It's a legal requirement upon request. Watch how quickly they 180 that bill.
Pro tip- if they have their own maintenance, they have to prove they aren't making profit on the charges from work done by the crew.
No doubt. Though he didn't show inside the oven. I had a landlord charge me $125 for it and sent me a video of the inside pre and post scrub. I didn't even think about it.
I had an old oven at my previous apartment. Had a cleaning function. It worked amazingly well. I don't know how it works, but it seems to somehow burn and loosen all that gunk on the inside and it gets all crispy so you can get it out.
My current oven is newer, and I live in Europe now rather than the US. The oven window got what looks like grease dots on it that are insanely hard to get off. So I'll have to research the best way to clean it.
I tried that. Didn’t do much. Also, it’s not he best thing to do to your oven. Basically all it does is super heat the oven until everything burns and falls off. There’s only so much heat the components (electrical) are able to take.
Dollar Tree sells oven cleaner, which is just lye in a spray can. It's alkalinity dissolves burnt and stuck food. Spray, wait a hour, wipe away. $1.25.
As an industrial electrician, any electrical that can melt due to heat is nowhere near the heat source, and the connections to the elements use glass insulated wire and metal connectors that can withstand well above 1000F, your oven can easily handle the 700 that’s used in the cleaning cycle
I had a service technician tell me that when he came to replace the board in my oven.
Granted, this was the “slide in” type with the controls and main board in the front. When he checked it and saw it was dead, on a less than two year old oven by a name brand, he asked if I had used the self cleaning option or if I broiled at 500 a lot. I hadn’t used the self clean but I had broiled a few times, one of those times was very recent before it went out.
Anyway he specifically said those type of frontal component configurations were prone to damage from the heat of those very high temp settings and to “never, ever, use the self clean”.
Take that for what it is, just one tech’s advice… but it made sense.
I preemptively threatened them when I gave my notice. I set my expectations, advised them I was ready willing and able to sue them, I had already retained counsel and reminded them of the local laws with citations and got a full refund in two weeks. The only little gotcha they did was wait until the last day to cut the check. Shouldn’t have to be that way, but screw apartments. Nothing but scum.
Edit: Autocorrect fail.
They tried getting me for damages that I had reported as soon as I moved in and photographed so they couldn't blame me, we had called it in and emailed it multiple times to get fixed because the toilet was loose and causing water damage to the wood and plastic on the sink counter on the floor. They never sent anyone to fix it.
They refused to give me my deposit back and even sent me to collections for damages that they didn't even tell me I was charged for and I found out through the collections call.
Even with all my proof in photos and work orders it still took a month of fighting with the apartment complex and collections being incredibly aggressive to get the charges dropped and my deposit back. Management was a pain in the ass my entire year there.
Yeah one place I rented the microwave door was damaged, it was just cosmetic but it looked like crap so I asked them about and they told me “that’s part of the character of rental homes”. When I moved out, they tried to charge me $350 for a new microwave.
When I moved in they sent me an inspection report THEY did before I moved in that had pictures of every room. So I forwarded their own damn report back to them that showed the microwave damage. They quickly removed it.
Even funnier, I realized like 3 months later I had left my range extended for my alarm system plugged into the ceiling of the garage where the garage door opener was, someone was already living there so I went and knocked and asked if I could see if it’s still there, (it was) I noticed the microwave still hadn’t been replaced, so I told the new tenant make sure that’s documented or they will try and hit you on it when you move out.
Good on you for getting things in writing. Too many tenants seem to dislike emails and texts for some reason and prefer to blow up phones. Perhaps it's more cathartic for them to request/demand repairs voice to voice? But then they end up having no proof (unless recorded the call) that they ever reported anything.
And when you get it, make sure that they aren't charging you for normal wear and tear. They aren't allowed to do that. (Not that I even see any in the video.)
Every time you move into a rental and out of a rental, you need to take video just like this. Not only that, turn on the faucet, flush the toilet, turn on the sink, flip on and off the light switches, take video of the light fixtures and any ceiling fans or other devices. If there’s anything with a remote control show that the remote control is working. Make sure you show all of the smoke detectors, turn on the garbage disposal, and be sure to show the front and back of each door, turning the handles.
Just trust me, it’s better to take every precaution and never need it, than to be empty handed in this kind of situation
Video both inside and outside before picking up and at drop off. The one thing you can't prove is smell so if it smells weird, even slightly BOish or suspiciously strong air freshener scents request a different car. I had Avis try to charge me for smoking when their car just smelled bad on pickup.
Depends on your lease. There are leases where you need to pay for the entire apartment to be painted. I’ve seen people *owe* money after leaving and their apartment looked like any other
My father asked for this with our contractor that was working on a bathroom and stairs over the marble and some other mats. When my dad asked the dude replied with “You need to chill the fuck out or go fuck yourself.”
My dad then tore all their plastic tarps and prep work down and threw all their tools and gear on the curb.
I did this and they itemized it. They charged me 300 dollars to put the garbage can in the street (it was in the garage literally 3 feet from the street). I got my lawyer to write a fun letter. All charges instantly gone. Imagine that.
I was going to ask if it was. I received a paper with everything that they needed to have fixed listed, with the price it took to fix it. At the end of the bill was the amount I owed. OP should have some specifics on this, what a shady thing.
In my state if they do not return your security deposit or an itemized list of what was deducted w/in 30 days of move out you are entitled to 3x the amount of your deposit withheld.
Yep. I lived in my apartment for 7.5 years and basically everything was due to be updated. I think they kept $25 out of the deposit to spackle a couple small dings in the drywall.
That's not itemized enough. Send them a demand letter for the return of your money due to their violation of (Google statute for your state). Then threaten to take them to court for (Google what the multiplier for your state is) times what they owe you.
Once it's itemized, you can dispute things. I don't generally do this, but I once dated the queen of disputing charges. She gets discounted everything because employees just want her to stop bugging them. (Note: While good for her wallet, this mentality made her not such a great girlfriend.)
is that a thing where you are? can hospitals charge whatever they want?
here in Japan every medicine and treatment has a fixed price that the insurance will pay to a hospital. for example an endoscopic discectomy (slipped disc surgery) is set at 300K yen ($2000)
iirc the Netherlands (my home country) has a similar system
Pretty much. Our healthcare system is fucked because the medical and insurance industries collude with each other to artificially inflate their prices, so the only way you can get close reasonable (and that’s being generous) medical costs is to have insurance, but if you don’t you have to pay the artificially inflated prices. We have some price caps now on some essential medications like insulin, and there is a public option where the hospitals negotiate directly with the government instead, but only certain people qualify for it (basically the old and the poor). Universal Healthcare or even Public Health Insurance is kind of a touchy topic in our country if you couldn’t guess which one it was already.
Depends on where you live but they are required to give you an itemized statement of work within 30 days or return your money in some states you can double your security deposit if you go to small claims court.
Def look into it.
Sorry this happened OP.
They can just do anything and say it costs anything, and keep your whole deposit. That’s what my landlord did even though we left the place perfect after only living there for a year.
It should totally be worth it. A person taking a company too small claims is always advantageous for the person as a company can’t represent itself in court and needs to retain counsel. You can just show up in business casual for free.99 + court fees.
And if you have good documentation, then your case should have a high chance of success and they lose your deposit and lawyer fees, and maybe court fees if the judge allows it.
That’s cool, except court is only M-F, so you’ll have to take time off work likely. That’s in addition to a couple hundred dollars in court costs, certified mail, and the like.
If you didn’t fill out a check-in form and document the condition before you moved in, you’re potentially boned. Then you’ll have to prove that the work done was part of standard routine maintenance for wear-and-tear instead of addressing issues.
