My landlord charged me for carpet cleaning after I had them professionally cleaned

[Kikitron]

I live in WA. My lease requires me to have my carpets professionally cleaned. I have never lived in a place where I was responsible for doing this. I hired a licensed cleaner who had excellent reviews and and A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (I did my research!) I paid for a standard cleaning plus extra for an enzyme pet deodorizing treatment just to make sure I had my bases covered. I thought the carpet looked great but upon my check out the landlord said it was not up to his "standards" and that he would talk to my carpet cleaner. Low and behold I get my deposit statement back and found that he had charged me for a whole new carpet cleaning! Do I really have to pay this? The lease only said it had to be cleaned by a pro and that I provide a receipt which I did. Is this legal or just a scam? Should I fight this?

 

[Who's Liable?]

I live in WA. My lease requires me to have my carpets professionally cleaned. I have never lived in a place where I was responsible for doing this. I hired a licensed cleaner who had excellent reviews and and A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (I did my research!) I paid for a standard cleaning plus extra for an enzyme pet deodorizing treatment just to make sure I had my bases covered. I thought the carpet looked great but upon my check out the landlord said it was not up to his "standards" and that he would talk to my carpet cleaner. Low and behold I get my deposit statement back and found that he had charged me for a whole new carpet cleaning! Do I really have to pay this? The lease only said it had to be cleaned by a pro and that I provide a receipt which I did. Is this legal or just a scam? Should I fight this?

If you feel you should not owe for said damages, demand the LL return ALL your security deposit citing the receipt you have from the cleaning company. If the LL still won't return the deposit, and you still feel you are owed the full amount, you will need to sue your LL in court.

 

[Searchertwin]

You have every right to sue if you feel that you need to recover the amount. But, what is clean to you is not clean to me. Even thou you met the requirement of the lease, and the company you hired in your eyes did a excellent job and in my eyes they didn't. See the difference?

 

[xylene]

But, what is clean to you is not clean to me. Even thou you met the requirement of the lease, and the company you hired in your eyes did a excellent job and in my eyes they didn't. See the difference?

Ahh, but did we have a contract defining the standard?

In the posters case, she does as proof of professional cleaning.

If the landlord wants a higher standard or their own standard imposed, they should modify the lease for the next tenant.

 

[Kikitron]

This whole situation has been very frustrating. Because of my schooling and the internships i must take I have lived in a different apartment almost every year for the last 6 years so I am very familiar with all the different charges that can be deducted upon move out and how much they range in cost, I never dispute them. I have always lived in large apartment complexes and have always received a large amount of my deposit back. This was the first time I lived in a single building unit that is not run by a large company. It is not a super nice property so I was kind of expecting that my landlord might be a little shady in trying to keep as much of my deposit as possible so I told myself to not expect much back even though I was leaving this apartment in the best condition of any place I've lived so far. When I received my deposit statement I was not too surprised to see that he found ways to trump up charges and keep my entire deposit but I was completely shocked to see that I now owed an extra $170 for a 2nd carpet cleaning! I can deal with not getting my deposit back but owing money for something I already paid for is what really gets me.

I am even more angry/suspicious because the company had a satisfaction guarantee so I'm sure if he had given me the chance to speak with them or called them back himself they would have come back and fixed what ever he was dissatisfied with for little to no charge!

 

[Kikitron]

When the last month of my lease came up I wrote to the landlord asking what I must do to properly move out and he told me to have the carpets professionally cleaned. The exact wording in my lease under Termination of Tenancy says:

E. Tenant shall provide receipts for professionally cleaned carpet

That is the only mention of it.

 

[justalayman]

you met that requirement but simply meeting that requirement doesn't mean the cleaning will provide an adequately clean carpet. If your cleaning left no stains or generally dirty appearance, I would tell the LL to take a hike. If there were stains (that you caused) remaining, then the $170 is relatively cheap as they could likely seek the cost of carpeting the place.

 

[Kikitron]

So I wrote to my LL asking about why I was charged for a second cleaning. He said they found fleas and that if I had my carpets cleaned then all the fleas would be dead. My deposit statement already has a completely separate $200 charge for flea treatment! I reiterated that I would be happy to show him my receipt again or put him in contact with the company i used to verify. Now I am waiting for his response. I am tempted to ask for the receipts for all my charges now. Do landlords have to provide those if asked?

 

[xylene]

Do landlords have to provide those if asked?

That depends.

How would he have a receipt for example if he had his own rug cleaning machine...

So of course he can charge for his own tools an labor.

But he can't say he gets 500 bucks an hour either...

 

[Kikitron]

That's true but at the time of check out he told me that he would talk to the carpet cleaners himself and have them come back. They were very polite and professional with me and they have a satisfaction guarantee so if he had actually called them like he said he would there would be no need for him to do it himself.

 

[Searchertwin]

Ahh, but did we have a contract defining the standard?

In the posters case, she does as proof of professional cleaning.

If the landlord wants a higher standard or their own standard imposed, they should modify the lease for the next tenant.

Ahh, the LL doesn't have to. If, again, the cleaning is not done to MY satisfaction, I can hire someone to do the cleaning and charge the op.

 

[xylene]

Ahh, the LL doesn't have to. If, again, the cleaning is not done to MY satisfaction, I can hire someone to do the cleaning and charge the op.

Again, you are wrong.

If the lease is silent, as in this case, the judge would impose a standard of reasonableness.

 

[atomizer]

Again, you are wrong.

If the lease is silent, as in this case, the judge would impose a standard of reasonableness.

Dirt is dirt by any standard. The question here is whether shampooing the carpet was needed. The carpet was cleaned and the proper course would have been to spray it for bugs not clean the carpet. A tenant is suppose to return the property back to the landlord in the same condition he took possession of it, minus normal wear and tear. It would seem that the tenant complied with the cleaning of the carpet, but did not eradicate it of bugs caused by his pet.

 

[justalayman]

It would seem that the tenant complied with the cleaning of the carpet, but did not eradicate it of bugs caused by his pet.

and the OP apparently had already paid for the bug problem in another fee.

My deposit statement already has a completely separate $200 charge for flea treatment!

Unless the LL can support a claim the carpet was not cleaned to a reasonable standard, he loses on the claim to clean the carpet. Since he appears to be trying to make the charge based on the fleas, his claim is without merit as it appears to duplicate a charge already made.

 

[atomizer]

and the OP apparently had already paid for the bug problem in another fee.

OP would lose in court if the LL were to charge for a pet treatment. Obviously, the first treatment was ineffective. If I cleaned a carpet and did a crappy job, the client would be in his right to demand it be done properly.

Unless the LL can support a claim the carpet was not cleaned to a reasonable standard, he loses on the claim to clean the carpet. Since he appears to be trying to make the charge based on the fleas, his claim is without merit as it appears to duplicate a charge already made.

So what is your point, that you agree with me?