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  1. #1

    Default Damages

    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Washington -- Not the seattle area.

    (Sorry if the monetary figures are odd, but I did not want to give exacts because it could result in me being personally identified)

    The location I leased charges a non refundable cleaning fee of a couple hundred dollars. No idea if this matters, but I imagine this is often used to clean the carpet. They do not do damage deposits. (I imagine because they take more than 21 days to send out a bill)

    I had a rather large burn mark on the floor of my studio apartment because a coal from the balcony rolled in under my bed and some other small ones.

    The notice for damages says I owe high-hundreds of dollars for replacing the carpet because 20-odd burn marks, along small charges for things like the replacement of lightbulbs, the battery of the smoke detector (this seems odd) and a door stop. I doubt it's consequential, but the amount of actual burn marks was probably around half a dozen and only one of them was not something that couldn't have just been trimmed.

    I think a patch for the large burn mark would have been fine. The carpet was definitely new when I moved in and I resided in the apartment for less than one year. It did not seem like there was any reduction for depreciation.

    The landlord is corporate, so I imagine they can hire an attorney.

    What can I do to make sure I am being charged a reasonable amount?

    Should I just pay what I think the damages should be?

    Since it's a corporation, I imagine it's all automated and I'll be sent to collections, etc. But I assume I have to actually have a judgement against me in court to have to pay something. I imagine I'd have to pay the attorney's fees for the landlord. Should I just pay everything to avoid court costs because they could be more than the amount they want? What happens if I pay say 50%, or 75% or 90% of the amount?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
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    Default Re: Can I Dispute Damage Charges is It Worth It

    " I think a patch for the large burn mark would have been fine. The carpet was definitely new when I moved in and I resided in the apartment for less than one year."

    It was a new carpet. Do you believe that simply throwing patching would making things OK? This is a studio apartment; not one room in a larger apartment. Sounds like the coals did a number on the one carpet in the place.

    "What can I do to make sure I am being charged a reasonable amount? "

    What do you consider a reasonable amount versus what you are being charged?

    "Should I just pay what I think the damages should be? "

    Only if you wish to get sued for the remaining balance.

    " Since it's a corporation, I imagine it's all automated and I'll be sent to collections, etc. But I assume I have to actually have a judgement against me in court to have to pay something. I imagine I'd have to pay the attorney's fees for the landlord. Should I just pay everything to avoid court costs because they could be more than the amount they want? What happens if I pay say 50%, or 75% or 90% of the amount? "

    Large corporations often simply sent these type of issues to collections. It's often the smaller landlords who have to suffer through the court system. We haven't a clue as to what they might do if you pay say, half the amount they say you owe.

    Gail

  3. #3

    Default Re: Can I Dispute Damage Charges is It Worth It

    Quote Quoting gail in georgia
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    "Do you believe that simply throwing patching would making things OK? This is a studio apartment; not one room in a larger apartment. Sounds like the coals did a number on the one carpet in the place."
    Yes. The carpet was thick piled and wouldn't be noticed if they cut and replaced.
    Quote Quoting gail in georgia
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    "What do you consider a reasonable amount versus what you are being charged?"
    I'm not sure, but two-thirds if the entire thing had to be replaced. A quarter if they patched. The damage notice seems to indicate it wasn't patched.

    Quote Quoting gail in georgia
    View Post
    "Should I just pay what I think the damages should be? "

    Only if you wish to get sued for the remaining balance.

    " Since it's a corporation, I imagine it's all automated and I'll be sent to collections, etc. But I assume I have to actually have a judgement against me in court to have to pay something. I imagine I'd have to pay the attorney's fees for the landlord. Should I just pay everything to avoid court costs because they could be more than the amount they want? What happens if I pay say 50%, or 75% or 90% of the amount? "

    Large corporations often simply sent these type of issues to collections. It's often the smaller landlords who have to suffer through the court system. We haven't a clue as to what they might do if you pay say, half the amount they say you owe.
    Well, isn't collections for this thing somewhat of a joke? You just dispute the charge and tell them not to contact you anymore? You don't have to pay anything until a judgement is rendered against you. I don't think it even affects your FICO.

    The amount seems inflated. Since the carpet is mostly square and since they're putting the same carpets in new units they're building it should have been fairly inexpensive. If they showed me a recipt that XYZ carpet company paid 1000 dollars to install and they are charging me 950 dollars because the carpet has a 5 year warranty, I'd be far more inclined to pay. But based on this 20-odd burn business and charging me for a battery for a smoke detector, and a door stop I have the feeling they're just trying to milk a poor student.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Can I Dispute Damage Charges is It Worth It

    Quote Quoting RenterPerson
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    Yes. The carpet was thick piled and wouldn't be noticed if they cut and replaced.
    Do you imagine that they have large pieces of carpet from every apartment they manage stored, somewhere, so that they can patch random areas without having to somehow magically find the exact same carpet from the exact same dye lot, assuming that the patch would not otherwise be obvious from normal wear and exposure to sunlight?
    Quote Quoting RenterPerson
    I'm not sure, but two-thirds if the entire thing had to be replaced. A quarter if they patched. The damage notice seems to indicate it wasn't patched.
    They can charge you a depreciated value based upon the expected life of the carpet. If the carpet would be expected to last five years but needed to be replaced after one year, that would translate into 80% (4/5) of the replacement cost.
    Quote Quoting RenterPerson
    Well, isn't collections for this thing somewhat of a joke? You just dispute the charge and tell them not to contact you anymore? You don't have to pay anything until a judgement is rendered against you. I don't think it even affects your FICO.
    Debt collections do affect your credit score. If you tell a third party collection agency not to contact you, they won't contact you -- but you can still be sued, and your debt will remain on your credit report.

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