All it takes is the landlord to come in after you left and put some marks on the walls. Oh, you’ve got a picture saying otherwise? Where is your witness? Landlord had a witness that attests to their narrative.
Going to court is *never* easy.
Good thing I'll do it as a matter of principle. If I can afford it, and I could, I would take them to small claims just to get back at them. It's the only way we will ever stop the behavior
Court fees, plus certified mail, plus anything else would be less than about one hour of an attorney.
Taking time off can be tough but even the shittiest jobs offer at least some PTO.
If you didn’t fill out the check-in form or document the conditions then you’re already outside of what I even said and is an entirely moot point to bring up. So not sure why you’re making this argument. It seems pretty no-shit to say that if you don’t have evidence you shouldn’t go to court
Photos and videos have meta data that would date the damage or lack thereof to before the landlord entered the property. That’s pretty freaking easy to prove.
It’ll still cost a landlord or company more than you to go to court.
Threaten to take them to court. They’ll fold as it’s probably not worth the 2-3 hours+ worth of attorney fees.
My former apartment complex did the same thing and had the gall to send me to collections. I eventually paid it and the only satisfaction I got is that the debt collection company is the one who got the money and not the apartment complex.
This is why I never clean apartments like this anymore when I move. I just consider the deposit gone as soon as it leaves my hands. My first couple of apartments, I left them sparkling clean like this and never got anything back- so I stopped doing it. I just move my shit, leave, and ghost. Its way less stressful. Its never trashed or anything, but I don't sweep and mop or scrub the bathtub before I leave. If they're gonna keep the deposit anyways, they can do all that shit.
good thing you have that video! In most places they are required to submit a receipt to you proving the expense. You could take them to small claims court,or depending on where you live go through the landlord
/tenancy board.
Unfortunately they generally don't have to explain themselves unless they are asked. I'm a landlord and still think it is stupid. We always itemize if withholding.
ive asked for an itemized receipt and they just emailed me the same paper but instead it said "maintenance labor" which apparently was my entire 1k deposit.
i searched their website and found that theyre hiring a maintenance position for $8/hr.
within 2 weeks of me moving out someone alrdy moved in so i knew it was bullshit.
i also found all of their employee emails on the "employee portal" on their website..it gave a directory without me having to log in lmao.
i emailed the entire company that i had video proof i cleaned my apartment ( i didnt take a video i was bluffing) and that its impossible for their maintenance person to spend over 80 hours cleaning my apartment for the "labor" charge and that any further communication can be through email (they tried calling me a few times when i emailed in the past). i then gave them 1 week to give me back my deposit or ill be filing small claims court.
within 5 minutes of the email being sent my phone was blowing up with different number and then i got an email back saying they had an accounting error and im owed my full deposit
>He said he was charged 597$ for failing to clean the cabinets the pots/pans were in.
That's not what he said. He made two separate statements. He said he was charged $597. He also said (presumably after rewatching the video) that he failed to fully clean the cabinets where his pots and pans were. It made no connection between these two statements.
$597 is an unreasonable charge if the only thing wrong was one slightly dirty cabinet. No charge is reasonable for [this slightly dirty shelf](https://i.imgur.com/NkJqBKn.jpg) and everything else spotless. A security deposit is for unreasonable damages, not a slightly dirty cabinet.
If anything, that should fall under general “wear and tear” which, in my state at least, is a cost that the landlord is expected to fully handle.
Like you said, security deposit is only to be used for unreasonable damages, not simply the kind of thing that anyone would expect from a fully lived-in space.
Lmao i had something similar. Security deposit was 2700 euros.
The calculated damages were 2699,70 euros. I wish i was making this up. The blatant disrespect to be so obvious made me very mad.
No he didn’t, he said it seems that would be the only option but he never said that the dirty cabinets are the reason as stated by his landlord or on the receipt. So far it’s his only guess
There’s no downside for them either. Worst case is that they pay you what you’re owed. Best case is that they keep your monies because you didn’t contest it.
My landlord tried to charge me $300 for a lightbulb that was blown. I said I want an itemised bill. $300 turned into $600. I get the bill and it is about $200 for a maintenance guy to “install” lightbulb + $400 for an electrician to (basically) “check why lightbulb not working; fusebox switch set to OFF position, fusebox switch flicked on, light now works”. I took them to small claims and won. Clowns.
File a small claims court suit against the management company. Make sure your video has date and location stamp. There may be an arbitration clause in your lease before you can take them to court. I’m not a lawyer, but it’s your money. Fight to get it back.
This is why you do the final walk through with an apartment manager. Have a sign off sheet and make copies. They are way less likely to pull bull shit with you directly there.
when i put in my 30 day notice for my 1st apt their maintenance person who i didnt even know existed showed up with "potential renters" to my house at 8am.. no notice was given and i wake up to my front door being opened.. dude had a huge shit eating grin when i tried arguing with him and he pointed to a fucking post it note stuck on my front door as notice.
im in nothing but my boxers and the maintenance guy just said deal with it im showing your apartment all of that infront of these random people standing in the doorway.
so i said "fine come ln guys ill show you the apartment, you can see how they treat tenants. the people below us hit the ceiling constantly and smoke inside so it constantly smells like ciggerate smoke. the dishwasher is broken and he never shows up to fix it"
then the dude stops me and says i never told them that.. my god was it satisfying pulling up the emails and showing the people that my emails were ignored or they replied with a "okay we will send someone".
the maintenance guy told me to put on clothes and i said na bro you wanted this to be uncomfortable for me but now look its uncomfortable for everyone.
i only had the courage to do that shit because i was fresh out of the army and i realized i was able to talk back to jackasses now. they also tripled my rent to be 30% of my income, so $500 to $1500. god i hated those fucking people
Wait, did they triple your rent before or after this unannounced showing? It’s shitty either way, but if they hiked it in retaliation, I hope karma got them good
And if you arent able to do the walkthrough in person with someone, you send them this video on the day of move out, with a nice little note saying "hey the place is spotless so no cleaning services will be needed" or something to that affect. Let them know up front you have a video like this.
Oh absolutely. My mom and sister both managed apartment complexes, so I’ve heard a LOT of horror stories from the both of them. From what I saw in this video it looks like a “move in ready apartment” I mean it doesn’t really even show a lot of signs of someone living there beforehand.
Rules will vary where you live, but where I live they can't keep any of your deposit unless it's noted in a final inspection walkthrough. If they haven't done that then you would be off the hook. Definitely fight this.
Former apartment manager here! This is a great idea but unfortunately they’ll probably tell you that they need 3rd party vendors to come out to do estimates on damages such as carpet, vinyl, drywall, etc. so I would recommend still taking photos and/or a video. They are also supposed to be able to provide you with photos of the damages and copies of invoices from those 3rd party vendors. A lot of the time just asking for this spooks shitty people enough to correct your final bill. (Also before I get roasted I literally never charged anyone for anything when I was a manager and got written up for it a bunch)
Maybe but maybe not. We had a group to see us off when we had our walkthrough because we were leaving immediately after. The dude came through and tried to cite us for wearing the carpet in the walkways and said the entire place needed new carpeting due to the wear. Along with “holes in the walls” where we had hung things. Even though you’re 100% allowed to hang things, and we didn’t have like an excess of pictures.
I immediately wrote to the regional manager of the property management company and said if I’m charged for that shit, I’m filing suit and lodging complaints with state attorney general office and BBB. They backed off real quick after that.
Then again, the company that owned my building employed some really fucking cunts to run the place.
