RPA Tenant Rights Blog » Legal Questions » Extra charges after moving out

Extra charges after moving out

By Tenant

I moved from a house that me and my husband rented for 12 years. I gave the required 30 day notice to landlord.The day after moving I  met with the landlord at the house to return the keys and do a walk through.All seemed to be o.k. A week later the landlord sends a condition report to me saying the house was dirty and grimy with smoke damage.The lease agreement does not say that i could not smoke in the house.The landlord has been to the house many times for needed repairs but never once say anything about smoking in the house.Now the landlord wants to charge for cleaning everything for smoke damage.Per the letter i recieved , walls,light fixtures,air vents,blinds etc. , must be cleaned using special cleaners and will take extra labor hours to clean.(What are special cleaners anyway?)I cleaned the house before moving out.I dusted the blinds,swept and mopped the floors and baseboards throughout the house,and cleaned the bathrooms and kitchen,and appliances and shampooed the 2 carpets in the house .I consider this a basic cleaning most renters would do when moving out. One of the carpets in the report i was sent said possibly ruined.I wonder about 12 years of wear and tear on carpet.Also some items I am being charged for are removal of a birds nest. (where it was I have no idea.),and landscaping in the yard which was approved by landlord.Once again during the walk through none of these things were mentioned to me as needing to be removed or cleaned .I was never shown a condition report or signed anything after doing the walk through.The letter I recieved from the landlord now states that my deposit(deposit was 850.00) will be retained along with other charges up to 1500.00 for cleaning and sanitation of the property to bring it back to the condition it was in when i moved in.As of this date I have not seen any reciepts as to work that has been done to the house.What recourse does a tenant have against eroneous charges I believe to be false.

Pin It
Email
Print

Related posts:

Holy Cow, we couldn't find any other related post. Sorry. :(

YARPP

Edited on: Monday, April 4th, 2011 7:22 am
Get Started

2 Responses to “Extra charges after moving out”

My response: (We welcome stories, examples, explanations, answers and a touch of your personality)
 

Landlord

June 1st, 2009 7:22 am

Well first off… Smokers have no rights, sorry. If you smoked in the home the landlord can charge you fees to rid the home of the tobacco stains and smells. Your landlord may allowed you to smoke in the home, but this doesn’t require him to cover the cost of removal of the smoke smell and stains. Look at it as a permitted pet. If a landlord allows a pet, he won’t be held responsible for the damage caused by the pet even though he allowed it to stay. The tenant is ultimately responsible for the odor or wear and tear caused by the pet. Its no different for a smoker. You are responsible for the cost to bring the apartment back to original condition.

john

February 14th, 2011 11:08 am

I am going thru the exact same problem. Lived in an apartment for 6 and 1/2 years. Cleaned it and thought I would receive the whole $900 deposit. Did a walkthru with the assistant everything seemed to be really good, she even complimented on how clean the apartment was. A few days later I get a letter saying my deposit is being withheld and they want $1850 smoke damage. What a crook.

John

Close


Yes, the RPA® Can Help You!

Filing an official complaint is the nation's fastest way to solve tenant problems.

Not Ready? Learn more...

Ohio Complaint Filling Deadline  Tips/Suggestion

Need Help Filing Your Complaint?

Agents Available Mon- Fri 10am to 10pm

Recently Resolved Complaints:

See how the Nation's Rental Authority has helped thousands of tenants already!

Ask Question:

Post a new question to the RPA Tenants rights forum.

You Have Tenant Rights.
Recently Posted Questions:

Over 4,000 questions have been asked by tenants including these new posts:

Tenant Rights Categories

Popular categories about renters rights.