I moved out of my bay area apartment last month to move to India...
The apartment authorities did a pre-inspection on my apartment on the last day and they told me that the apartment would need some basic cleaning and painting...But last week they have sent me a final settlement bill of 2200 $ apart from my deposit of 700 $...
I havent yet seen the details of this bill as I asked my friend to return it to them saying she did not know my forwarding address
What are my options to settle this...How do we resolve such disputes...
We are being screwed from all sides :) Looks like the start of our R2I was not all that great with all unfavorable things happening :(
apartment has sent me a 2200 $ settlement bill
apartment has sent me a 2200 $ settlement bill
Check if there is some misunderstanding. Maybe they have included extra month's rent or something by mistake. Please don't let your credit ruined due to this.
apartment has sent me a 2200 $ settlement bill
I don't know the details in California and how long you stayed in the apt, but for my apartment in Colorado, here is what I know:
1. Every two years we had the option of getting it repainted. Since we had been in there for more than that and had not availed the painting during the renewals, they did not charge us for any marking / art-work by my kids on the wall.
2. Carpet replacement is normally done 3-4 years so they did not charge us for the stains on the carpet.
The most expensive parts are normally:
1. Counter top replacements
2. Vinyl flooring replacement
Based on what the breakdown is, you can negotiate with them to some extent. I know a friend who told them "I am already in India and will not apy this big an amount. If you are willing to cut the amount down I will pay else there is nothing you can do about it. Credit history does not matter to me anymore." He got a nice deal from them eventually (2-3 iterations). Ask them about when were these items replaced last depending on what they are invoicing you for.
My complex did not charge us anything except the lease termination, which too I had negotiated to half the agreement amount before hand.
1. Every two years we had the option of getting it repainted. Since we had been in there for more than that and had not availed the painting during the renewals, they did not charge us for any marking / art-work by my kids on the wall.
2. Carpet replacement is normally done 3-4 years so they did not charge us for the stains on the carpet.
The most expensive parts are normally:
1. Counter top replacements
2. Vinyl flooring replacement
Based on what the breakdown is, you can negotiate with them to some extent. I know a friend who told them "I am already in India and will not apy this big an amount. If you are willing to cut the amount down I will pay else there is nothing you can do about it. Credit history does not matter to me anymore." He got a nice deal from them eventually (2-3 iterations). Ask them about when were these items replaced last depending on what they are invoicing you for.
My complex did not charge us anything except the lease termination, which too I had negotiated to half the agreement amount before hand.
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PeterGriffin
- Posts: 3327
- Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 2:12 am
apartment has sent me a 2200 $ settlement bill
Diva
As lpax has mentioned, they might have added an extra month's rent in the final estimate. It could be a mistake on their part.
My BIL moved back to India from Atlanta last year and went through the same problem. In his case, he had broken the lease but still wanted to pay back the dues in case of lease breakage. The apartment authorities levied a whole list of charges and sent him a bill of $2800. He called them from India and told them that he had left the country and was willing to settle ONLY if they were reasonable with the final settlement amount. The apartment re-did their paperwork and settled for $800+. You may want to talk to them and explain your situation but most important of all, ask them to itemize their bill.
Good luck
As lpax has mentioned, they might have added an extra month's rent in the final estimate. It could be a mistake on their part.
My BIL moved back to India from Atlanta last year and went through the same problem. In his case, he had broken the lease but still wanted to pay back the dues in case of lease breakage. The apartment authorities levied a whole list of charges and sent him a bill of $2800. He called them from India and told them that he had left the country and was willing to settle ONLY if they were reasonable with the final settlement amount. The apartment re-did their paperwork and settled for $800+. You may want to talk to them and explain your situation but most important of all, ask them to itemize their bill.
Good luck
apartment has sent me a 2200 $ settlement bill
Ouch! Sorry to hear about that. As others have already mentioned, check to see if they have included an extra month's rent.
When we moved out of our apt. in the bay area 2.5 years back, they charged us $600 for painting & new carpets. It was one of the newer, nicer apt complexes around and they charged a lot more at the final settlement phase; during the pre-inspection they had said we had kept the place well and it would be a max of $200. We tried reasoning with them, but they refused to budge.
From what I hear from many friends and colleagues, this practice of apartments charging a lot more during the final settlement is very common in the bay area. Most folks I know have paid a max of $600 for carpets/cleaning/paint. You shouldn't have to pay more than $700 for cleaning and new carpets and paint! Definitely ask them to itemize their bill.
