Is my landlord being unreasonable?

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mortalfloater

mortalfloater

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First off, let me explain my situation. My fiancé and I moved into a house in November '09. The house was not quite move-in ready as it had to be painted inside, so we had to wait a few days to actually move in, even though we were paying the full months rent. They did not prorate the rent because we had to move out of my previous apartment, so we had ALL of our stuff in the living room and slept in the one room that wasn't being painted.

After about a week, we were able to move our stuff to the other rooms and settle in. But the house still had lots of problems. There were a few urine stains on the 18 year old carpet from the kids that were there before and a few bleach stains also. The shower in the master bedroom was completely disassembled and not useable for about 5 months. (We did have a shower in the guest bathroom though.) There was a hole in the wall that wasn't fixed until about 3 months after moving in. A few lightbulbs were out so I replaced them with CFLs. There were other problems as well that were never fixed the whole time we were there.

The landlord kept apologizing for the state of the house. They had the attitude of "We'll fix everything, just give us some time." My fiancé and I thought they seem nice, and things were 'kind of' getting done so we didn't complain. But then they started saying that they were going to come over to fix things and would never show up or call, and nothing was getting done. For the last 6 months or so we only saw them when the rent was due or we contacted them. So after the lease was up we put in our 30 days and found a new house to move to.

Yesterday we did the first walkthrough after getting all of our stuff out and cleaning the house (except for shampooing the carpet). We have 2 small dogs do there were several urine stains from them inside and some poop was still in the back yard. (not a huge amount, maybe 10 piles that I haven't picked up while we moved things) The landlords said we had to use THEIR special carpet cleaning guy only. And if the stains wouldn't come out, we'd have to replace the carpet with our deposit money. We also "have to pay" to have the poop cleaned out of the backyard. And since I put in CFLs (all of the bulbs in the house match now) I'd have to pay to have the bulbs put back to incandescents because as they said, "Some people don't like the way fluorescent bulbs look."

I think they're being completely ridiculous.... The carpet is 18 years old and was stained before we moved in. I don't mind paying for shampooing it, but is it legal to make me use "their guy"? (Who by the way costs 4 times more than other carpet cleaning companies here.) Also I have to pay to put the house back to incandescent bulbs?! Seriously?! I changed some bulbs because the originals were burnt out and the rest were done so we would have a lower utility bill.

So, are they just being complete unreasonable pee pee heads? I don't see why I should have to pay for this stuff.

P.S. I hope my post makes sense. I was infuriated while writing it and I used my iPhone.
 
The short of it, they may be being unreasonable, but I'm pretty sure they can make you pay for that stuff using their guys, especially after the walk through. I've always gone into an lease I've signed expecting to not get my deposit back for some bullshit reason or another.
 
i dont know why you moved into such a dump in the first place.

yes, they can make you use their guy. if you do it yourself the landlord could say its not good enough, use his guy anyway and charge you.

but 18 year old carpet... google your state laws and "useful use".
 
The place sounded like a total dump when you moved in. I would've taken pictures of all the problem areas before moving in and addressed them to the landlord. Do you have any kind of proof the carpet was nasty before moving in. And it might not be your fault but having 2 dogs doesn't help your situation either.
 
Sounds it. I found a good apartment complex over the summer. They proved this to me Saturday when I got home from some errands and there's water leaking from behind the water heater and it's gone from behind there, into one of the bathrooms, and underneath the carpeting in the hallway, part of my bedroom, and starting to get into my bathroom. I called maintenance, they were there within 5 minutes. The overflow drain pipe behind the heater clogged and was the reason for the mini flood. The second maintenance guy showed up about 15 minutes later. They snaked it to clear the clog. I had to go to a Christmas party but they let the guy with the wet-dry vac in while I was out and made sure everything was dried. So when I got back, everything was clean and dry. Carpet though needed to be replaced in some spots. Then, yesterday, while at work, they replaced the carpeting that had been damaged. Grade A service.
 
My gf and I lived in 4 apartments now. First two didn't return our deposit, even though we cleaned, and never gave us a reason, which I think is against the law.

