Landlords, arg!

Message

CNF2002 · #1 Unread post by **CNF2002** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:00 am

What do you guys think?

Moved out of our apt a few months ago, they are taking our deposit + charging us a bill for 'damages'. Say the carpet was beyond repair (there were some small stains in the dining room, living room - ya know) after 3 years of our occupying it, they say it was stained with cat urine and odor which is a boldfaced lie

. Then they argue about charging us for blinds that we wrote were bad when we moved in (a slat broken) but because we wrote 'blind missing on living room blinds' (a peice of one of the slats is missing ie it broke off) instead of 'part of slat broken off on living room blinds' they say we cant claim the damage and are charging us anyway. Then they're charging us for the photos they took of the apartment during their walkthrough.

I guess steamcleaning the carpets twice a year and having a maid clean from top to bottom once-twice a month isn't good enough. We're very clean and the place was spotless and perfect when we moved out (we even filled the nailholes and painted for them), except of course for the carpet, but who can expect a carpet to be perfect after 3 years?

It erks me good...we're talking over $700 total here.

scan · #2 Unread post by **scan** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:12 am

Yeah, that's not cool. If you did a good job of documenting your check-in, you should be able to fight them. Also you need to verify what is considered resonable wear for carpet. They are expected (by law in some places) to replace the carpet at some point, and not at your expense. Problem is you will have to find out about renters laws in your area. That is why when you are renting you always document every problem, no matter how small when you move in - that way they can't make silly claims when you move out.

CNF2002 · #3 Unread post by **CNF2002** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:38 am

Yeah we did document every little thing, but as I said they're trying to argue about the specific 'wording' of it in order to get away with it. At that point I pretty much realized they are just taking us for a ride.

basshole · #4 Unread post by **basshole** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 1:22 pm

Sounds like a good reason to take them to small claims court. Bastards!!! Oh and screw renting and buy if you can.

CNF2002 · #5 Unread post by **CNF2002** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 3:36 am

True, but taking someone to small claims court is more difficult than it seems...unless the courts are open on Saturday

Looks like its back to the old credit extortion game these companies love to play. Charge you for things you don't owe, assume its a small enough amount not to get sued, send it off to a collection agency if not paid.

Been there, been victim to that. The deposit was over $700, but their 'charges' are only $90 and after reviewing all our paperwork we only have a 'solid' case against about $70 of that (meaning it says there was damage when we moved in, but they charge us at moveout anyway, they lack a signed addendum for the cable - charging us $10 disconnection fees, and I'm pretty certain they can't charge us for photos they took - yeah, they billed us $30 to take 12 digitial pictures of the carpet!

).

Anyway, it would cost almost that in court fees and lost wages to take off work and fight it, even though I have pretty solid documentation for it all. So, my choices are

1) Take it to court, spend more time/money than I may get back.

2) Just dont pay, argue it out with the collectors when they send a letter, though that will take me back to option 1.

3) Swallow my pride (and trust in justice) and just pay the -stards.

None of those options seem appealing.

#6 Unread post by **ZooTech** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 4:01 am

Got a $3100.00 bill from my last apartment when I moved out. Wrote one letter and knocked it down to $1100.00. Wrote a second and had it dismissed. Haven't heard a word from them in 2-1/2 years, and my credit is clean.

Loonette · #7 Unread post by **Loonette** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 4:40 am

What ZooTech said. Larger-scale landlords (managers really) prey upon the timid. Write a letter stating that they are full of it (only word it in a mature way

), and let them know that you have contacted your state's department of housing. And you should actually contact your state's department of housing before hand to know exactly where you stand. Small claims court is not necessary in most cases. We almost got popped for repainting fees once in an apartment that we had occupied for over three years. All it took was a letter to the management letting them know that we were well aware of our rights, and the matter was dropped immediately.

Also, when you move into a new place - always ask to view the "check out" list of the previous tenants' move out. Then you'll know just what things the apartment management charges people for. You have the legal right to view that list. Good luck!

Cheers,
Loonette

CNF2002 · #8 Unread post by **CNF2002** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 4:54 am

We did do research on our rights, sent them a letter explaining why we deserved our deposits back and which charges were not valid...they just wrote back, defended their charges, and attached another bill.

I suppose we could just take the bill, subtract the items that we know we dont owe, and write another letter offering to pay that amount.

rapidblue · #9 Unread post by **rapidblue** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 5:23 am

just remove the whole broken slat, voila an blind is missing.

Landlords suck arse.

Wed Mar 08, 2006 9:58 am

burn the slum down.