Cleaning fee woes

I get it! I’ve had this same problem. How does the landlord get off charging you a cleaning fee and then expect you to still clean the unit. Why pay the fee if your landlord is going to require you to still clean.

Did you ask the landlord if they would refund your cleaning fee if you do all of the cleaning yourself so that they don’t have to? If your landlord is actually willing to refund your cleaning deposit, it could turn out okay. You won’t really know until you call the landlord directly to see if they are planning on refunding your money or not.

I tried to convince her to let me clean the place at signing but she insisted on using her cleaning service. With her, there is no such thing as a refundable fee/deposit.