However, the third place gave us all but carpet steaming costs back, and we almost didn't clean before leaving, thinking we'd see none of our deposit. On using their carpet people, like everyone already said, yes they can. On replacing them, however, if you can prove that it was in bad shape already, you can probably get out of that.

And about the bulbs, I usually remove them all, put them in a box under the sink, and replace them with CFLs. When I leave, I do the reverse.T he part about people not liking CFL is true, because I know people who can't use CFL bulbs, because they can see the 60hz flicker.
 
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You should check your lease. The lease should state what condition they expect the property to be in when you move out. It will also let you know if you have to use "their guy" to clean the carpets.
 
My gf and I lived in 4 apartments now. First two didn't return our deposit, even though we cleaned, and never gave us a reason, which I think is against the law. However, the third place gave us all but carpet steaming costs back, and we almost didn't clean before leaving, thinking we'd see none of our deposit. On using their carpet people, like everyone already said, yes they can. On replacing them, however, if you can prove that it was in bad shape already, you can probably get out of that. And about the bulbs, I usually remove them all, put them in a box under the sink, and replace them with CFLs. When I leave, I do the reverse. But out is true, because I know people who can't use CFL bulbs, because they can see the 60hz flicker. Sorry for the chunk of text, but I'm also posting from a phone, and hitting enter in the text box on cag force closes opera. I'll fix it when I get home.
 
We had a checklist and pics of the house. The pee stains came up later in my game room after a couple of weeks. I've read that if you don't clean it correctly it soaks back up from the pad. My dogs never went in my game room.... The door was always closed.

The shower was taken apart after we moved in due to a leak and not finished a few months. They kept saying they were waiting for parts.

I'll check the 'useful use' law. The house is the same as when we moved in except for the few newer pee spots and the CFLs.
 
Are property owners responsible for light bubls while you're living there? I only ask because I've always bought my own, but I've heard people say they were actually resposnible.
 
Also, I've had dogs at other places and the carpet people I use have always been able to get any stains out. My guy cost $80-90 their guy is $250-300 and he apparently sucks at cleaning carpets because those stains from the previous renters came back.
 
Are you fully out of your lease? Or are you still on your final days of your last month?

Hopefully you have photos or some kind of "walk though" sheet filled out from when you first moved in that marked all the defects.

If you're in the final days of your last month, provided your lease doesn't say "Cleaning the carpet can only be done by landlord," you can use your own guy or do it yourself to clean up the spots where your dogs soiled the carpet.

If you're out of your lease, you're shit out of luck. The landlord is going to be permitted to hire his own guy as long as his prices aren't absurd - even if they're the highest in town. I mean, if the range is like $100 to $300 to clean carpets generally and this guy charges $350 theres not much you can do. And yeah the whole carpet may have been filthy when you moved in, but unless you documented that then you're not going to be able to offset the costs because you'll have no evidence the prior baby soiling isn't from your dog or wasn't added to by your dog.

If you didn't clean up your dogs crap, and you're out of your lease, they can charge you whatever a reasonable amount is to clean up dog shit. Your fault on that.

As for the lightbulbs, thats generally the landlords responsibility so you should have notified them to replace that in the first place. If you did and they did not respond in a reasonable amount of time, its generally permitted for you to fix it yourself and then subtract that against your rent for the month. If you didn't even tell them you needed new light bulbs, then you're SOL.

In the end if you feel like your landlord is screwing you, your only recourse is going to be to take it to small claims court. From there a judge will probably send you to mediation to work out a settlement before he'll even hear the case. If mediation fails, you're going to have to hope he buys your story if you have no evidence. A judge isn't going to give a shit about your dogs shit in the backyard. Or the lightbulbs. It sounds like if you're at this point, its going to come down the fact your landlord kept your whole deposit to re-carpet the house. So you better have evidence that your dogs only did X% of the damage and that you shouldn't be responsible for the full cost of replacing the carpet.
 