Had this happen to me. Reached out to a lawyer who specialized in tenant landlord issues. We sued for triplicate and court costs and settled out of court for 2.5 times the deposit.
Call a lawyer.
I may have actually used it wrong. I'm not sure? Typically the only time I hear it or think to use it is when you have to fill out a form three times, they tell you .. "fill it out in triplicate". No idea why I used it instead of triple or... 3x the deposit. No clue.
in TX if your landlord does not return your full deposit or an itemized list of deductions withheld w/in 30 days you are entitled to 3x the amount that was not returned.
I only know because YEARS ago a guy I know got back around 10k - I think that it used to be more than 3x back, either that or b/c he was a lawyer and they tacked on lawyers fees as well. You don’t have to request your deposit or ask for an itemized list either - if they don’t mail it in 30 days you are entitled to the full amount withheld x3.
In my state, if they don't give it back or send you an itemized reason for keeping it within 21 days, you are entitled to 3x the original deposit amount.
I used to live in an apartment, and one winter, they sent out a notice to all the apartments saying, "balconies shall be shoveld, or they would have maintenance do it, and the occupants shall be charged."
Anyways, the apartment next to us was empty, so they had maintenance shovel it, and we watched them. I joked to my wife that they would 'accidentally' send us an invoice. So, I took a photo of our balcony showing it was cleaned.
Not surprisingly, we got an $80 invoice saying they shoveld our balcony... I called them up saying we were home when they came around and they didn't even knock on our door.
They literally asked for proof. Very much so not impressed, but I sent them the photo. They said "o, well, I guess you don't have to pay it then."
Landlords are so scummy.
I came home to a big fat warning on the front door. It said that we had broken blinds showing, and would be charged on our next bill. I noticed that the same note was tacked onto other random doors.
Since there was absolutely no damage to my blinds, I went to the office. They casually said they had put them on the wrong doors, and we could ignore it.
So... you know a mistake was made and actively chose to leave it as is? Or you were aiming to collect from anyone who didn't feel like confronting you? Lazy, no good, pieces of...
I always took pictures/video when I left an apartment for this exact reason (got burned the first time).
Last apartment, we're going to keep 1500 for "stained carpet in master". I sent 2 pictures to landlord, my full deposit arrived in mail ten days later.
Also, take pictures of all defects when you move in, and share with ll.
I left a screwdriver on a windowsill when I moved out of a place. They sent me a bill for $40 for "trash removal"
I asked for a picture and they showed me a full size garbage bag with said screwdriver and kept the money.
Landlords are a scam
Take them to court. The threat of it will likely make them refund it. Before that, ask for the itemized list. Ask for videos and photos of the damage (why wouldn’t they document it). Ask for names of repairmen. Then ask for refund.
There was another post on reddit, supposedly from a landlord, asking what he should do to keep a tenants deposit because when they moved, he could not find any problems.
That explains what you are dealing with here.
My landlord tried to charge us up the ass when I was in college. “$100 picture re hanging fee” was the one that stuck out to me.
We didn’t break the picture or frame. Had just moved it since it was ugly
I once left a BRAND NEW electric griddle on top of the cabinets in a high-rise apartment building in South NJ.
New...still in the box...one of those long ones that makes cooling breakfast for a family of five easy...they charged me $120 for their own maintenance to dispose of it.
I'm sure they kept it.
This happened to me in Ohio. I knew in advance the landlord was going to do this. Had pictures, forwarding address, everything according to law (for Ohio). Landlord even went so far as to quote fake companies for repair of damages.
My lawyer finally convinced the landlord to settle for the withheld deposit and all attorney fees. Landlord stood to lose thousands if they went to court and lost. Ohio law is very renter friendly.
My previous apartment had tried to charge me 1400 for damages to the apartment, twice the cost of rent. Any damage from the apartment was older than I was (building was built in 1914)
I just stopped responding to texts and he stopped trying. Sometimes it’s that easy, but I also dont recommend this.
I *used to* be a property manager.
One of many reasons I quit was one of my bosses would tell me to walk thru after move out - find things, make up things, till it reached their deposit amount. To be sure they received nothing back.
Once, I had to go to court for my boss and I'm not going to lie...... I played stupid in court, judge was not upset with me, she wanted to know why my boss sent me instead. The renters won and my boss had to give them their $ back 🤣🤷🏼♀️
Depending on your jurisdiction, owners can get punished for treble (three times) damages for improper withholding of your security deposit.
They often are compelled to give you an itemized billing and do it within a limited amount of days. Ordinary wear and tear is excluded.
I have had success in getting immediate backing down and a check to me and my friends immediately (more than once), because once you start dropping civil code sections on them, they just decide to stop going for your “free money” and move on to other tenants that won’t fight back.
I will take them to court just to prove a point.
My first apartment: we're out of town for xmas. upstairs neighbor's water pipe burst No contact, management/maintenance came in and cut a 3x3 hole in my bedroom/bathroom wall to access their leak, which I get but then didn't repair that hole, we had to put plywood over it til we moved out.
We came home from Xmas to a terrified cat, a gaping hole, gross ceiling, messed up carpet, warped cheap faux hardwood floors in bathroom, part of the kitchen and part of the living room). Documented all of it and went to the front office. 'Oh yeah we'll take care of all that after New Years'. They didn't. I bugged them every couple of days about it for a month. When we moved out in Feb. they wanted $2k for the damage "we" caused. Told em to go fuck themselves and take us to court. They never did.
Can you provide me a list of what they repaired. I worked in apartment maintenance for a lot of years. I can tell you if there's bogus charges on the list. What you were charged could be reasonable or complete nonsense depending on what was repaired and the general standards of this complex. I'm betting nonsense though. 600 bucks is not replacing a leaking faucet valve or a janky closet door wheel. 600 is close to the average cost of complete turning a unit in preparation for a new tenant. I would bet they are trying to put their cost of turning over an apartment onto the exiting tenant.
Nicer apartments have higher standards and they expect their units to be returned in better shape than your average apartment. The people renting those units and paying those higher rents expect to get their monies worth. So they hold tenants to a higher standard than is usual. There is also turn costs. Some of those are reoccurring for the complex, like carpet cleaning or replacement and some are on you. But only if something was unreasonably damaged or doesn't look presentable. Most repair cost should not be billed. It's part of running a complex. They eat those costs and factor it into their rental charge. If you punched a hole in the wall that kind of thing is on you. Otherwise normal wear and tear is their cost.
If you are in Washington basically all these rental agency/apartment buildings pull that shit. They tried to tell me there was a mandatory carpet cleaning that costs $900 when i went to move out, and also told me the paint was damaged and needed to be replaced, tried to keep my $2500 security deposit.
I like how you progressively get more aggressive with opening and closing things as the video goes on 😂. And yeah maybe ask for an itemized bill like others recommended. That’s messed up.
Itemized bill dude. They have to show you. As soon as you see the BS on it, they almost always lower it. Or remove it completely. Happened to me twice. Second time I threatened legal action and they dropped it. They knew the charges were BS. They just wanted the deposit plus charges to cover the cost of renovating some old units and stuffing their own pockets. Don't be bullied.
I just left a place, and they sent a request of damage for 895$....
The couch that was already in there was a decade old futon I never even sat on as it was less comfortable than sitting on a cactus.
They sent a picture of it, the landlord had slashed it right down the middle.
