Apartment complex charges you for cleaning even though you pay a redecoration fee?

[Stepharoonie!]

A friend and I were talking, and she's in the middle of a mess right now with an old apartment complex of hers. She's apparently trying to move to a new complex and when they checked her credit report, a place she lived at a few years ago is demanding payment. They say she owes $2100 in back rent, cleaning fees, etc. She eventually showed me the paper with the fee invoice, and they've charged her $258 in cleaning fees for her apartment, even though she gave them a $200 redecorating fee on top of her original rental deposit. She also had some pictures of how the apartment looked when she moved out, and it wasn't THAT bad...just how an apartment or house looks when you move out.

My question is, can an apartment complex charge someone for stupid cleaning fees even though that's really what the redecoration fee is for? Seems kind of silly to me...

 

[mickeyfan1]

In a word, yes. The cleaning fee is for cleaning, the redecorating fee would be for repainting, carpet restretching, fixing the caulk around the tub, etc.

When you say you saw pictures of the old apartment and it didn't look "that bad", I wonder what that meant. Anytime I have moved from a rental property, we made sure it was totally clean, floors mopped, carpets cleaned, oven and stove spotless, etc. I realize that people think that it's just an apartment, who cares if I leave trash in it, and don't clean? But the management has to charge additioal deposits for everyone, regardless of if they leave the place as good as or better than they walked into or not. It's like anything else, there are costs that are passed onto all consumers of the product. Imagine if a group of guests staying at the AKL decided that they could use the bedsreads as beach blankets, and then left them at the beach, because "Disney" can afford to replace them. Shouldn't those guests get charged for that cost on top of their normal nightly rate?

 

[liznboys]

I'm no expert on this, but based on my rental experience I'd say yes, sorry!

I remember our rental contract said that if the apartment needed any repairs/cleaning/etc to bring it back to par, that we would have to pay for it ON TOP of the cleaning deposit we paid. (This wasn't the exact wording of course... But you get the gist.)

We got lucky in that we cleaned our apartment so well, that our renter gave us our cleaning deposit BACK to us!! They didn't even have to vacuum it. So that was pretty cool!

 

[PammyK]

They can, they do and it just stinks when it happens to you.

I have to say though, I've been really lucky. When I left my apt. in NC, they had someone who wanted to move in right away, so they actually gave me more money than I expected to get back from my paid rent, security and other deposits.

I spent the next 3 years in the same apartment up in the Maitland area and had heard horror stories from friends who had moved out previously. My one friend got hit really hard with cleaning and additional redecoration fees. She had been in her apartment for about a year. So, when I left, I thought they'd really get me. Not that I left the apartment in terrible condition, but one of the glass shelves was broken and I hadn't been able to clean as well as I had wanted to before leaving. Well, much to my surprise, I got my entire deposit back! Could've knocked me over with a feather.

I honestly think the apartment complexes use cleaning fees as a way of making extra money off people when they're having problems with occupancy. I think they will look to see if the apartment is going to be re-rented quickly after you move out. If it is, they're not going to be quite as worried about losing money on the unit after you move. But if they've got several of the same size units open with lots more leases coming due, they tend to be much pickier and will make you pay for a lot of extra things. Of course the fees are all spelled out in small print somewhere just to cover their own butts.

In addition, I think the longer you stay in a complex as a "good neighbor" impacts on how they consider the state you leave the apartment in. In NC, I'd been there for 2 years, rent was always on time and as far as I know, no one ever complained about me. In addition, I tried to keep a good relationship with the office staff and maintenance guys while I lived there and I think both of those things played in my favor. Same thing in Maitland - was on good terms with the girls in the office, never bothered them for stupid stuff, never had any complaints against me, etc. So, with 3 years good history, they maybe had a bit rosier colored glasses when they inspected my apartment after I left and cut me a bit of slack on things that they could have charged me for according to my lease termination notice.

Most apartments will do a walk through with you before you leave so they can let you know of anything that needs to be fixed before you go. If they don't offer, ask in your leasing office because you have the right to try to fix things before leaving in order to avoid any extra charges.