[quote name='kodave']As for the lightbulbs, thats generally the landlords responsibility so you should have notified them to replace that in the first place. If you did and they did not respond in a reasonable amount of time, its generally permitted for you to fix it yourself and then subtract that against your rent for the month. If you didn't even tell them you needed new light bulbs, then you're SOL.[/QUOTE]

Pretty sure this depends on the state. I think in California (where the op is), this its the case. My current place told us they're responsible and that they'll replace lightbulbs, a long as we tell them. In Texas, I could have sworn the lease always said the tenant was responsible.
 
[quote name='mortalfloater']What about the "useful life" law? The carpet has been there since the house was built in 1993.[/QUOTE]

You really should read this ENTIRE page:

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/sec-deposit.shtml

2. Carpets and drapes - "useful life" rule Normal wear and tear to carpets, drapes and other furnishings cannot be charged against a tenant's security deposit.243 Normal wear and tear includes simple wearing down of carpet and drapes because of normal use or aging, and includes moderate dirt or spotting. In contrast, large rips or indelible stains justify a deduction from the tenant's security deposit for repairing the carpet or drapes, or replacing them if that is reasonably necessary.


One common method of calculating the deduction for replacement prorates the total cost of replacement so that the tenant pays only for the remaining useful life of the item that the tenant has damaged or destroyed. For example, suppose a tenant has damaged beyond repair an eight-year-old carpet that had a life expectancy of ten years, and that a replacement carpet of similar quality would cost $1,000. The landlord could properly charge only $200 for the two years' worth of life (use) that would have remained if the tenant had not damaged the carpet.
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Again, are you out of your lease or do you still have time left on your final 30 days?

Back to the lightbulbs for a moment, if you do have proof there were no light bulbs there he can't charge you for putting in incandescent, but he could possibly get away with charging you for the removal of the CFLs since you abandoned them there when you moved out - provided you're actually out of your lease at this point.
 
Lightbulbs are usually the responsibilty of the tenants, not the landlord, although maybe it varies state to state.
 
So the carpet no longer has useful life since it is 18 years old right? I know that 10 years is an example, I don't know the useful life of this specific carpet.

By the way, thanks for the input everyone.
 
[quote name='mortalfloater']I'm out of the lease. It ended in Nov.[/QUOTE]

Well then you're on the hook for the removal of the CFLs and the removal of dog poop. Reasonable costs for that? Whatever it costs to for someone to take an hour to remove CFLs and to scoop poop and throw it in the trash. I couldn't imagine that being greater than $20 of your deposit. He can't charge you for incandescents provided you have proof they weren't there to begin with.

You're also on the hook for the carpet stains you didn't clean that your dogs caused, and he can use whatever services he wants to clean carpet to remove those spots in particular to restore the carpet to the state it was in when you moved in, provided the costs are reasonable, and reasonable doesn't mean the cheapest or even in the middle. It just means not clearly ripping you off.

I don't know what the lifespan of this particular carpet is, but I'm guessing that its probably close to being up if it was installed in 1993. I'm sure the manufacturer has specific details or I'm sure you could talk to someone at a carpet store and get an idea of what it typically is. Like my prior post said, he can't charge you for the full cost of replacing it. Its got to be in relation to the piss stains you didn't clean up provided they don't come out with professional cleaning compared against the remaining life of the carpet.

Was this your first time renting or something? You really should have taken 10 minutes to clean up the dog shit before hand and tried to remove the dogs' stains before moving out. I know dog stains can be rough but renting a steam cleaner from the grocery store just to use on those spots probably would have done the job. Possibly just some heavy strength cleaner from Home Depot and some hand scrubbing would have helped.

If you were moving out at the last second and didn't have time for it, then you should have known your security deposit was going to take a hit. So now its just a question of how big of a hit its going to take. Just make sure the landlord itemizes everything and provides receipts to prove the costs of cleaning and repairs based on damage you caused and did not remedy before you moved out.

If he tries to charge you for all the costs of replacing the carpet, then take him to small claims court. Otherwise you're just going to have to accept your losses and move on as its not going to be worth the filing fee to fight it.
 