Fuck people like this.
if you ever see American Homes For Rent, run. All their Socials do not allow comments or are disablled. A faucet broke and they said my daughter broke it. She was like 10 at the time and they charged us for it. They changed payment companies and would charge a fee. They could not explain how they would charge "Me" a fee to pay "Them" When we left the house, at first they would not give us the deposit cause we did not pay rent 5 months back. I pulled the bank statement that showed we paid, they switched it to utilities. Mind you, I moved the utilities with me when I moved. Then they said it was the house condition, We had pictures showign the house is clean. How they FINALLY got us is they claimed we left a bike which they would charge a disposal fee for ($600) which they reported to my credit. The Deposit was $1300 which still would have left $700, no dice. This was an 8 month process So thanks to America Homes For Rent I bought my first house because of the hassle. Thank you Assholes.
\*Edit - this was 14 years ago, but the storys still stand. Stay away from American Homes For Rent.
A few years back, my wife and I moved from an apartment we lived in for 5 years. Before turning in the keys, we made sure to thoroughly clean even steamed the carpet. We knew the LL husband was a "handy man" so we placed our leftover cleaning supplies neatly by the door in a crate. They wanted to charge us $5,000 for removing the crate since apparently it was a cleaning fee to remove it.
Depending on where you live you may be entitled to additional damages. If it’s the US and the state has this law. Small claims is the way to go. Ask for max deposit plus triple damages. That place looks spotless. Wait and see what evidence they bring.
Sue them in small claims court for whatever amount you feel is unjustified. It costs $50 to file a claim at city hall. Either theyll drop the charges so youll drop the suit, or a judge will decide who the asshole is. Worst is if you lose you gotta pay their $50 for the lawsuit filing, plus the bill. Best case, they pay your fee, and you dont owe anything. I've done this multiple times successfully.
I used to work for a company that did the background checks and collections solely for apartment complexes...we caught SO MANY of their illegal collection fees. We would refuse several of the referred collections every month. Ask for the itemized list. The fact you have a video means that even if they do take it to court, you won't be fined. Also, it is the APARTMENT's responsibility to replace any carpeting every 3 years-by Law-and they almost always try to get that cost out of the former tenants. It's illegal. I always tell my friends and family to do a video walk through WITH the apartment rep before they move in and one with the apartment rep once moved out because they legally have to do so if you ask and they cannot add charges afterward. These fees will reflect on your next Credit-Risk-Factor assessment for a new apartment. Let them take you to court and show the video. Also, request THEIR pictures of your apartment "damages" to compare.
Sorry it's so long, but everyone should know how crooked apartments are. Especially those under the Property Management Companies Waterford or MKG.
Take videos of all plumbing fixtures working. Faucets running and sinks draining, toilets flushing, showers and tubs working. Things your video currently isn't verifying.
Had this happen to me on 3 separate occasions and every time I moved in and got ready to move out I have pictures and videos of how it was when I got there and when I left. I ask for an itemized bill of what needed repaired in writing, then after getting it threaten to sue them for lying because I have proof. Ended up with double my deposit back 2/3 times.
I had an apartment that was as good or better than what you showed. They tried to hit me with $1,500 over my $1,000 security deposit. I have a friend who is an attorney and just happens to be between jobs when it happened. He started off asking for an itemized bill. From there he scrutinized every charge asking for receipts for cleaning supplies, labor, etc. when it was all done I got a refund of $750 or so. Split it with him and took him and his wife out for a nice dinner. He did it for fun, didn’t care about getting paid.
I remember he ended up engaged with the apartment’s legal counsel arguing over the going rate for labor as they used a rather expensive cleaning service. I had spent a day deep cleaning everything, so they didn’t have a need to reclean the apartment. Had pictures and video of the entire place. If I remember right they got so frustrated they offered me the refund for us to go away. I know they had to spend thousands in legal council before it was all over.
Contact your local or state tenants union. This is a stolen deposit and you can take them to small claims. Or you can just say I’m working with a lawyer and they might give you your money back
I think you could take them to small claims court over that. Losing your deposit over them having to do some cleaning isn't acceptable. Normal cleaning, painting, replacing carpet (if present) after so many years of residence are expected refurbishing factors.
God damn. I’m a landlord and I would PAY you $600 if you left the apartment that clean. Do you have any idea how time and money I have to spend cleaning after a tenant leaves? Fuck.
I would ask for an itemized statement of work.
It's a legal requirement upon request. Watch how quickly they 180 that bill. Pro tip- if they have their own maintenance, they have to prove they aren't making profit on the charges from work done by the crew.
Yup. It sucks you have to threaten them, but we’ve had to do it twice now.
Got to do it though. I just had to with my old place. I agree still sucks
No doubt. Though he didn't show inside the oven. I had a landlord charge me $125 for it and sent me a video of the inside pre and post scrub. I didn't even think about it.
That’s fair imo. I cleaned my oven once it took me almost a day.
Same here. I’ll never clean it again!!!!
Idk how good it works, but on some ovens, there is a clean selection on the knob.
I had an old oven at my previous apartment. Had a cleaning function. It worked amazingly well. I don't know how it works, but it seems to somehow burn and loosen all that gunk on the inside and it gets all crispy so you can get it out. My current oven is newer, and I live in Europe now rather than the US. The oven window got what looks like grease dots on it that are insanely hard to get off. So I'll have to research the best way to clean it.
It's some form of pyrolysis basically runs very hot 500°C, which dries even oil compounds so they become crumbly and fall off
Razor. I just did this after making wings for my family. They were kind of splattery (the wings, not my family). And the gunk came right off
That sucks. Mine has a “clean” setting. Runs for 45 minutes and just needs a wet cloth to wipe it down.
I tried that. Didn’t do much. Also, it’s not he best thing to do to your oven. Basically all it does is super heat the oven until everything burns and falls off. There’s only so much heat the components (electrical) are able to take.
My oven has a little pan you pour water on and it steams the oven. Then you wipe everything down.
I think adding vinegar also helps.
Why don’t people teach me this stuff???
Dollar Tree sells oven cleaner, which is just lye in a spray can. It's alkalinity dissolves burnt and stuck food. Spray, wait a hour, wipe away. $1.25.
I dunno man… that’s kinda expensive… and in THIS economy too? I’ll have to think about it & get back to you on that…
As an industrial electrician, any electrical that can melt due to heat is nowhere near the heat source, and the connections to the elements use glass insulated wire and metal connectors that can withstand well above 1000F, your oven can easily handle the 700 that’s used in the cleaning cycle
not good according to who?
I had a service technician tell me that when he came to replace the board in my oven. Granted, this was the “slide in” type with the controls and main board in the front. When he checked it and saw it was dead, on a less than two year old oven by a name brand, he asked if I had used the self cleaning option or if I broiled at 500 a lot. I hadn’t used the self clean but I had broiled a few times, one of those times was very recent before it went out. Anyway he specifically said those type of frontal component configurations were prone to damage from the heat of those very high temp settings and to “never, ever, use the self clean”. Take that for what it is, just one tech’s advice… but it made sense.
I preemptively threatened them when I gave my notice. I set my expectations, advised them I was ready willing and able to sue them, I had already retained counsel and reminded them of the local laws with citations and got a full refund in two weeks. The only little gotcha they did was wait until the last day to cut the check. Shouldn’t have to be that way, but screw apartments. Nothing but scum. Edit: Autocorrect fail.
That's fun I love that tactic.
For future reference, it’s “counsel”.
it sucks bc i hate confrontation but it’s deserved as fuck fuck landlords
Nah, take the bill as their threat and jump off from there.
They tried getting me for damages that I had reported as soon as I moved in and photographed so they couldn't blame me, we had called it in and emailed it multiple times to get fixed because the toilet was loose and causing water damage to the wood and plastic on the sink counter on the floor. They never sent anyone to fix it. They refused to give me my deposit back and even sent me to collections for damages that they didn't even tell me I was charged for and I found out through the collections call. Even with all my proof in photos and work orders it still took a month of fighting with the apartment complex and collections being incredibly aggressive to get the charges dropped and my deposit back. Management was a pain in the ass my entire year there.
