Florida (only U.S. law)?
I'm going to state only facts regarding this situation. Factually, we have paid rent on time and completed our 12 month lease. The 30th of April was our official walk through date which was scheduled and we attended. We factually moved into our new home 3 weeks prior to our lease ending and spent the 3 weeks perfecting the condition of the apartment. We took photos prior to cleaning and photos on the date of our walk through that are time stamped. The apartment was left spotless with zero damage. All appliances and fixtures were cleaned thoroughly and left in a "like new" condition. The bathrooms were spotless, showers were scrubbed and we even washed all dirty portions of the walls that we found. We even re-painted the baseboards to give it that extra glow. During the duration of our lease, we put no holes in the walls and caused zero damages. There were no pet damages and the floors are tile. On our walk out paperwork, the Leasing Consultant who did our walk out did not list any damages. However, on the walls of this apartment, there were "darker spots" of paint that were a slight shade different than the majority of the wall space.
Facts on the apartment complex. Built in the 60's and remodeled in 2010 which consisted of installing new low end cabinets, counters and appliances. Upon our move in, the appliances were already 5 years old. Walls are still the original walls from when the apartment complex was build and have been painted over with a coffee colored paint. The trim is your basic white. All the paint is high gloss latex which makes cleaning it easy.
The Leasing Consultant who did our walk out was very unprofessional and mean. We went into the office where he made a copy of the walk out evaluation and keys and notified us the Property Manager would contact us the following day regarding the paint. Our conversation ensued where we requested an understanding of what damages he felt were done to the walls and the itemized result of such. He literally blew up in a diva like fashion which caused the entire conversation to escalate. He stated, "I will rack up more charges!" In this event, the Leasing Consultant threatened to rack up more charges and made claims such as, the stove just isn't working and the stove looked dirty when I did my walk through. To imagine this, he was spouting off claims he will make against us in order to be vindictive. I notified the Leasing Consultant that we have photographs of our move out and it's noted that no damages, broken or dirty appliances have been listed.
On our move out photos, there is clearly no damage and I have close up photos of everything including the interior of cabinets and behind doors. I wrote an email to the Property Manager explaining our experience with the walk out and expressing my concern of the threat to "rack up charges." In response, the Property Manager spoke by phone to my partner. He said she was very political in nature with her responses but in a nut shell, she stated she was going to perform her own walk through and would send a list of itemized damages and a bill. She stated it was going to cost more than our $150 security deposit to repaint the apartment. She also stated we were lucky to have only paid a $150 deposit, as most people in that community have to pay up to the amount of monthly rent. We have paid a total of $9,400 to the apartment complex during our 12 month lease. $150 security deposit determined by our great credit report and a non refundable $250 pet deposit for a cat. Therefore, they have $400 of "deposit" money.
We have not received an itemized bill yet and no correspondence. I am stressed to the max over this situation but I want to be proactive in knowing how to protect myself further in the event they attempt to collect erroneous money on falsified claims. Also, in terms of re-painting the apartment, can they charge me for a total repainting of an apartment when no damages were done? On our walk-out checklist that was provided prior, it did not list the necessity or requirement to paint anything. It only required cleaning to be performed to their standards. In the lease, it does not state we are responsible for re-painting the apartment or that we should be charged. There's a small portion that states holes should be patched prior to move out.
Can someone please offer advice to us? We have had everything ranging from burglary to dog attacks to non-functional appliances and sewage flooding in this apartment complex. We have records of everything and records of the arrest of the individual who burglarized us. We have had apartment insurance this entire time. At one point, our issues with the complex ended up in the hands of a lawyer but the complex solved the problem immediately after letters were sent. This place is a low end complex and has a badly declining community within it. This is in the state of FL. Please help!
I'm going to state only facts regarding this situation. Factually, we have paid rent on time and completed our 12 month lease. The 30th of April was our official walk through date which was scheduled and we attended. We factually moved into our new home 3 weeks prior to our lease ending and spent the 3 weeks perfecting the condition of the apartment. We took photos prior to cleaning and photos on the date of our walk through that are time stamped. The apartment was left spotless with zero damage. All appliances and fixtures were cleaned thoroughly and left in a "like new" condition. The bathrooms were spotless, showers were scrubbed and we even washed all dirty portions of the walls that we found. We even re-painted the baseboards to give it that extra glow. During the duration of our lease, we put no holes in the walls and caused zero damages. There were no pet damages and the floors are tile. On our walk out paperwork, the Leasing Consultant who did our walk out did not list any damages. However, on the walls of this apartment, there were "darker spots" of paint that were a slight shade different than the majority of the wall space.
Facts on the apartment complex. Built in the 60's and remodeled in 2010 which consisted of installing new low end cabinets, counters and appliances. Upon our move in, the appliances were already 5 years old. Walls are still the original walls from when the apartment complex was build and have been painted over with a coffee colored paint. The trim is your basic white. All the paint is high gloss latex which makes cleaning it easy.
The Leasing Consultant who did our walk out was very unprofessional and mean. We went into the office where he made a copy of the walk out evaluation and keys and notified us the Property Manager would contact us the following day regarding the paint. Our conversation ensued where we requested an understanding of what damages he felt were done to the walls and the itemized result of such. He literally blew up in a diva like fashion which caused the entire conversation to escalate. He stated, "I will rack up more charges!" In this event, the Leasing Consultant threatened to rack up more charges and made claims such as, the stove just isn't working and the stove looked dirty when I did my walk through. To imagine this, he was spouting off claims he will make against us in order to be vindictive. I notified the Leasing Consultant that we have photographs of our move out and it's noted that no damages, broken or dirty appliances have been listed.
On our move out photos, there is clearly no damage and I have close up photos of everything including the interior of cabinets and behind doors. I wrote an email to the Property Manager explaining our experience with the walk out and expressing my concern of the threat to "rack up charges." In response, the Property Manager spoke by phone to my partner. He said she was very political in nature with her responses but in a nut shell, she stated she was going to perform her own walk through and would send a list of itemized damages and a bill. She stated it was going to cost more than our $150 security deposit to repaint the apartment. She also stated we were lucky to have only paid a $150 deposit, as most people in that community have to pay up to the amount of monthly rent. We have paid a total of $9,400 to the apartment complex during our 12 month lease. $150 security deposit determined by our great credit report and a non refundable $250 pet deposit for a cat. Therefore, they have $400 of "deposit" money.
We have not received an itemized bill yet and no correspondence. I am stressed to the max over this situation but I want to be proactive in knowing how to protect myself further in the event they attempt to collect erroneous money on falsified claims. Also, in terms of re-painting the apartment, can they charge me for a total repainting of an apartment when no damages were done? On our walk-out checklist that was provided prior, it did not list the necessity or requirement to paint anything. It only required cleaning to be performed to their standards. In the lease, it does not state we are responsible for re-painting the apartment or that we should be charged. There's a small portion that states holes should be patched prior to move out.
Can someone please offer advice to us? We have had everything ranging from burglary to dog attacks to non-functional appliances and sewage flooding in this apartment complex. We have records of everything and records of the arrest of the individual who burglarized us. We have had apartment insurance this entire time. At one point, our issues with the complex ended up in the hands of a lawyer but the complex solved the problem immediately after letters were sent. This place is a low end complex and has a badly declining community within it. This is in the state of FL. Please help!