Read your lease agreement!!! If it doesn't specify particulars then you can use whomever you want provided you have a receipt proving it was cleaned.

Also realize they may try to be douches and keep your deposit regardless of how well you clean everything in which case the only way you're probably going to get it back is by taking them to court, this may or may not be worth it to you.
 
The deposit was $1350 + $500 pet deposit. We did use the enzyme cleaner on the carpets immediately, but a few kept coming back. Some were in places where the dogs can't even get to like the game room where the door is always closed. I feel like they're using us to get new carpet.

I understand that we should pay for carpet cleaning (although their guy sucks), and if they want to be dicks about the lightbulbs and backyard poop, then whatever, but the carpet had problems before we got there.
 
[quote name='mortalfloater']The deposit was $1350 + $500 pet deposit. We did use the enzyme cleaner on the carpets immediately, but a few kept coming back. Some were in places where the dogs can't even get to like the game room where the door is always closed. I feel like they're using us to get new carpet.

I understand that we should pay for carpet cleaning (although their guy sucks), and if they want to be dicks about the lightbulbs and backyard poop, then whatever, but the carpet had problems before we got there.[/QUOTE]

Sounds like you're being more than fair then and their out to save a quick buck at your expense.

Under california law they can't use your security deposit to pay for conditions caused by normal wear and tear (such as old as hell carpet) and:

Under California law, 21 calendar days or less after you move, your landlord must either:

Send you a full refund of your security deposit, or

Mail or personally deliver to you an itemized statement that lists the amounts of any deductions from your security deposit and the reasons for the deductions, together with a refund of any amounts not deducted.

And Very importantly:

Suppose that your landlord does not return your security deposit as required by law, or makes improper deductions from it. If you cannot successfully work out the problem with your landlord, you can file a lawsuit in small claims court for the amount of the security deposit plus court costs, and possibly also a penalty and interest, up to a maximum of $7,500.261 (If your claim is for a little more than $7,500261, you can waive (give up) the extra amount and still use the small claims court.) For amounts greater than $7,500, you must file in superior court, and you ordinarily will need a lawyer in order to effectively pursue your case. In such a lawsuit, the landlord has the burden of proving that his or her deductions from your security deposit were reasonable.

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/sec-deposit.shtml
http://www.caltenantlaw.com/Deposit.htm

If you prove to the court that the landlord acted in "bad faith" in refusing to return your security deposit, the court can order the landlord to pay you the amount of the improperly withheld deposit, plus up to twice the amount of the security deposit as a "bad faith" penalty. The court can award a bad faith penalty in addition to actual damages whenever the facts of the case warrant—even if the tenant has not requested the penalty.

I'd read up on it, then write them a sternly worded letter citing the California tennant code, tell them you're willing to pay for damages to the carpet but not for a replacement since it's very old and previously damaged by other animals, then wait and see what they send you back in a couple weeks.

A lot of times Landlords will try to use scare tactics on renters because a lot of renters don't know the law or won't go educate themselves about it. My sister's last landlord claimed he was going to keep their deposit if he couldn't get another renter in the house quickly, which is entirely against the law.
 
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Isn't the pet deposit for the extra damages pets can cause, like your carpet stains? I'd check your lease for that.

I mean that $500 should be more than enough to clean up carpet spots where the dogs soiled the carpet (and probably would cover the backyard poop).

All you can do at this point is wait and see what happens. If you have to endure more than itemized carpet cleaning fees, just be prepared to go to small claims court. Your landlord may also back down some if you give him print outs of that site and/or the relevant statutes.
 
i would just suck off the landlord for the deposit back...thats what i do when im in a tough situation! If your not willing to do dat to another dude,then i could do it for you for a price....And dont call me gay cuz i have a wife
 
Seriously though, thanks for your help! I wasn't sure what people would say on here, but you guys pointed me in the right direction. I really appreciate it.
 
I know I'm a little late, but hopefully this is still helpful:

A lot of your questions are likely to depend on what is in your lease. Do you still have a copy of the lease?

