RPA Tenant Rights Blog » Apartment Complaint, Landlord Problems, Legal Questions » Landlord carried out expensive cleaning service with same-day notice

Landlord carried out expensive cleaning service with same-day notice

By K

My landlord had an expensive cleaning service come and clean a grease stain on our front porch that was caused by my former roommate. 


My former roommate had lived in the apartment 2 years prior to me, and had kept a BBQ there that she and her guests had used regularly in the past. A grease stain had formed on the stone below her BBQ, which none of us noticed until long after she had moved out. Before she had moved out, she asked the landlord to come by and check out the apartment to make sure there were no damages that she needed to pay for. Our landlord said the place looked fine & released her from liability.

Months later, after another roommate moved her furniture off the patio, we finally noticed the grease stain. I tried cleaning it myself, but had no luck because my landlord never properly sealed the stone. It was completely susceptible to soaking up dirt and grime like a sponge. I’ve actually never seen a more porous stone that is so difficult to clean. The stone should never have been so difficult to clean if she had properly sealed it in the first place.

One morning I got a phone call while I was at work saying that she was having the porch cleaned at 2:00pm that same day, and that it would cost $150. The short notice did not allow me the chance to find a cheaper solution or to stop them from coming. Furthermore, she knew that the stain had not been caused by myself or any of the current tenants because we had already discussed it at length. 
My question is, is it legal for her to charge me $150 for the cleaning of a porch area, that was only so dirty because she hadn’t properly sealed it in the first place? Even though she knows that none of us living here cause the damage?

What can I do?

Thanks,
K
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Edited on: Friday, November 2nd, 2012 1:01 am
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