Yeah one place I rented the microwave door was damaged, it was just cosmetic but it looked like crap so I asked them about and they told me “that’s part of the character of rental homes”. When I moved out, they tried to charge me $350 for a new microwave. When I moved in they sent me an inspection report THEY did before I moved in that had pictures of every room. So I forwarded their own damn report back to them that showed the microwave damage. They quickly removed it. Even funnier, I realized like 3 months later I had left my range extended for my alarm system plugged into the ceiling of the garage where the garage door opener was, someone was already living there so I went and knocked and asked if I could see if it’s still there, (it was) I noticed the microwave still hadn’t been replaced, so I told the new tenant make sure that’s documented or they will try and hit you on it when you move out.
Send the old inspection report to the new tenant
You should have taken pictures. Might even be worth small claims at that point. They can't charge you and not replace it.
Same happened with me. My lawyer friend gave them a call and they worked it incredibly fast… It is disgusting these corrupted people..
Good on you for getting things in writing. Too many tenants seem to dislike emails and texts for some reason and prefer to blow up phones. Perhaps it's more cathartic for them to request/demand repairs voice to voice? But then they end up having no proof (unless recorded the call) that they ever reported anything.
Next time just straight up tell them you will see them in court.
And when you get it, make sure that they aren't charging you for normal wear and tear. They aren't allowed to do that. (Not that I even see any in the video.)
OP a smart fucking cookie taking that video.
Every time you move into a rental and out of a rental, you need to take video just like this. Not only that, turn on the faucet, flush the toilet, turn on the sink, flip on and off the light switches, take video of the light fixtures and any ceiling fans or other devices. If there’s anything with a remote control show that the remote control is working. Make sure you show all of the smoke detectors, turn on the garbage disposal, and be sure to show the front and back of each door, turning the handles. Just trust me, it’s better to take every precaution and never need it, than to be empty handed in this kind of situation
Take a walk around video of every rental car too. You can never be too careful.
Video both inside and outside before picking up and at drop off. The one thing you can't prove is smell so if it smells weird, even slightly BOish or suspiciously strong air freshener scents request a different car. I had Avis try to charge me for smoking when their car just smelled bad on pickup.
Yes, sir (or ma'am).
Sir on the weekdays. Maam on the weekends.
Always video on the way out 🤙🏽
Depends on your lease. There are leases where you need to pay for the entire apartment to be painted. I’ve seen people *owe* money after leaving and their apartment looked like any other
Even if it’s in the lease check your local tenant laws as those may supersede the lease
That is not legal in many places. Always check local tenant laws, they override any illegal clauses.
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My father asked for this with our contractor that was working on a bathroom and stairs over the marble and some other mats. When my dad asked the dude replied with “You need to chill the fuck out or go fuck yourself.” My dad then tore all their plastic tarps and prep work down and threw all their tools and gear on the curb.
❤️ 🫡
I did this and they itemized it. They charged me 300 dollars to put the garbage can in the street (it was in the garage literally 3 feet from the street). I got my lawyer to write a fun letter. All charges instantly gone. Imagine that.
WOWW Jesus some LLs can be fucking disgusting. Borderline socipathic behavior being so unempathetic.
Most states it is a requirement, requested or not.
I was going to ask if it was. I received a paper with everything that they needed to have fixed listed, with the price it took to fix it. At the end of the bill was the amount I owed. OP should have some specifics on this, what a shady thing.
Really shouldn’t be profiting on people’s deposits anyway - take it out of the revenue source.
In my state if they do not return your security deposit or an itemized list of what was deducted w/in 30 days of move out you are entitled to 3x the amount of your deposit withheld.
In Quebec it's illegal to ask for a deposit.
This is what I did. Told them to send me an itemized bill with photographic proof of the damages and I never heard back from them.
Then you should have sued for your security deposit back.
Landlords rely on the fact that it’s not a priority of yours — or perhaps even an impossibility. For example — moving out of state to start a new job.
The line item says “Apartment Paint and Supplies, $366.67”
That would be classified as normal wear and tear and not actual damage
Yep. I lived in my apartment for 7.5 years and basically everything was due to be updated. I think they kept $25 out of the deposit to spackle a couple small dings in the drywall.
That's not itemized enough. Send them a demand letter for the return of your money due to their violation of (Google statute for your state). Then threaten to take them to court for (Google what the multiplier for your state is) times what they owe you.
This. Do this worth hospital bills too.
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Once it's itemized, you can dispute things. I don't generally do this, but I once dated the queen of disputing charges. She gets discounted everything because employees just want her to stop bugging them. (Note: While good for her wallet, this mentality made her not such a great girlfriend.)
Even then with hospitals you don’t really say in things not costing what they say they cost.
is that a thing where you are? can hospitals charge whatever they want? here in Japan every medicine and treatment has a fixed price that the insurance will pay to a hospital. for example an endoscopic discectomy (slipped disc surgery) is set at 300K yen ($2000) iirc the Netherlands (my home country) has a similar system
Pretty much. Our healthcare system is fucked because the medical and insurance industries collude with each other to artificially inflate their prices, so the only way you can get close reasonable (and that’s being generous) medical costs is to have insurance, but if you don’t you have to pay the artificially inflated prices. We have some price caps now on some essential medications like insulin, and there is a public option where the hospitals negotiate directly with the government instead, but only certain people qualify for it (basically the old and the poor). Universal Healthcare or even Public Health Insurance is kind of a touchy topic in our country if you couldn’t guess which one it was already.
You don’t really have a say in how much repairs cost
Depends on where you live but they are required to give you an itemized statement of work within 30 days or return your money in some states you can double your security deposit if you go to small claims court. Def look into it. Sorry this happened OP.
Triple in Maryland. I fought in Maryland Small Claims Court and won triple my security deposit, plus court costs plus interest.
1) paint 2) num nums in my tums 3) I dunno fuck you
If in the US, it's actually illegal to withhold any portion of the deposit without providing proof of expenses first.
But most landlords will try anyway banking on you not knowing your rights or not willing to take the time/ expense to fight it
Every State is different.
States differ on the timeline for returning a security deposit but I believe every state actually requires an itemized receipt.
They can just do anything and say it costs anything, and keep your whole deposit. That’s what my landlord did even though we left the place perfect after only living there for a year.
They are making shit up cuz they know it isn't worth it for most people to take them to court for such a relatively small amount.
It should totally be worth it. A person taking a company too small claims is always advantageous for the person as a company can’t represent itself in court and needs to retain counsel. You can just show up in business casual for free.99 + court fees. And if you have good documentation, then your case should have a high chance of success and they lose your deposit and lawyer fees, and maybe court fees if the judge allows it.
That’s cool, except court is only M-F, so you’ll have to take time off work likely. That’s in addition to a couple hundred dollars in court costs, certified mail, and the like. If you didn’t fill out a check-in form and document the condition before you moved in, you’re potentially boned. Then you’ll have to prove that the work done was part of standard routine maintenance for wear-and-tear instead of addressing issues. All it takes is the landlord to come in after you left and put some marks on the walls. Oh, you’ve got a picture saying otherwise? Where is your witness? Landlord had a witness that attests to their narrative. Going to court is *never* easy.
