What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
I have been leasing my fathers house since his passing in September 2011. We were informed through a family friend of a family of four that were interested in renting the property, we were not seeking to rent out at the time. After meeting with the family we agreed to rent to them and they took possesion of the property in June 2012.
We normaly hear of some kind of "issue" from them at least once a month. From things like stray dogs entering the property to someone showing up at the gate, as well as some concerns they had like low water pressure and asking to have the septic tank emptied. Every issue was solved within the best of my ability and in a timely manner. I have documented all issues with dates. They seemed to be happy at the residence and it gave my sister and I a break to grieve before having to decide to sell the property.
Starting the beginning of July we were not hearing from them and rent started being on time ( it was usually late). We found out the begining of September through another mutual friend that they were planning to move out at the begining of the month. We contacted them and they denied it and said they were very upset that we thought they would skip out on us. They gave us their word that if indeed they would be moving we would be first to know. Fast forward two weeks and I stumbled on a post on one of the tenants facebook ( yes, good ol facebook, but I took a screenshot) that they would be moving to Arizona the following saturday September 28th. Tenany again denied it and was very angry at us for not believing him. He finally verbally admited on September 25th that they would be moving out as of the following Sunday.
I had just had my baby 5 weeks prior so I sent my husband (who was familier to then and regularly performed the property maintenance) up to do a quick walk through and to take pictures of things that he though would need to be repaired. The girlfriend was furious and accused my husband of intimidaiting her by walking around the house and taking pictures. We agreed to meet up do the final walk through on the Saturday. Suprise, they were gone when we got there. And then it got really fun.
The house was very dirty, they made no attempt to clean at all. The carpet was saturated with cat pee in every room the house, things like a sliding door handle were missing, the yard was overgrown with weeds, the grass dead and overgrown, and the pool was green with algae.
My husband and my sister (also co landlord) spent the next two weeks repaining and cleaning the carpet. The carpet had to be replaced as the pee had saturated down to the matting and there is no way we could rent it out, not to mention the million flea bites my sister recieved on her legs from cleaning the carpet ( pictures taken). Since no forwarding adress was given, I got his place of occupations address in Arizona and the address to her parents house and sent an itemized list for deductions. It was sent certified mail on October 18th. It was signed for in California (with Tenants name, although I dont think it was him) the following day.
I received a letter yesterday from their lawyer. They are requesting formal arbitration and saying they should not be held responsible for the deductions I made.
The deductions I made were:
Property damage: I only billed for the cost of things that needed to be replaced such as door hinges, sliding handle, and missing faucet knobs. Plus 2 hrs of work done by my husband. They say these are normal wear and tear?
Cleaning: They state the carpet ,floors, and walls were never cleaned prior to move it. It was. My brother in law owns a professional carpet cleaning buisness and performed the carpet cleaning and we repainted the walls prioer to them moving in. Plus they never once mentioned that it was not up to their standards. But The only cleaning I billed them for was the supplies like Urine Out and the time my sister spent trying to save the carpet.
New carpet: I requested them to pay half since the carpet was not new. However, cat pee saturation is not what I would consider "normal wear and tear" for a two year occupancy.
Propane: the tank was filled upon them moving in, as stated in the lease that they continually signed for 2 years and was supposed to be filled upon termination on lease, also stated in signed contract. They say it was not full.
Pool: I requested them to pay for the chemicals and time my husband spent bringing the pool back. They said that the pool was bad when they moved in. That I can not disagree 100 percent, however it was not nearly as bad as they left it and we wanted to hire a pool guy at their expense, but they requested to clean he pool themselves. I updated the addendum stating they "were responsible for pool and at any time they are unable to maintain it they were to advise the ladlords and a pool service would in fact be hired at their expense". Then after about a month of not maintaining the pool they tenant took it upon himself to drain the pool ( in the middle of July) and refill it with the propertys well water. I was angry when I found out but the pool was already half way emptied and tenant said he would accept all liabilty because I was worried about the pool cracking and stree on well pump ( I documented as well). We paid for his friends help and the pool was in great shape afterwards, as stated in a saved text from tenant.
Yard work: I charged him for the cost of yard work that was supposed to be mantained as stated in the signed addendum. They now say the grass was cut and the yard was overgrown upon move in. I have pictures proving the grass was dead and overgrown and the lawnmower (that we gave them because they had not been mowing) had spider webs on it. Trees , flowers and bushes were dead and had to be removed.
They are also complaining that they never received an iinitial inspecition report nor given time to remedy the identified deficiencies. - does that even apply with only four days notice of leaving and not even being present to return the keys?
They also say my Itemized Report was late because he did not receive it until the 22nd of October. It was signed for on the 19th of October.
If you managed to read through till the end thank you! I guess my question is do we go to Arbitration instead of court? I think I covered myself pretty well, but what am I forgetting to do? I have no idea what my next step is or who to seek for advise. All I want is money owed.
