I should send a demand letter or no.

  4. #4

    Default Re: Security Deposit - Landlord demanding $250 more than Deposit

    Ugh - I hate cleaning blinds. It's probably my least favorite step when moving out from a lease. However, in Washington state at least, it is definitely up to the tenant to clean blinds, dust the baseboards/lightswitches, etc.

    I lived in a college town for ~10 years and moved a couple times so I became very familiar with the items the landlord looked at. (I even had the landlords do the final walk through with me if they would agree to it!)

    As far as I know, it is legal to charge you for cleaning the interior windows/blinds. (but usually not exterior windows)

    Painting/touch up might be ok if they were touching up damage you created (nail holes, furniture marks on walls, etc). On the other hand, if the paint was peeling off the walls due to improper prep-work, they probably cannot legally charge you for that work.

    I'm not sure about the AC filters. Are they disposable? Anything in the lease about that? Were they replaced when you moved in?

    I'm not familiar with California, but in Washington State, the landlord is obligated to keep a copy of the condition checklist. If you sue the landlord for your deposit and they cannot provide the checklist, you will likely win. ( http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=59.18.260 ) With this in mind, I would say there is a good chance your landlord still has the checklist. Ask them for a copy! Or call them and ask them to look for notation of the stain in the carpet when you moved in. At the very least, the presence of the stain when you moved in might prevent them from charging you the full cost of new carpeting.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    28,906

    Default Re: Security Deposit - Landlord demanding $250 more than Deposit

    This is a very useful guide (PDF format):
    Quote Quoting Costs of cleaning
    A landlord may properly deduct from the departing tenant’s security deposit to make the rental unit as clean as it was when the tenant moved in.

    A landlord cannot routinely charge each tenant for cleaning carpets, drapes, walls, or windows in order to prepare the rental unit for the next tenancy. Instead, the landlord must look at how well the departing tenant cleaned the rental unit, and may charge cleaning costs only if the departing tenant left the rental unit (or a portion of it) less clean than when he or she moved in. Reasonable cleaning costs would include the cost of such things as eliminating flea infestations left by the tenant’s animals, cleaning the oven, removing decals from walls, removing mildew in bathrooms, defrosting the refrigerator, or washing the kitchen floor. But the landlord could not charge for cleaning any of these conditions if they existed at the time that the departing tenant moved in. In addition, the landlord could not charge for the cumulative effects of wear and tear. Suppose, for example, that the tenant had washed the kitchen floor but that it remained dingy because of wax built up over the years. The landlord could not charge the tenant for stripping the built-up wax from the kitchen floor.

    The landlord is allowed to deduct from the tenant’s security deposit only the reasonable cost of cleaning the rental unit.
    Also
    Quote Quoting Carpets and drapes—“useful life” rule
    Normal wear and tear to carpets, drapes and other furnishings cannot be charged against a tenant’s security deposit. Normal wear and tear includes simple wearing down of carpet and drapes because of normal use or aging, and includes moderate dirt or spotting. In contrast, large rips or indelible stains justify a deduction from the tenant’s security deposit for repairing the carpet or drapes, or replacing them if that is reasonably necessary.

    One common method of calculating the deduction for replacement prorates the total cost of replacement so that the tenant pays only for the remaining useful life of the item that the tenant has damaged or destroyed. For example, suppose a tenant has damaged beyond repair an eight-year-old carpet that had a life expectancy of ten years, and that a replacement carpet of similar quality would cost $1,000. The landlord could properly charge only $200 for the two years’ worth of life (use) that would have remained if the tenant had not damaged the carpet.

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