When we moved out of our apt. in the bay area 2.5 years back, they charged us $600 for painting & new carpets. It was one of the newer, nicer apt complexes around and they charged a lot more at the final settlement phase; during the pre-inspection they had said we had kept the place well and it would be a max of $200. We tried reasoning with them, but they refused to budge.
From what I hear from many friends and colleagues, this practice of apartments charging a lot more during the final settlement is very common in the bay area. Most folks I know have paid a max of $600 for carpets/cleaning/paint. You shouldn't have to pay more than $700 for cleaning and new carpets and paint! Definitely ask them to itemize their bill.
apartment has sent me a 2200 $ settlement bill
When you signed the lease , did you keep a copy of your apt pre-inspection papers than?
In this you can mention if anything wrong in the apt.
My wife used to inspect the apt with a magnifying glass. Every little thing, for e.g. when we move in in one of the apt few years back, it had hardly visible Stains on it.
But we had put stains on carpet in the pre-inspection before we moved in the apt and many other little little things like stains on the wall. Even if it is a small pencil mark somewhere in the corner. (Now if there are no stains on the wall, don;t remove a pencil from your pocket and write something on the walls next time you move in some apt. :) ).
After staying there for a year or two. My kid put lot many stains on the carpet.
But the propety management company couldn;t say anything to us, because this pre-move agreement already had stains on the carpet.
Also the cooking grill stand on which we keep utensils. That gets very bad after few months use. Whenever we vacated the apt, we would replace this for like 5 bucks a piece from walmart. If you leave those dirty ones , the property management company might charge you like 50 $s a piece.
We learnt these lessons in the school of hard knocks.
When I moved out of FL, the prop company had charged us a huge bill of like 3000 $s.
Some of it was for brekaing the lease. And some of it was for repairs in the apt. This included those cooking grill expenses of 200 $s.
Plus , we were FOB from india than. And had kept those huge suit cases in one of the store rooms on the carpet.
Over a period of 1 yr, those iron wheels of the suit case caught rust , putting the rust stains on the carpet. Even though those stains were in the store room, the property management company charged us huge sum for chagning the carpet in there. Those stains wouldn;t go , even after making lot of cleaning attempts.
Lesson Learnt: Take out your magnifying glasses before you move in the apt.
Also put a card board under those huge bags
As far as possible never keep any stainy stuff directly on the carpet.
Get everything settled before you move out of the apt.
WHENEVER YOU LOSE, DON'T LOSE THE LESSON!
In this you can mention if anything wrong in the apt.
My wife used to inspect the apt with a magnifying glass. Every little thing, for e.g. when we move in in one of the apt few years back, it had hardly visible Stains on it.
But we had put stains on carpet in the pre-inspection before we moved in the apt and many other little little things like stains on the wall. Even if it is a small pencil mark somewhere in the corner. (Now if there are no stains on the wall, don;t remove a pencil from your pocket and write something on the walls next time you move in some apt. :) ).
After staying there for a year or two. My kid put lot many stains on the carpet.
But the propety management company couldn;t say anything to us, because this pre-move agreement already had stains on the carpet.
Also the cooking grill stand on which we keep utensils. That gets very bad after few months use. Whenever we vacated the apt, we would replace this for like 5 bucks a piece from walmart. If you leave those dirty ones , the property management company might charge you like 50 $s a piece.
We learnt these lessons in the school of hard knocks.
When I moved out of FL, the prop company had charged us a huge bill of like 3000 $s.
Some of it was for brekaing the lease. And some of it was for repairs in the apt. This included those cooking grill expenses of 200 $s.
Plus , we were FOB from india than. And had kept those huge suit cases in one of the store rooms on the carpet.
Over a period of 1 yr, those iron wheels of the suit case caught rust , putting the rust stains on the carpet. Even though those stains were in the store room, the property management company charged us huge sum for chagning the carpet in there. Those stains wouldn;t go , even after making lot of cleaning attempts.
Lesson Learnt: Take out your magnifying glasses before you move in the apt.
Also put a card board under those huge bags
As far as possible never keep any stainy stuff directly on the carpet.
Get everything settled before you move out of the apt.
WHENEVER YOU LOSE, DON'T LOSE THE LESSON!
diva;273023I moved out of my bay area apartment last month to move to India...
The apartment authorities did a pre-inspection on my apartment on the last day and they told me that the apartment would need some basic cleaning and painting...But last week they have sent me a final settlement bill of 2200 $ apart from my deposit of 700 $...
I havent yet seen the details of this bill as I asked my friend to return it to them saying she did not know my forwarding address
What are my options to settle this...How do we resolve such disputes...