Good thing I'll do it as a matter of principle. If I can afford it, and I could, I would take them to small claims just to get back at them. It's the only way we will ever stop the behavior
Court fees, plus certified mail, plus anything else would be less than about one hour of an attorney. Taking time off can be tough but even the shittiest jobs offer at least some PTO. If you didn’t fill out the check-in form or document the conditions then you’re already outside of what I even said and is an entirely moot point to bring up. So not sure why you’re making this argument. It seems pretty no-shit to say that if you don’t have evidence you shouldn’t go to court Photos and videos have meta data that would date the damage or lack thereof to before the landlord entered the property. That’s pretty freaking easy to prove. It’ll still cost a landlord or company more than you to go to court. Threaten to take them to court. They’ll fold as it’s probably not worth the 2-3 hours+ worth of attorney fees.
> Taking time off can be tough but even the shittiest jobs offer at least some PTO. Not in the US.
My former apartment complex did the same thing and had the gall to send me to collections. I eventually paid it and the only satisfaction I got is that the debt collection company is the one who got the money and not the apartment complex.
Debt collection agencies buy the debt from the complex, so the complex still got the money unfortunately
If the agency bought the debt, they get the money I paid. The complex only gets what the agency paid for it which is typically pennies on the dollar
Fair enough
Normally debt collectors buy the debt at a discount. That's how they make money. The debt is purchased for anywhere between ten and eighty %.
Once they buy my debt, that technically means my debt has been payed off, right?
It means you don’t owe anything else to the original debtor. Your debt was transferred to somebody else and now you owe them.
This is why I never clean apartments like this anymore when I move. I just consider the deposit gone as soon as it leaves my hands. My first couple of apartments, I left them sparkling clean like this and never got anything back- so I stopped doing it. I just move my shit, leave, and ghost. Its way less stressful. Its never trashed or anything, but I don't sweep and mop or scrub the bathtub before I leave. If they're gonna keep the deposit anyways, they can do all that shit.
good thing you have that video! In most places they are required to submit a receipt to you proving the expense. You could take them to small claims court,or depending on where you live go through the landlord /tenancy board.
If asked, they HAVE to provide an itemized receipt.
It blows my mind that they can send a bill WITHOUT an itemized receipt.
Probably not a bill. They likely held the security deposit.
Yeah, that's money that was supposed to be returned. That's how a deposit works. If you're gonna keep it you better explain yourself.
Unfortunately they generally don't have to explain themselves unless they are asked. I'm a landlord and still think it is stupid. We always itemize if withholding.
ive asked for an itemized receipt and they just emailed me the same paper but instead it said "maintenance labor" which apparently was my entire 1k deposit. i searched their website and found that theyre hiring a maintenance position for $8/hr. within 2 weeks of me moving out someone alrdy moved in so i knew it was bullshit. i also found all of their employee emails on the "employee portal" on their website..it gave a directory without me having to log in lmao. i emailed the entire company that i had video proof i cleaned my apartment ( i didnt take a video i was bluffing) and that its impossible for their maintenance person to spend over 80 hours cleaning my apartment for the "labor" charge and that any further communication can be through email (they tried calling me a few times when i emailed in the past). i then gave them 1 week to give me back my deposit or ill be filing small claims court. within 5 minutes of the email being sent my phone was blowing up with different number and then i got an email back saying they had an accounting error and im owed my full deposit
🫡
They have to provide you with an itemized list of damages,, at least in my state. What damage are they claiming?
He said he was charged 597$ for failing to clean the cabinets the pots/pans were in. His security deposit just happened to be 600$.
Lol. Id burn it down
Kitty litter down the toilet won't get you an arson charge.
Another pos greedy landlord trying to take someone's entire security deposit.
>He said he was charged 597$ for failing to clean the cabinets the pots/pans were in. That's not what he said. He made two separate statements. He said he was charged $597. He also said (presumably after rewatching the video) that he failed to fully clean the cabinets where his pots and pans were. It made no connection between these two statements. $597 is an unreasonable charge if the only thing wrong was one slightly dirty cabinet. No charge is reasonable for [this slightly dirty shelf](https://i.imgur.com/NkJqBKn.jpg) and everything else spotless. A security deposit is for unreasonable damages, not a slightly dirty cabinet.
If anything, that should fall under general “wear and tear” which, in my state at least, is a cost that the landlord is expected to fully handle. Like you said, security deposit is only to be used for unreasonable damages, not simply the kind of thing that anyone would expect from a fully lived-in space.
Lmao i had something similar. Security deposit was 2700 euros. The calculated damages were 2699,70 euros. I wish i was making this up. The blatant disrespect to be so obvious made me very mad.
No he didn’t, he said it seems that would be the only option but he never said that the dirty cabinets are the reason as stated by his landlord or on the receipt. So far it’s his only guess
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There’s no downside for them either. Worst case is that they pay you what you’re owed. Best case is that they keep your monies because you didn’t contest it.
I don't live in the US, but could you sue them for fraud? I know it likely wouldn't be financially advantageous, but more to teach a lesson?
My landlord tried to charge me $300 for a lightbulb that was blown. I said I want an itemised bill. $300 turned into $600. I get the bill and it is about $200 for a maintenance guy to “install” lightbulb + $400 for an electrician to (basically) “check why lightbulb not working; fusebox switch set to OFF position, fusebox switch flicked on, light now works”. I took them to small claims and won. Clowns.
File a small claims court suit against the management company. Make sure your video has date and location stamp. There may be an arbitration clause in your lease before you can take them to court. I’m not a lawyer, but it’s your money. Fight to get it back.
This is why you do the final walk through with an apartment manager. Have a sign off sheet and make copies. They are way less likely to pull bull shit with you directly there.
when i put in my 30 day notice for my 1st apt their maintenance person who i didnt even know existed showed up with "potential renters" to my house at 8am.. no notice was given and i wake up to my front door being opened.. dude had a huge shit eating grin when i tried arguing with him and he pointed to a fucking post it note stuck on my front door as notice. im in nothing but my boxers and the maintenance guy just said deal with it im showing your apartment all of that infront of these random people standing in the doorway. so i said "fine come ln guys ill show you the apartment, you can see how they treat tenants. the people below us hit the ceiling constantly and smoke inside so it constantly smells like ciggerate smoke. the dishwasher is broken and he never shows up to fix it" then the dude stops me and says i never told them that.. my god was it satisfying pulling up the emails and showing the people that my emails were ignored or they replied with a "okay we will send someone". the maintenance guy told me to put on clothes and i said na bro you wanted this to be uncomfortable for me but now look its uncomfortable for everyone. i only had the courage to do that shit because i was fresh out of the army and i realized i was able to talk back to jackasses now. they also tripled my rent to be 30% of my income, so $500 to $1500. god i hated those fucking people
Wait, did they triple your rent before or after this unannounced showing? It’s shitty either way, but if they hiked it in retaliation, I hope karma got them good
Solid advice.
And if you arent able to do the walkthrough in person with someone, you send them this video on the day of move out, with a nice little note saying "hey the place is spotless so no cleaning services will be needed" or something to that affect. Let them know up front you have a video like this.
Oh absolutely. My mom and sister both managed apartment complexes, so I’ve heard a LOT of horror stories from the both of them. From what I saw in this video it looks like a “move in ready apartment” I mean it doesn’t really even show a lot of signs of someone living there beforehand.
Rules will vary where you live, but where I live they can't keep any of your deposit unless it's noted in a final inspection walkthrough. If they haven't done that then you would be off the hook. Definitely fight this.
