Excessive Move-out Repair Bill (Long)

By frustrated

We moved out of the house we had rented from an individual through a property management company after 2 years of tenancy.  We accepted the premises as-is when we moved in, despite the fact that there was lots of missing trim around doors, drywall tape was lifted on some of the ceiling seams, and the general condition of the place was shaby.  The three upstairs bedrooms had been freshly carpeted with the cheapest white contractor-grade carpet available.  The lease was up on May 1, and we held over to finalize moving out and cleaning the premises.  This was approved verbally by the management company, but on May 10 we were informed that a move-out inspection was to be conducted the following morning at 9 a.m., because the property owner had work to do and somebody that needed to stay there.  I arrived at the property at 8:45 and waited until 9:20, at which time I had to leave to get to work.  Neither the landlord or property manager had arrived by that time.  At the time of the inspection, we had finished cleaning the interior of the premises and had shampooed the three bedroom carpets.  I was informed later that day that I needed to go the the management office to pay for the hold-over rent.  I did so and paid cash for the overage through May 11.  I was informed at that time that the management company had 40 days to disperse our security deposit.  As we still had posessions on the porch as of the morning of May 11, I went back to the property after work at 6 p.m., only to find the previously unlockable porch doors locked and barricaded, making the removal of our posessions, and the cleaning of the porch, impossible.

After 28 days, we received a statement from the rental management agency showing that not only had our entire $1350 deposit been released to the property owner, but that we were being charged an additional $2350 in damages.  I asked for an itemized bill, and after 4 more phone calls, and 31 days received the vague bill that the property owner had remitted to them.

The charges were as follows:

Replacement carpet for three rooms       $1100

Disposal of old carpet                             $100

Paint materials interior walls                   $550

Labor for painting interior                       $950

Cleaning interior                                   $350

Overgrown landscaping removal              $300

Trash and refuse disposal                      $200

Cleaning porch and storage area            $150

 Upon moving out we did not have the carpets professionally cleaned because after our steamcleaning, we didn’t feel that they needed it.  I will concede that the walls in our 4 year old’s room would require repainting, and a 3 inch by 3 inch patch in the bathroom would need to be touched-up, but the balance of the paint was untouched.  We did not leave this property trashed, and the property owner started removing shrubs and piling them in our neighbor’s driveway days before we vacated the premises.  He eventually moved them to the raised garden beds we had in the back yard and disposed of them by burning, along with the debris generated by replacing a shed on the premises during our tenancy.  Since that time, the property owner has spent much time and effort making improvements to the property, undoubtable fixing things that were wrong with the property previously, to make it more rentable.

Finally-  If there is traffic wear and minor staining to to carpet, isn’t this normal wear and tear, and shouldn’t the property owner have to get an expert cleaning/opinion, (even at our expense), prior to replacing the carpet?  Should we have had notice of intent prior to replacing the carpet to allow us to get our own carpet experts to render an opinion?

Who determines what is natural wear and tear on painted surfaces?

If the property owner opts to do renovation work himself, how should the cost be calculated?

I view this bill to be frivolous-  our dump charges $20 per full-sized pick-up truck load of refuse-  $300 would be 15 truck loads at that rate….

Thanks in advance

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