We are being screwed from all sides :) Looks like the start of our R2I was not all that great with all unfavorable things happening :(
apartment has sent me a 2200 $ settlement bill
We are moving out of the apartments (bay area) in April and just completed a pre-check out inspection with the Apartment folks.
The apartment manager told us that when some one leave, There are 4 charges
- Carpet Cleaning Charges
- Basic cleaning charges (starts with 120 and depends on the number of hours the 3 member cleaning crew take. They told us that the cleaning crew can easily take up to 2 hours to remove the grease from the grill.
- Painting charges ( touch-up painting if minor)
- Blinds cleaning charges ( a minimum of $80). The apartment manager suggested to us that if we want 100% deposit back, we need to go to the leasing office and get a cleaning checklist and clean each and every piece thoroughly and advised that it is not worth the effort to clean, other than the blinds, which he felt $80 very high.
We have granite counter tops and any stains on them would increase our liability. My suggestion is to get a detailed bill and dispute each and every charge you find unreasonable. I have done that in the past and the apartment owners have agreed to reduce the charges based on my arguments.
The apartment manager told us that when some one leave, There are 4 charges
- Carpet Cleaning Charges
- Basic cleaning charges (starts with 120 and depends on the number of hours the 3 member cleaning crew take. They told us that the cleaning crew can easily take up to 2 hours to remove the grease from the grill.
- Painting charges ( touch-up painting if minor)
- Blinds cleaning charges ( a minimum of $80). The apartment manager suggested to us that if we want 100% deposit back, we need to go to the leasing office and get a cleaning checklist and clean each and every piece thoroughly and advised that it is not worth the effort to clean, other than the blinds, which he felt $80 very high.
We have granite counter tops and any stains on them would increase our liability. My suggestion is to get a detailed bill and dispute each and every charge you find unreasonable. I have done that in the past and the apartment owners have agreed to reduce the charges based on my arguments.
apartment has sent me a 2200 $ settlement bill
I think it is hard for the apt management to extract beyond the deposit unless there is a major breakage. As few other members said the apt management should have added a month's rent by mistake in the OP's case.
Apartment managements collect nominal security deposits only. I don't think that could be out of their generosity. There could be laws limiting their security deposit. The security deposit would have been arrived on the basis of normal wear and tear issues caused by a normal tenant. Also, they cannot charge arbitrarily high amounts as final settlement. Tenants can go to small court. My experiences had been good and bad with apartments. Some apartments charged fair amount and returned part of the security deposit. But, there was one apartment that took almost the entire security deposit of $600 and sent me a cheque for $0.02 balance. Bottomline is that apartment managements will have wiggle room to charge the tenant little bit here and there upto the limit of the security deposit. For example, the management can say the carpet is dirty while the tenant says it is clean. Beyond the security deposit they better have a solid reason to charge and the tenant should take them to court.
Apartment managements collect nominal security deposits only. I don't think that could be out of their generosity. There could be laws limiting their security deposit. The security deposit would have been arrived on the basis of normal wear and tear issues caused by a normal tenant. Also, they cannot charge arbitrarily high amounts as final settlement. Tenants can go to small court. My experiences had been good and bad with apartments. Some apartments charged fair amount and returned part of the security deposit. But, there was one apartment that took almost the entire security deposit of $600 and sent me a cheque for $0.02 balance. Bottomline is that apartment managements will have wiggle room to charge the tenant little bit here and there upto the limit of the security deposit. For example, the management can say the carpet is dirty while the tenant says it is clean. Beyond the security deposit they better have a solid reason to charge and the tenant should take them to court.
apartment has sent me a 2200 $ settlement bill
I ahd a simiar problem with the one and only house I rented in uk.
Fortunately we had an agent in between. The agent's rep had come and taken possesion and given her report.
The owner had claimed some damages I do not remember now. The agent stepped in and got my security deposit refunded.
Fortunately we had an agent in between. The agent's rep had come and taken possesion and given her report.
The owner had claimed some damages I do not remember now. The agent stepped in and got my security deposit refunded.
apartment has sent me a 2200 $ settlement bill
California has strong tenant protection laws. Something similar had happened to me. I would recommend looking at the rental guidebook from the CA govt website. They basically give the expected lifetime of paintjobs etc; so if you've stayed longer than that then you cannot be charged for repainting of the walls even if you scribble all over them. You are not expected to leave the apt in the same shape as when you rented it, contrary to what the rental management may tell you. [b]Reasonable wear and tear cannot be charged for.[/b]