I can second most of what kodave has said, although most states make light bulbs the responsibility of the tenant by default (I don't know what the law in California is). Most importantly, you aren't responsible for putting in completely new carpet unless your lease says so; you're likely responsible for fixing the carpet back to the condition you got it in, less ordinary wear and tear. Photos would be a godsend.

As kodave pointed out, you'd be in a stronger position if you had finished cleaning the house before you had to vacate the apartment. At this point, the landlord could just fix things himself and bill you for the cost.

The other issues you were having with the house should have been dealt with at the time, not after you've moved out. There's not much you can do about them now. If you ever wind up in court over this, you could try to argue that the landlord breached his duties under the rental contract and that you are owed damages. The shower in the master bedroom in particular is a quantifiable loss: you were promised a 2 BR/2 BA house and wound up spending five months (nearly half the lease) with a 2 BR/1.5 bath house. It's probably not worth suing over unless you're already in court, however, and I have no idea how well the claim would work out in California.

P.S. Did your new place come with incandescent lightbulbs? If so, you could just swap them with the CF bulbs from your old place.
 
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I do still have the lease. I have to find my box of important papers first.

Also, we cleaned everything (except for the carpet and the yard poop) before we left. We didn't clean the carpet because they said we had to use their special cleaner which is supposed to come next week sometime. If I had used the company I wanted, it would have been done on Monday.

The wife of the landlord couple is super anal about cleaning. We've had conversations were she said that if someone in her house is sick, or might be getting sick, she cleans the entire house with bleach and disinfects everything, everyday, until the person gets better. If I would've known she was like that, I wouldn't have moved in there. It's like she has some form of OCD... Once she spent like 20 minutes trying to clean a spot on the door and she literally rubbed the paint off.
 
Where's that thread with the guy who had some serious issues with his Landlord and then the Landlord got arrested for being a pedofile?
 
[quote name='mitch079']Where's that thread with the guy who had some serious issues with his Landlord and then the Landlord got arrested for being a pedofile?[/QUOTE]


I didn't know there was a thread for that.
 
[quote name='mitch079']Where's that thread with the guy who had some serious issues with his Landlord and then the Landlord got arrested for being a pedofile?[/QUOTE]

Have fun!
 
I felt a tremor in the force.

The first thing you need to do is read the living shit out of all California tenant law. Bust it out, grab your lease contract, and READ READ READ. You are fully in legal negotiation at this point, whether you know it or not. Make no statements other than what it is you want and back it up with the lease contract and tenant law. Write your landlord a certified letter explaining what you feel you are owed and exactly why you are owed it. Do it in a non-threatening manner because you must assume it will be entered as a small claims court document and you don't want to sound like an asshole in court.

Something like:

"We believe that due to wear and tear (California code blahblah) on the carpet as seen in pictures A, B, and C (attached) and as noted in the move in checklist under section XX, that we are not responsible for the cost of replacing the 17 year old carpet.

We are willing to have the carpet cleaned by a professional cleaning service at our cost and are willing to provide a receipt showing work performed. We believe the cleaning cost quoted is excessive and no where in the lease are we contractually required to use a service approved by the landlord (see paragraph XX of the lease).

California law dictates that the landlord has the burden of proving that his or her deductions from your security deposit were reasonable and we feel that the deductions demanded regarding the carpet, XX, and XX are unreasonable.

We feel that we have worked in good faith with you in the past, including not reducing rent due to the 5 months the bathroom was inaccessible due to repair problems, blahblah, and blahblah.

We look forward to resolving this. Good day sir."

You 100% MUST assume that every single word and correspondence will be presented in court. Don't say a damned thing that you don't want to hear in front of a judge. In my experience, judges are very lenient towards landlords because so many renters are giant scumbags but at the same time, they will definitely appreciate it when tenants have their shit together and will listen. And like someone else said, if it gets that far you will probably have to go into mediation and you'll end up compromising anyway. Just don't do or say something crazy that will get you in trouble later.
 