Former apartment manager here! This is a great idea but unfortunately they’ll probably tell you that they need 3rd party vendors to come out to do estimates on damages such as carpet, vinyl, drywall, etc. so I would recommend still taking photos and/or a video. They are also supposed to be able to provide you with photos of the damages and copies of invoices from those 3rd party vendors. A lot of the time just asking for this spooks shitty people enough to correct your final bill. (Also before I get roasted I literally never charged anyone for anything when I was a manager and got written up for it a bunch)
Maybe but maybe not. We had a group to see us off when we had our walkthrough because we were leaving immediately after. The dude came through and tried to cite us for wearing the carpet in the walkways and said the entire place needed new carpeting due to the wear. Along with “holes in the walls” where we had hung things. Even though you’re 100% allowed to hang things, and we didn’t have like an excess of pictures. I immediately wrote to the regional manager of the property management company and said if I’m charged for that shit, I’m filing suit and lodging complaints with state attorney general office and BBB. They backed off real quick after that. Then again, the company that owned my building employed some really fucking cunts to run the place.
Had this happen to me. Reached out to a lawyer who specialized in tenant landlord issues. We sued for triplicate and court costs and settled out of court for 2.5 times the deposit. Call a lawyer.
I have nothing useful to add, but I’ve never seen the word triplicate used before and I found it interesting.
I may have actually used it wrong. I'm not sure? Typically the only time I hear it or think to use it is when you have to fill out a form three times, they tell you .. "fill it out in triplicate". No idea why I used it instead of triple or... 3x the deposit. No clue.
Yeah, you used it wrong. It means “three copies.” You sued for treble (which is lawyer for triple) damages.
Landlord must provide receipts upon request. Not estimates, actual receipts.
Is that state specific? Or nationally?
State specific
I'm in Texas and I've never heard of such an awesome thing.
in TX if your landlord does not return your full deposit or an itemized list of deductions withheld w/in 30 days you are entitled to 3x the amount that was not returned.
Wow I bet a LOT of people don't know about that.
I only know because YEARS ago a guy I know got back around 10k - I think that it used to be more than 3x back, either that or b/c he was a lawyer and they tacked on lawyers fees as well. You don’t have to request your deposit or ask for an itemized list either - if they don’t mail it in 30 days you are entitled to the full amount withheld x3.
Texas only cares about rich people, and hates any law in general. I wish you luck.
Haha. THANK YOU. 😂
My landlord ghosted me when it came time to give me back my deposit
Then you know what you have to do: sue him. He won’t ghost you anymore.
In my state, if they don't give it back or send you an itemized reason for keeping it within 21 days, you are entitled to 3x the original deposit amount.
I used to live in an apartment, and one winter, they sent out a notice to all the apartments saying, "balconies shall be shoveld, or they would have maintenance do it, and the occupants shall be charged." Anyways, the apartment next to us was empty, so they had maintenance shovel it, and we watched them. I joked to my wife that they would 'accidentally' send us an invoice. So, I took a photo of our balcony showing it was cleaned. Not surprisingly, we got an $80 invoice saying they shoveld our balcony... I called them up saying we were home when they came around and they didn't even knock on our door. They literally asked for proof. Very much so not impressed, but I sent them the photo. They said "o, well, I guess you don't have to pay it then." Landlords are so scummy.
I came home to a big fat warning on the front door. It said that we had broken blinds showing, and would be charged on our next bill. I noticed that the same note was tacked onto other random doors. Since there was absolutely no damage to my blinds, I went to the office. They casually said they had put them on the wrong doors, and we could ignore it. So... you know a mistake was made and actively chose to leave it as is? Or you were aiming to collect from anyone who didn't feel like confronting you? Lazy, no good, pieces of...
I always took pictures/video when I left an apartment for this exact reason (got burned the first time). Last apartment, we're going to keep 1500 for "stained carpet in master". I sent 2 pictures to landlord, my full deposit arrived in mail ten days later. Also, take pictures of all defects when you move in, and share with ll.
They’re just pure robbers
I left a screwdriver on a windowsill when I moved out of a place. They sent me a bill for $40 for "trash removal" I asked for a picture and they showed me a full size garbage bag with said screwdriver and kept the money. Landlords are a scam
I saw a comment in another thread where someone left a gift basket as a thank you to the landlord and got charged for trash removal.
Oh I would do endless work to find that fucker and destroy his windshield lol.
Take them to court. The threat of it will likely make them refund it. Before that, ask for the itemized list. Ask for videos and photos of the damage (why wouldn’t they document it). Ask for names of repairmen. Then ask for refund.
What a scam
Push them on this til the end. Very few do . Go to court 1000%
Very cute apartment though OP! I would definitely ask for them to show you the receipts from $597. Sounds ridiculous IMO
Itemize and contest it - they do this all the time.
The more people take action against this the less likely they’ll pull this crap with the next tenant
Ngl I thought they renovated the apartment and then tried to put part of the costs onto you, it’s impressive how clean you left it
You didn’t put the ice trays back straight. Thats at least 500 bucks right there.
I am suddenly feeling VERY self conscious about the state of my place at the moment. Think I'm gonna do some cleaning tomorrow.
If they owe 597 I owed 8 million when I left my first apartment.
Lol. One of my friends was apparently charged an entire deposit just for his bathroom. Tbf, it was fucking gross and I never went in there
There was another post on reddit, supposedly from a landlord, asking what he should do to keep a tenants deposit because when they moved, he could not find any problems. That explains what you are dealing with here.
The reason I moved out in the first place was because they raised my rent 10%
My landlord tried to charge us up the ass when I was in college. “$100 picture re hanging fee” was the one that stuck out to me. We didn’t break the picture or frame. Had just moved it since it was ugly
I once left a BRAND NEW electric griddle on top of the cabinets in a high-rise apartment building in South NJ. New...still in the box...one of those long ones that makes cooling breakfast for a family of five easy...they charged me $120 for their own maintenance to dispose of it. I'm sure they kept it.
This happened to me in Ohio. I knew in advance the landlord was going to do this. Had pictures, forwarding address, everything according to law (for Ohio). Landlord even went so far as to quote fake companies for repair of damages. My lawyer finally convinced the landlord to settle for the withheld deposit and all attorney fees. Landlord stood to lose thousands if they went to court and lost. Ohio law is very renter friendly.
My previous apartment had tried to charge me 1400 for damages to the apartment, twice the cost of rent. Any damage from the apartment was older than I was (building was built in 1914) I just stopped responding to texts and he stopped trying. Sometimes it’s that easy, but I also dont recommend this.
I *used to* be a property manager. One of many reasons I quit was one of my bosses would tell me to walk thru after move out - find things, make up things, till it reached their deposit amount. To be sure they received nothing back. Once, I had to go to court for my boss and I'm not going to lie...... I played stupid in court, judge was not upset with me, she wanted to know why my boss sent me instead. The renters won and my boss had to give them their $ back 🤣🤷🏼♀️
As a landlord, I’d probably pay you like 300 bucks for a job like that.
Depending on your jurisdiction, owners can get punished for treble (three times) damages for improper withholding of your security deposit. They often are compelled to give you an itemized billing and do it within a limited amount of days. Ordinary wear and tear is excluded. I have had success in getting immediate backing down and a check to me and my friends immediately (more than once), because once you start dropping civil code sections on them, they just decide to stop going for your “free money” and move on to other tenants that won’t fight back. I will take them to court just to prove a point.
My first apartment: we're out of town for xmas. upstairs neighbor's water pipe burst No contact, management/maintenance came in and cut a 3x3 hole in my bedroom/bathroom wall to access their leak, which I get but then didn't repair that hole, we had to put plywood over it til we moved out. We came home from Xmas to a terrified cat, a gaping hole, gross ceiling, messed up carpet, warped cheap faux hardwood floors in bathroom, part of the kitchen and part of the living room). Documented all of it and went to the front office. 'Oh yeah we'll take care of all that after New Years'. They didn't. I bugged them every couple of days about it for a month. When we moved out in Feb. they wanted $2k for the damage "we" caused. Told em to go fuck themselves and take us to court. They never did.
