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How long after tenant moves out can landlord notify tenant of damage charges ?

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Westpalmrealest

Junior Member
Washington State(only U.S. law)?

I was renting an apartment in Redmond, Wa for one year and moved out with proper notice. I cleaned the apartment, handed the key to the property manager. He did not want to do a walkthrough since we still had a few boxes left and wasn't available later on during that day. The move out date was May 9th, 2009 but I had paid rent until May 31,2009.
I received a letter (dated Aug 14th) with the bill (dated June 16th), on August 16th,2009. The bill had a wrong forwarding adress (the mixed up my current with the old adress). There are several charges.. eg final water bill ($24.09), apt paint ($250) Prorated Carpet Replacement $1010.00 and Pet Damage Urine Seal $259.50 bringing the total to $1543.59
I am completely shocked that after so much time has lapsed that I even received anything. We left the apartment in clean condition, there was a stain on the carpet in front of the kitchen counter that I believe is referred to as the pet stain but rather was fruit punch that had dropped (I scrubbed the stain so much that the carpet was a bit faded in a 8 inch circle). The apartment was clean, there was no other damage to the walls, carpet or any other areas other than normal wear and tear.
I did not pay a damage or security deposit when moving in but I cannot see paying for any charges other than the waterbill. The landlort tenant act states that a landlord has 14 days to a claim againt the deposit, yet what are the rules if there was no deposit. What if they I am being threatend that if i don't pay this bill it will affect my credit rating negatively. I always pay my bills on time, can they just do that??? Please help!!!
 


ecmst12

Senior Member
Without a deposit, the time limit wouldn't apply. If they mailed the bill in June but it took this long to reach you, that was still reasonable on their part. If you did the damage, you owe the money. Ask for receipts/photos.

It is impossible to confuse a fruit punch stain with a pet urine stain.
 

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