[quote name='keithp']OP should just hire Speedracer to represent him! :D[/QUOTE]

Maybe not since he's got it wrong. At this point the landlord can use any cleaning services he wants as long as its not excessive. The time for the renter to hire his own cleaning service to return the carpet to the state it was in when the renter moved in was BEFORE the lease expired. It's the landlord's property and now the landlord literally has to clean up the mess the renter left, and he is under no obligation to use the cleaning service the renter wants him to use whether or not its written in the contract. That would be a terribly stupid thing to argue before a judge or to try to claim in a letter.

At this point the OP is going to be fighting excessive cleaning costs and/or the full costs of replacing the carpet when it should be just a small amount. And again, if the cleaning service the landlord uses charges $400 or something and the town average is like $350 or something, its not going down as excessive. You're really going to have to take it up the ass to walk into court and claim its excessive. Not to mention, filing fees in court is like $75 and there's no guarantee you're going to recoup your court costs too. Is it worth it to file a claim over a $50 difference and spend $75 to do it? No.
 
[quote name='kodave']Maybe not since he's got it wrong. At this point the landlord can use any cleaning services he wants as long as its not excessive. The time for the renter to hire his own cleaning service to return the carpet to the state it was in when the renter moved in was BEFORE the lease expired. It's the landlord's property and now the landlord literally has to clean up the mess the renter left, and he is under no obligation to use the cleaning service the renter wants him to use whether or not its written in the contract. That would be a terribly stupid thing to argue before a judge or to try to claim in a letter.[/quote]
Totally true. It should have been done prior to handing over the keys. But the letter could hopefully get back there or at least signal intent. Nobody wants to go to court and I can't imagine Mr. Landlord is in a terrible hurry to end up there either. But judges can do whatever the hell the feel like. The judge answered a question that we didn't even file and refused to even speak to the reason for our lawsuit and then invited us to appeal. It's the reality of court. You just don't know what's going to happen, even if you're 100% correct. A letter that spoke to that certainly would not hurt in any way. It would be set aside (in which case OP is right where he started) or it would be considered, in which case it's a win.
At this point the OP is going to be fighting excessive cleaning costs and/or the full costs of replacing the carpet when it should be just a small amount. And again, if the cleaning service the landlord uses charges $400 or something and the town average is like $350 or something, its not going down as excessive. You're really going to have to take it up the ass to walk into court and claim its excessive. Not to mention, filing fees in court is like $75 and there's no guarantee you're going to recoup your court costs too. Is it worth it to file a claim over a $50 difference and spend $75 to do it? No.
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Personally I'd eat the money for the cleaning but fight tooth and nail if they tried to stick me with a bill for the carpeting for the whole house. And I'd try to cajole the landlord into letting me hire the cleaner.
 
I work at a local TV station and last night we just did a story about landlords not giving back deposits. It reminded me of this thread so I thought I'd share what I learned. Keep in mind this is south Florida so laws may be different.

Anyways near the end we reported that it's surprising how many people don't get back their deposits because landlords give bogus excuses, carpets being the biggest offender. If it's normal wear and tear over time and does not have to be replaced IT IS ILLEGAL FOR THEM TO KEEP YOUR DEPOSIT. If a cleaning is all that needs to be done they CAN NOT use your deposit torwards it. On top of that you paid a $500 pet deposit, I would see what that initials.

There are shady landlords that will try and trick you out of your deposit because it's easy for them. They have your money and getting it back takes effort on your part. Unfortunately many people are too lazy to put forth that effort. Considering your history with them they don't seem like the most honest people. I say fight it.
 
[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']I've always gone into an lease I've signed expecting to not get my deposit back for some bullshit reason or another.[/QUOTE]

This.

It's nice if they don't mess you around and you get it back, but I always go in thinking I won't be getting it.
 
I didnt read the previous posters but I will tell you this by experiences on both sides of the coin .. Im an actual landlord and have about 8 houses and 16 unit of apartments for rent.

As a landlord, things need to be fixed time to time but if Im in the confines of what "adequate housing" laws is addressed, trust me, a billion apologies are easier to dispense than have a contractor make the hundred dollars repairs. So if there is a problem that needs to be addressed, write it down on the lease what must be repaired and date it how soon the problem can be fixed.