Thank you in advance
I have been leasing my fathers house since his passing in September 2011. We were informed through a family friend of a family of four that were interested in renting the property, we were not seeking to rent out at the time. After meeting with the family we agreed to rent to them and they took possesion of the property in June 2012.
We normaly hear of some kind of "issue" from them at least once a month. From things like stray dogs entering the property to someone showing up at the gate, as well as some concerns they had like low water pressure and asking to have the septic tank emptied. Every issue was solved within the best of my ability and in a timely manner. I have documented all issues with dates. They seemed to be happy at the residence and it gave my sister and I a break to grieve before having to decide to sell the property.
Starting the beginning of July we were not hearing from them and rent started being on time ( it was usually late). We found out the begining of September through another mutual friend that they were planning to move out at the begining of the month. We contacted them and they denied it and said they were very upset that we thought they would skip out on us. They gave us their word that if indeed they would be moving we would be first to know. Fast forward two weeks and I stumbled on a post on one of the tenants facebook ( yes, good ol facebook, but I took a screenshot) that they would be moving to Arizona the following saturday September 28th. Tenany again denied it and was very angry at us for not believing him. He finally verbally admited on September 25th that they would be moving out as of the following Sunday.
I had just had my baby 5 weeks prior so I sent my husband (who was familier to then and regularly performed the property maintenance) up to do a quick walk through and to take pictures of things that he though would need to be repaired. The girlfriend was furious and accused my husband of intimidaiting her by walking around the house and taking pictures. We agreed to meet up do the final walk through on the Saturday. Suprise, they were gone when we got there. And then it got really fun.
The house was very dirty, they made no attempt to clean at all. The carpet was saturated with cat pee in every room the house, things like a sliding door handle were missing, the yard was overgrown with weeds, the grass dead and overgrown, and the pool was green with algae.
My husband and my sister (also co landlord) spent the next two weeks repaining and cleaning the carpet. The carpet had to be replaced as the pee had saturated down to the matting and there is no way we could rent it out, not to mention the million flea bites my sister recieved on her legs from cleaning the carpet ( pictures taken). Since no forwarding adress was given, I got his place of occupations address in Arizona and the address to her parents house and sent an itemized list for deductions. It was sent certified mail on October 18th. It was signed for in California (with Tenants name, although I dont think it was him) the following day.
I received a letter yesterday from their lawyer. They are requesting formal arbitration and saying they should not be held responsible for the deductions I made.
The deductions I made were:
Property damage: I only billed for the cost of things that needed to be replaced such as door hinges, sliding handle, and missing faucet knobs. Plus 2 hrs of work done by my husband. They say these are normal wear and tear?
Cleaning: They state the carpet ,floors, and walls were never cleaned prior to move it. It was. My brother in law owns a professional carpet cleaning buisness and performed the carpet cleaning and we repainted the walls prioer to them moving in. Plus they never once mentioned that it was not up to their standards. But The only cleaning I billed them for was the supplies like Urine Out and the time my sister spent trying to save the carpet.
New carpet: I requested them to pay half since the carpet was not new. However, cat pee saturation is not what I would consider "normal wear and tear" for a two year occupancy.
Propane: the tank was filled upon them moving in, as stated in the lease that they continually signed for 2 years and was supposed to be filled upon termination on lease, also stated in signed contract. They say it was not full.
Pool: I requested them to pay for the chemicals and time my husband spent bringing the pool back. They said that the pool was bad when they moved in. That I can not disagree 100 percent, however it was not nearly as bad as they left it and we wanted to hire a pool guy at their expense, but they requested to clean he pool themselves. I updated the addendum stating they "were responsible for pool and at any time they are unable to maintain it they were to advise the ladlords and a pool service would in fact be hired at their expense". Then after about a month of not maintaining the pool they tenant took it upon himself to drain the pool ( in the middle of July) and refill it with the propertys well water. I was angry when I found out but the pool was already half way emptied and tenant said he would accept all liabilty because I was worried about the pool cracking and stree on well pump ( I documented as well). We paid for his friends help and the pool was in great shape afterwards, as stated in a saved text from tenant.
Yard work: I charged him for the cost of yard work that was supposed to be mantained as stated in the signed addendum. They now say the grass was cut and the yard was overgrown upon move in. I have pictures proving the grass was dead and overgrown and the lawnmower (that we gave them because they had not been mowing) had spider webs on it. Trees , flowers and bushes were dead and had to be removed.
They are also complaining that they never received an iinitial inspecition report nor given time to remedy the identified deficiencies. - does that even apply with only four days notice of leaving and not even being present to return the keys?
They also say my Itemized Report was late because he did not receive it until the 22nd of October. It was signed for on the 19th of October.
If you managed to read through till the end thank you! I guess my question is do we go to Arbitration instead of court? I think I covered myself pretty well, but what am I forgetting to do? I have no idea what my next step is or who to seek for advise. All I want is money owed.
Thank you in advance