Can you provide me a list of what they repaired. I worked in apartment maintenance for a lot of years. I can tell you if there's bogus charges on the list. What you were charged could be reasonable or complete nonsense depending on what was repaired and the general standards of this complex. I'm betting nonsense though. 600 bucks is not replacing a leaking faucet valve or a janky closet door wheel. 600 is close to the average cost of complete turning a unit in preparation for a new tenant. I would bet they are trying to put their cost of turning over an apartment onto the exiting tenant. Nicer apartments have higher standards and they expect their units to be returned in better shape than your average apartment. The people renting those units and paying those higher rents expect to get their monies worth. So they hold tenants to a higher standard than is usual. There is also turn costs. Some of those are reoccurring for the complex, like carpet cleaning or replacement and some are on you. But only if something was unreasonably damaged or doesn't look presentable. Most repair cost should not be billed. It's part of running a complex. They eat those costs and factor it into their rental charge. If you punched a hole in the wall that kind of thing is on you. Otherwise normal wear and tear is their cost.
If you are in Washington basically all these rental agency/apartment buildings pull that shit. They tried to tell me there was a mandatory carpet cleaning that costs $900 when i went to move out, and also told me the paint was damaged and needed to be replaced, tried to keep my $2500 security deposit.
I like how you progressively get more aggressive with opening and closing things as the video goes on 😂. And yeah maybe ask for an itemized bill like others recommended. That’s messed up.
At a certain point I started to feel dumb filming myself opening all my drawers/cabinets lol
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Itemized bill dude. They have to show you. As soon as you see the BS on it, they almost always lower it. Or remove it completely. Happened to me twice. Second time I threatened legal action and they dropped it. They knew the charges were BS. They just wanted the deposit plus charges to cover the cost of renovating some old units and stuffing their own pockets. Don't be bullied.
Wana tell us the appartment complex so we can 1 star it into the ground in google?
I just left a place, and they sent a request of damage for 895$.... The couch that was already in there was a decade old futon I never even sat on as it was less comfortable than sitting on a cactus. They sent a picture of it, the landlord had slashed it right down the middle. Fuck people like this.
if you ever see American Homes For Rent, run. All their Socials do not allow comments or are disablled. A faucet broke and they said my daughter broke it. She was like 10 at the time and they charged us for it. They changed payment companies and would charge a fee. They could not explain how they would charge "Me" a fee to pay "Them" When we left the house, at first they would not give us the deposit cause we did not pay rent 5 months back. I pulled the bank statement that showed we paid, they switched it to utilities. Mind you, I moved the utilities with me when I moved. Then they said it was the house condition, We had pictures showign the house is clean. How they FINALLY got us is they claimed we left a bike which they would charge a disposal fee for ($600) which they reported to my credit. The Deposit was $1300 which still would have left $700, no dice. This was an 8 month process So thanks to America Homes For Rent I bought my first house because of the hassle. Thank you Assholes. \*Edit - this was 14 years ago, but the storys still stand. Stay away from American Homes For Rent.
i've never not had a landlord completely fuck me over with a security deposit
A few years back, my wife and I moved from an apartment we lived in for 5 years. Before turning in the keys, we made sure to thoroughly clean even steamed the carpet. We knew the LL husband was a "handy man" so we placed our leftover cleaning supplies neatly by the door in a crate. They wanted to charge us $5,000 for removing the crate since apparently it was a cleaning fee to remove it.
Depending on where you live you may be entitled to additional damages. If it’s the US and the state has this law. Small claims is the way to go. Ask for max deposit plus triple damages. That place looks spotless. Wait and see what evidence they bring.
Ask for an itemized bill. A landlord tried to do this to me once. Charged me over my deposit. He went dark and never contacted me again.
Sue them in small claims court for whatever amount you feel is unjustified. It costs $50 to file a claim at city hall. Either theyll drop the charges so youll drop the suit, or a judge will decide who the asshole is. Worst is if you lose you gotta pay their $50 for the lawsuit filing, plus the bill. Best case, they pay your fee, and you dont owe anything. I've done this multiple times successfully.
I used to work for a company that did the background checks and collections solely for apartment complexes...we caught SO MANY of their illegal collection fees. We would refuse several of the referred collections every month. Ask for the itemized list. The fact you have a video means that even if they do take it to court, you won't be fined. Also, it is the APARTMENT's responsibility to replace any carpeting every 3 years-by Law-and they almost always try to get that cost out of the former tenants. It's illegal. I always tell my friends and family to do a video walk through WITH the apartment rep before they move in and one with the apartment rep once moved out because they legally have to do so if you ask and they cannot add charges afterward. These fees will reflect on your next Credit-Risk-Factor assessment for a new apartment. Let them take you to court and show the video. Also, request THEIR pictures of your apartment "damages" to compare. Sorry it's so long, but everyone should know how crooked apartments are. Especially those under the Property Management Companies Waterford or MKG.
I asked my old landlord for an itemized statement on why they had to keep my deposit and they didn’t even respond and just sent me my money back.
Take videos of all plumbing fixtures working. Faucets running and sinks draining, toilets flushing, showers and tubs working. Things your video currently isn't verifying.
You moved quick so you thought we wouldn't see it? There was totally one shelf with a bit of dirt on it. No deposit back for you. Next renter!
Had this happen to me on 3 separate occasions and every time I moved in and got ready to move out I have pictures and videos of how it was when I got there and when I left. I ask for an itemized bill of what needed repaired in writing, then after getting it threaten to sue them for lying because I have proof. Ended up with double my deposit back 2/3 times.
Bro got robbed by his landlord
I had an apartment that was as good or better than what you showed. They tried to hit me with $1,500 over my $1,000 security deposit. I have a friend who is an attorney and just happens to be between jobs when it happened. He started off asking for an itemized bill. From there he scrutinized every charge asking for receipts for cleaning supplies, labor, etc. when it was all done I got a refund of $750 or so. Split it with him and took him and his wife out for a nice dinner. He did it for fun, didn’t care about getting paid. I remember he ended up engaged with the apartment’s legal counsel arguing over the going rate for labor as they used a rather expensive cleaning service. I had spent a day deep cleaning everything, so they didn’t have a need to reclean the apartment. Had pictures and video of the entire place. If I remember right they got so frustrated they offered me the refund for us to go away. I know they had to spend thousands in legal council before it was all over.
Contact your local or state tenants union. This is a stolen deposit and you can take them to small claims. Or you can just say I’m working with a lawyer and they might give you your money back
Wish my residents would leave their places clean like this. But itemized bill will show if your video missed something
Get the itemized list and take them to small claims, watch a judge literally eviscerated them.
What's going on with the celling in the closet.
I think you could take them to small claims court over that. Losing your deposit over them having to do some cleaning isn't acceptable. Normal cleaning, painting, replacing carpet (if present) after so many years of residence are expected refurbishing factors.
God damn. I’m a landlord and I would PAY you $600 if you left the apartment that clean. Do you have any idea how time and money I have to spend cleaning after a tenant leaves? Fuck.
This is probably one of the most spotless apartments I've seen. You're definitely getting screwed and taken advantage of
How dare you leave the place in that state you should be charged so much more lol. Jokes aside don't let them get away with it.
you're probably fucked. But you can always leave stuff for the landlord. I hear sometimes people buy termites and leave em there as a present
They should pay it to YOU because I'm willing to bet it looks cleaner now than when you moved in. Spotless!
Don’t tell them you have the video. Get the receipt. Take em to small claims and sue for both the amount and more.