You moved into a house unseen and all these problems arise as soon you moved in and you been trying to get the landlord to repair the house? Well good luck chump! If the house isnt up to par when you moved in, well its never going to get repaired while you are in there, its just not going to happen.

As for deposits, well unless you rent from a leasing / realtor company, I can say anything in order to keep the deposit, which I say in most case its fair because well any lived in housing unit will experience wear and tear, and top of that you have pets, so no matter how clean the house is or you paid your rent on time all the time. So always do a through walkthru BEFORE you move in, and write down any problem like leaks spot, warped flooring, dirty carpets, holes in the wall and doors, busted A/C units and vents, and make sure the landlord witness the problems on the 1st hand walkthru and have him sign off it.

Dont like that house or what you see? Then move on to another housing options. Lease housing are to the owners tastes and budget, not to yours.

Now about your deposit, you just not getting it back or not all of it, call it a learning experience, never EVER hastily leased an apartment or house without a through walk thru and if ppl try to convince you that to get your money back using the small claims court, get ready for a long drawn out process and possibly expensive that will take about a year to deal with and usually the landlord wins out cause he have that entire year to see and list what problems you caused (read the wear and tear part) and maybe he / she will even counter sue you just for the hell of it in order to make you pay for the repairs.

Dont want to come off like an jerk but just giving you the heads up and lowdown on leasing a house or apartment. The life of a landlord aint easy and we have it bad many ways till Sunday therefor it just rolls downhill.

Or just read Speedracer post about the landlord/pedo/psychopath he had to deal with. Its an amazing odyssey he had to endure but in the end there were no winners but for the netz due to the great writeup that Speedracer provided us.

EnronLackey "wants to slumlord it up but the MAN keep me legit"
 
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[quote name='EnronLackey']

Dont want to come off like an jerk but just giving you the heads up and lowdown on leasing a house or apartment. The life of a landlord aint easy and we have it bad many ways till Sunday.

EnronLackey "wants to slumlord it up but the MAN keep me legit" ^_^[/QUOTE]

Yeah, it ain't easy to take people's money and it must be terrible to own property.

I've never had any problems before, but after reading many posts, I see that many landlords try to take advantage of tenants. It seems that I have those landlords now. I'm sure there are many bad tenants as well, but I'm not one of them.

And what am I supposed to learn EnronLackey? That I should just shut up and take it? I know you're trying to help me, and no disrespect to you. I'm just tired of the 'just pay it and walk away' idea... It takes me a long time to earn $1850, and I'm not gonna just give it to them because they want to replace their 18 year old carpet at my expense.
 
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Lightbulbs I can understand, since I don't like the way CFLs look.

Him making you pay the specific carpet cleaner is BS. Just tell him you wil choose your own guy, and give him a $50 to sweeten the deal, just incase he has it in with the carpet cleaner.
 
I think one important lesson is to never do business with EnronLackey, who sounds like a horrible landlord. Ordinary wear and tear is specifically not what the security deposit is for. In many states it's illegal to use the security deposit for that purpose.
 
[quote name='mortalfloater']Yeah, it ain't easy to take people's money and it must be terrible to own property.

I've never had any problems before, but after reading many posts, I see that many landlords try to take advantage of tenants. It seems that I have those landlords now. I'm sure there are many bad tenants as well, but I'm not one of them.

And what am I supposed to learn EnronLackey? That I should just shut up and take it?[/QUOTE]

Well .. we provide a service .. dont like it then you more than welcome to leave but learn to deal with the consequences of signing a lease cause youre mature enough to read and understand it.

Its not that all landlord are jerks about it .. its the tenants, why I say that, cause I used to be a tenant myself when I was younger and man did I work a number at the places I lived at .. I used to host awesome parties but man it just wreck everything in the apts/houses and didnt know until its too late and its my fault but do I confess up to it after I made the repair to the the busted faucet or toilet: nope

Now pretty sure ppl are stating "But I pay good money" .. sure people pay rent and live in the space but Im pretty damn sure you went into someone home and said "What a pig sty! Do these ppl ever clean up after themselves? They freaking live, sleep, eat and crap here!", now multiply that by the possible bad tenants that can live in that same location .. its gets pretty bad real fast .. dont even get me started on hoarders, deadbeat, meth labs techs, felons, and gamers.

Dont forget that the city and state want a piece of the rent money I happen to take so easily cause they can take it alot easier but they call it taxes and they want most of the rent money we happen to make.

Dude, Im not saying your a bad tenant but like that saying goes "it only take one bad apple to poison the barrel of cider" .. I gatta keep my guard up at all times even if your one of the good guys

As for the "what am I supposed to learn EnronLackey? That I should just shut up and take it?"
Well you move into a house that was trashed from the get go and Im just assuming that you didnt ask important questions like "how long was this place vacated?" if he said more than 30 days and he didnt make any attempts to repair anything then you just got a bad landlord right there cause he/she have no interest of up-keeping the house but just to collect the "easy cash" off you which you readily given over to so easily .. so sorry to say but yeah I think you just should shut up and take it cause its was your fault to move into a busted up crack house with a nasty 17 year old carpet and you expected to become a luxury palace cause you pay your rent on time .. chalking it up as a life experience and take this lesson onto your next venture of leasing a place.

Life of landlord: Damned if you do, damned if you dont.
 
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OP, will you get your original $1350 deposit back, minus the carpet cleaning expenses, just to agree to have them clean it with their guy? The $500 pet deposit you won't ever get back, but what about a portion of the $1350?

If the answer is yes, then take this as a lesson learned, accept any deposit you're going to get, back, and move on.
 
[quote name='EnronLackey']Well .. we provide a service .. dont like it then you more than welcome to leave but learn to deal with the consequences of signing a lease cause youre mature enough to read and understand it.

Its not that all landlord are jerks about it .. its the tenants, why I say that, cause I used to be a tenant myself when I was younger and man did I work a number at the places I lived at .. I used to host awesome parties but man it just wreck everything in the apts/houses and didnt know until its too late and its my fault but do I confess up to it after I made the repair to them: nope

Now pretty sure ppl are stating "But I pay good money" .. sure people pay rent and live in the space but Im pretty damn sure you went into someone home and said "What a pig sty! Do these ppl ever clean up after themselves? They freaking live, sleep, eat and crap here!", now multiply that by the possible tenants that can live in that same location .. its gets pretty bad real fast .. dont even get me started on hoarders, deadbeat, meth labs techs, felons, and gamers.

Dont forget that the city and state want a piece of the rent money I happen to take so easily cause they can take it alot easier but they call it taxes and they want most of the rent money we happen to make.

Dude, Im not saying your a bad tenant but like that saying goes "it only take one bad apple to poison the barrel of cider" .. I gatta keep my guard up at all times even if your one of the good guys

As for the "what am I supposed to learn EnronLackey? That I should just shut up and take it?"
Well you move into a house that was trashed from the get go and Im just assuming that you didnt ask important questions like "how long was this place vacated?" if he said more than 30 days and he didnt make any attempts to repair anything then you just got a bad landlord right there cause he/she have no interest of up-keeping the house but just to collect the "easy cash" off you which you readily given over to so easily .. so sorry to say but yeah I think you just should shut up and take it cause its was your fault to move into a busted up house with a nasty 17 year old carpet .. chalking it up as a life experience and take this lesson onto your next venture of leasing a place.

Life of landlord: Damned if you do, damned if you dont.[/QUOTE]

How exactly are you "damned if you do, damned if you don't" if you get to keep all the money and the property?

You must be one of the bad landlords if you treat your tenants the way you explain. You assume too much. Everything you have assumed I did or didn't do is wrong. Maybe you should go back and read other posts because most of the stuff you said had already been brought up. Unlike you, I didn't throw parties and trash the house.

So you treat everyone like bad tenants just because you've had some bad tenants before?

Guilty until proven guilty I guess....
 
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